Yahoo Finance How to sell a property in a tricky market
From boosting the kerb appeal of your property to pricing it correctly and choosing the right estate agent, our experts give their top tips on how to make sure your home goes under offer, even in a buyers’ market.
Consecutive interest rate hikes have switched the current property market from one that favoured the seller to one where buyers are pulling the strings.
According to Halifax, house prices fell 1% in the year to May, the first annual decline since December 2012. Zoopla has found 15% of vendors are now accepting offers 10% or more below the asking price and there is a growing supply with 18 per cent more homes listed for sale in June than against the five-year average.
So, if you’re planning on selling your home, what can you do to achieve the best and quickest sale in such a volatile market?
Make quick, inexpensive fixes to your home
Before you list your property for sale, think whether there is anything you can do to make it more appealing to prospective buyers.
You’ll be amazed the difference a few quick updates make to the overall impression of a property and all our experts agreed that a small amount of expenditure can go a long way.
Make a good first impression
“Kerb appeal is very important as it’s the first thing potential buyers will see, and simple things like making sure windows and windowsills are clean, and giving the front door a fresh coat of paint, can make a big difference with very little time and money,” says Terry Fisher of We Buy Any Home.
Read more: Interest rates: Eight ways you can defuse the mortgage timebomb
Emma Morby, author of The Simple Guide to Property Investing, says: “Make the front of the house look appealing, hide wheelie bins, add hanging baskets (if summer) and de-weed any flower beds. White stone shingle can be a good look if you need to cover certain areas.”
Declutter
This is the simplest tool in your arsenal. Not only will this give the impression of more space, but it will also help potential buyers imagine their possessions in your home.
Make sure everything smells good too — especially if you have pets.
“Remove any odours — use candles such as black cherry/vanilla/fresh linen or bake a cake/place coffee pot on. These are all smells buyers traditionally like,” says Morby.
Highlight any outside space
While the post-COVID frenzy for outside space has calmed down, it’s still an important consideration for many potential buyers.
“If you have outside space, make the most of it — get the garden furniture and barbeque out,” says Tom Parsons of Middleton Advisors.
“Tidy up the garden, cut grass (try to add lines if you can with a roller), de-weed flower beds, mend broken fencing and clean patios — this gives the viewer a good understanding that the house must be cared for if the garden looks good,” says Morby.
Add EV parking
Many buyers are thinking about future-proofing their property and this extends to their parking needs.
“If you have parking, consider an electric charging point — love them or loathe them EVs are here to stay so might be worth investing,” says Simon Tollit, partner at Tedworth Property.
Choose the right estate agent
When your home is ready to be marketed, think carefully about which agent you use as they are not all created equal.
You need to speak to several to get a feel for the type of person that you want to sell your home — and make sure that they understand the local market and your property type specifically. There’s no point appointing an agent to sell an inner city one-bed flat if they’re used to selling luxury homes in the country (or vice-versa); they need to be able to sell the lifestyle that your property fits into.
Read more: How long should you keep a property before selling?
“You should choose an agent with a proven track record of selling similar properties to your own. As a seller you want to engage an agent who not only is very familiar with the location but also with the buyers they should be targeting,” says Marc Schneiderman, director, Arlington Residential.
“Don’t appoint an agent because a) They give you the highest price or b) Because they go low on their commission. If an agent can’t negotiate for themselves over their own fees, you don’t stand a chance when it comes to them negotiating on your behalf to get the best possible price from a proceedable purchaser,” warns Tollit.
Parsons flags the importance of “integrity and trust”.
“You might end up having difficult conversations with your selling agent so someone with these qualities will enable you to communicate clearly and effectively,” he says.
Research is key to finding all of these qualities and obtaining the best and quickest sale. See who your neighbours are using, note how quickly their property sells and whether it sells for the asking price or not. You could even ask for references from previous sellers.
Selling a home involves large amounts of money so the more research you do, the better.
Price your property realistically
This is always a tricky one as people have very different ideas when it comes to value. Again, doing your research is important.
“Examine recently sold comparable houses. Use Rightmove to find houses similar to yours that have sold and free property price calculators online,” says Morby. “Consider property price forecasts: Look at data released by larger estate agents like Savills and look at what cycle the property market is in. (There is a 10-12-year cycle traditionally).”
It's also worth noting that a “guide price” is exactly that. Your house may sell for lower or higher depending on the market conditions and how buyers respond to it.
Read more: How long should you keep a property before selling?
“We recommend quoting a lower ‘guide price’ to encourage competitive bidding rather than an over optimistic asking price which will discourage buyers from taking the property seriously,” says Schneiderman.
Consider offers carefully
If you’re lucky enough to find that your property is in demand and gets multiple offers, don’t just go for the highest.
“A buyer that is chain-free and, least likely to pull out of the sale might be a better offer, even if their bid is a little lower than someone else,” says Fisher.
“The highest bid could be someone who pulls out at the last minute because they don’t have the money to back up the offer. Take some time to think about your options instead of automatically accepting the highest offer.”
Conversely, if you get an offer that is lower that you expected, don’t dismiss it straight away.
“In today’s market where there are multiple data points as to how long a property has been on the market for, often a buyer will use this knowledge as a downward negotiating tool, meaning that, more often than not, the first offer is the best offer,” adds Tollit.
