GET THE BEST PRICE FOR YOUR PROPERTY!
UNDERSTAND THE MARKET!
Every seller should conduct his own market survey by studying the property advertisements in local and national newspapers and more specialised periodicals where property is a regular feature. These will show which properties in your area are for sale, indicate current price levels and if studied over a period of time, provide an indication of market trends and how long individual properties are taking to sell.
Talk to experienced local agents. Ask what properties have sold recently? How long was each one on the market? How did the final selling price relate to the original listing price? How is the market expected to perform over the next six months? Are there any special factors affecting the price of property in your area? Is this a good time to sell?
SET A REALISTIC PRICE!
Call in several agents whom you know sell consistently in your area and ask them to give you their honest estimate of the current market value of your home. But please, that's their estimate, not yours ! Ask some searching questions about each agent's track record - it's your money that's at stake here. The age, size or reputation of a national agency is not necessarily a guarantee of effectiveness. Larger agencies will always have new recruits under instruction who are unqualified and inexperienced. It's the experience and professionalism of the individual agent handling YOUR property that counts! Don't discount smaller agencies. They have the virtue of being owner managed, highly motivated and area specific. Today, even the smallest agency can reach potential buyers worldwide via the internet.
Don't be misled by the prices at which similar sounding properties to yours are advertised. Each property is unique and it is essential, having qualified your agent, to listen carefully to his advice concerning the price at which your property should be offered for sale . He sells property for a living and if he knows his job, the price which he quotes will be market related . Don't fall into the all too common trap of over-pricing. Overpriced properties take a very long time to sell and often end up being sold at a discount .
And don't be greedy! Never set a ridiculously high price in the hope of making a killing or in the mistaken belief that purchasers will always make offers. Don't be misled by the complimentary things buyers say. When face to face with the owner, buyers seldom have the courage to say that they find the property tatty, wildly overpriced or totally unsuitable. Sadly, it's a proven fact that if your asking price is set too far above market value many prospective purchasers will not even consider it worthwhile to make an offer. A surprising number won't want to give offence while others won't risk wasting time on protracted negotiation when there are many competing properties available. Unfortunately not everyone loves your property the way you do! Once a buyer has moved on you may never see him again and will have missed the opportunity to negotiate a lower, but possibly still acceptable, price.
MARKET YOUR PROPERTY
Once you have settled on a price, select the agent with whom you feel most comfortable and consider giving him or her a sole mandate. Apart from the fact that a sole, or exclusive, mandate confers a professional duty on the agent to work exclusively in his client's interest, there are other considerations. Should you decide to grant your agent a sole mandate don't sign it without studying the small print. A mandate is a two edged weapon but the seller should take this opportunity to insert as many special conditions as he feels may be appropriate, such as a minimum number of show days, the medium through which the property should be advertised and a minimum price below which the property must not be offered for sale. This way he can ensure that he gets the level of service he requires. However, should you decide on an open mandate just remember that too many agents can often be like too many cooks – they can spoil the broth!
These days effective advertising requires agents to be innovative. Of course local newspaper advertising does sell property but in slow markets often merely serves to promote the agency. In the information age more and more buyers are using the internet to identify suitable properties before even visiting their target area. Savvy sellers will therefore insist on having their property featured on a web site which can be readily accessed through major search engines such as google, yahoo or ananzi.com Check the selected agent's website for yourself – if you can access it only by using the actual site address it will probably not be easily found by potential investors in Portugal, Patagonia or Peru!
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