Selling a property? Best then, to make sure the price is right. Advertise away, by all means - preferably through the major online property portals, because the local press and estate agent windows don't count for much these days. So get straight onto Rightmove, Zoopla, FindaProperty and Prime Location - because otherwise you're going to have a long, long wait until your property gets sold. And that wait is going to be even longer if your property is overpriced.
Take a step or two back to get an overall picture of today's market. Are lenders lending? Not really. Are buyers buying? Doesn't look much like it. And what about sellers? Are they selling - or have they given up and taken their homes back off the market? Sometimes it certainly looks that way. Pick an estate agent - any estate agent. Now get them to value your home. Repeat the process a few times, and compare all those valuations. They'll all be different, and all probably slightly higher than you expected. Now, why would that be? Three reasons: one being the agent's greed glands working overtime when it comes to his percentage-based fee; two being the agent wants to get your greed glands working as well as his ... and the third being that nobody really wants to hear that they've actually lost money on their home. And it's happening all over the country - in fact, WHICH? Magazine has recently been giving High Street estate agencies a great deal of grief for doing just that.
Despite there being around a million and an half properties listed on Rightmove, house sales are currently at an all-time low. If you look hard enough, you'll find a mortgage lender or two out there who are actually prepared to lend money. And if you look even harder, you will find buyers. Eventually. This is because over the past few years, housebuyers have become much more informed about their local property market. They now research harder than ever before, using the Land Registry website and all the other online information sources to work out how much a property should be selling for. And if your house is listed at a higher price than comparable properties in the area, potential buyers aren't even going to bother clicking on the details because they're too busy looking at more realistically-priced homes. It's nothing personal - just human nature. After all, would you start your search at the most expensive home on the market and work your way down the price range? Or would you start at the least expensive and work your way up?
There are only two reasons, ever, that a house will not sell. Either a lousy agent with no advertising exposure, like some smaller estate agents or those drastically cutting their overheads. Or, despite the best efforts of the agent, a price that says 'ignore me'. So if you're struggling to sell, look to your agent first by all means. If they are not broadcasting your three bed semi to all and sundry like online estate agents do then ditch them. But if they are then you really have to take a look at adjusting your price.
Because the best and most expensive advertising will still not convince people to pay above market value. Indeed projecting a picture of your house on to David Beckham's butt cheeks will not sell it if overpriced compared to others.
Take a step or two back to get an overall picture of today's market. Are lenders lending? Not really. Are buyers buying? Doesn't look much like it. And what about sellers? Are they selling - or have they given up and taken their homes back off the market? Sometimes it certainly looks that way. Pick an estate agent - any estate agent. Now get them to value your home. Repeat the process a few times, and compare all those valuations. They'll all be different, and all probably slightly higher than you expected. Now, why would that be? Three reasons: one being the agent's greed glands working overtime when it comes to his percentage-based fee; two being the agent wants to get your greed glands working as well as his ... and the third being that nobody really wants to hear that they've actually lost money on their home. And it's happening all over the country - in fact, WHICH? Magazine has recently been giving High Street estate agencies a great deal of grief for doing just that.
Despite there being around a million and an half properties listed on Rightmove, house sales are currently at an all-time low. If you look hard enough, you'll find a mortgage lender or two out there who are actually prepared to lend money. And if you look even harder, you will find buyers. Eventually. This is because over the past few years, housebuyers have become much more informed about their local property market. They now research harder than ever before, using the Land Registry website and all the other online information sources to work out how much a property should be selling for. And if your house is listed at a higher price than comparable properties in the area, potential buyers aren't even going to bother clicking on the details because they're too busy looking at more realistically-priced homes. It's nothing personal - just human nature. After all, would you start your search at the most expensive home on the market and work your way down the price range? Or would you start at the least expensive and work your way up?
There are only two reasons, ever, that a house will not sell. Either a lousy agent with no advertising exposure, like some smaller estate agents or those drastically cutting their overheads. Or, despite the best efforts of the agent, a price that says 'ignore me'. So if you're struggling to sell, look to your agent first by all means. If they are not broadcasting your three bed semi to all and sundry like online estate agents do then ditch them. But if they are then you really have to take a look at adjusting your price.
Because the best and most expensive advertising will still not convince people to pay above market value. Indeed projecting a picture of your house on to David Beckham's butt cheeks will not sell it if overpriced compared to others.
About the Author:
Home buyers wont to walk into estate agency offices these days. 90% of them search for property on the internet. eMoov cover the whole of the UK but save money by not having hundreds of properties which you will end up paying for in high estate agents fees. eMoov are online estate agents. They are a step up from private house sales and ten times cheaper than the High Street. Why pay more?
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