When it comes to property advice, their is a huge amount of advice out there for First Time Buyers, however the same cannot be said for those looking to sell their home for the first time…
Selling a home for the first time can be a daunting and sometimes stressful process and many first time sellers we meet genuinely don't really know where to start. Therefore, by using our decades of experience, successfully selling property, we thought we would share some advice to help making that sale happen more quickly and more smoothly:
1. Market Your Home BEFORE You Start Seriously Searching For Your New Home
This is possibly the most impritant piece of advice I can give you! So many sellers I meet have the opinion that if they try and sell their home before they have found a new home they will end up unable to find and all will go wrong. This is never the right way to go about trying to move home.
By selling your property before you have found, we will have the time needed to do all of the marketing properly, allowing as many viewings as possible and negotiate to get you the very best price. Once you are happy with an offer, we will then agree a sale - subject to you finding somehwere. Once an offer has been accepted you are then in the perfect position to go out and make offers on homes you would like to purchase - And because your own home is sold that property should come off the market for you once an acceptable offer has been made.
By trying to do things the other way around you will either constantly lose properties you want to buy to others who have already sold, or, in a desperate attempt to sell quickly potentially undersell your own home because you require that quick sale.
2. Get the marketing right
If you are selling a home for the first time, you are likely to be moving from a smaller home to a larger one. Therefore, the type of buyer who would generally want to buy your current home is likely to be first-time buyers. This demographic, likely to be younger and IT savvy, will be searching for properties online through their smartphones, laptops and tablets.
Property portals such as Rightmove and On The Market will be the first port of call for many and competition on these platforms from similar properties for sale can be high. With this in mind, you need to do all you can to make your property stand out from the rest. High-quality photos and snappy, engagingly written descriptions are of paramount importance, as are floorplans.
3. Get the asking price right
Whatever market you find yourself in at the time of selling, setting the correct asking price is absolutely vital. Price your home too low and you risk selling yourself short, while if you price it too high you risk deterring would-be buyers and your home will sit on the market unsold.
You need to be realistic with your asking price, but you’ll also want to achieve as much as possible for your home. This is where a good estate agent is worth their weight in gold, taking into account the local market, national trends and other variables to set an asking price that will help to get your home sold. Always select the agent who can back up their valuation by showing you similar homes to your own they have sold and be wary of those agents valuing higher without any evidence of sales that prove what they say to be true
This leads onto what is arguably the most important step…
4. Choosing the right estate agent
A good estate agent will guide you through the sales process with the minimum of fuss, making sure they are on hand at all times to deal with any issues or stumbling blocks.
Inevitably, there will be delays and complications when it comes to house sales but if you have an agent on your side who can deal with everything in a calm, professional and good-humoured manner the chances of things going smoothly are that much higher.
If you are considering selling your home, why not get in touch for some FREE, no obligation advice.
Until next time,
Paul Dobbs
Sales Director
paul@digginsandco.com
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