How to sell your home in this most challenging market

If you would like to move home you can adopt one of two attitudes...

Either, "woe is me... this is the worse market since Noah's Ark was launched and there is no way I am going to allow anyone to 'Steal' my home."            or, "if I take advice and adopt a sensible approach to marketing my home in what is a 'Buyers Market' then I will be able to attract a genuine buyer, at a price which will enable me to move."

I have been an estate agent for over 20 years and having owned The Bungalow Centre for 17 years. I therefore feel, with all due modesty, that I am able to offer good advice to people wishing to move, even in these difficult conditions.

Just take these 3 simple steps:-

1.Choose the best estate agent for your particular property

If you own a house or flat (eg NOT a bungalow or chalet bungalow) then make your choice of estate agent based on factual information, as a ouji board has proved somewhat unreliable in the past.

Ask for recommendations Ask friends, relatives, neighbours and work colleagues for recommendations.

• Choose a good Independent Estate Agent, rather than a large muti branch corporate agency as, generally speaking, they will provide you with a better and more personal service.
• SOLD Slips Investigate which local agent has the most SOLD slips on his boards. This is a surefire way of establishing who is walking the walk rather than just talking the talk.
• Interview perhaps 3 estate agents and give them a good grilling... ask whether they have sold properties similiar to you and, if so, where, when and for how much.
• You get what you pay for Don't get hung up on their fee. Anyone who is selling property in this market is worth every penny of their fee and more.  Alternatively you can hide you head in the ground and recruit the agent that quotes the lowest fee and the highest valuation... after all their is one greedy, sucker born every minute... just make sure that sucker is not you.

However, if you are considering selling a Bungalow, Chalet Bungalow or Park Home   then your choice is much, much simpler ...just dial 01202 582460 and we will come around and discuss with you a marketing plan for your property, which is virtually guaranteed to attract a buyer. (there's gold in them, there hills!) 

2. Adopt a realistic Asking Price                                                                    We are currently experiencing a buyer’s market, which is where there are more far owners trying to sell their properties that there are people looking to buy.

It is therefore an undeniable fact that if your property is to attract a buyer it must be perceived as offering ‘good value.’ 

Have realistic expectations… Naturally, everyone quite rightly wants to achieve the most they can for their property, but don’t let ‘wishful thinking’ stand in the way of your better judgement, which is telling you to be realistic.  You can bring up numerous other issues to try and avoid facing up to reality but the truth of the matter is that until you adopt a realistic asking price you will not sell your property.                                                                                                            Do you want to just have your property ‘on the market’ or do you want to sell it?

3. Make sure your Home's Presentation is 'as good as it gets'                        When selling a car you would naturally make sure it was beautifully cleaned, that the interior was tidy and uncluttered and that everything on the car functioned as it was designed to do. So why should it be any different when you are selling your home?  You just wouldn’t believe the attitude some people have to the all important question of presentation.

Rusty gates, unmown lawns, unkept shrubs that are taking over the garden, drives full of weeds, cluttered, dirty, poorly decorated interiors, light bulbs that don’t function, filthy carpets, dirty windows, broken sanitary ware, pet smells, dirty laundry… the list is like a comedy of errors.  How some people expect to attract buyers is surely one of life’s great mysteries.  Sensible people, however, will agree that presentation is of paramount importance, whether we are selling a tiny 2 bed terraced house for £150,000 or a 5 bedroom family home for £500,000. All the old sayings happen to be truisms…not only do “first impressions count” but also ”you can’t change a first impression” being first and foremost amongst them.

As part of our  “House Doctor” service we talk of the 3 Cs…Colour, Cleanliness & Clutter. Our other mantra being “maximum improvement at minimum cost.”

Making the most of your property is not about spending a great deal of money. It involves your listening to expert advice and then investing a certain amount of time, together with a relatively small sum of money to introduce changes which will dramatically improve its appeal to prospective buyers.

 

People pay me a big fat consultancy fee for advising them what steps to take in order to attract a buyer for their home. BUT sellers who employ the services of my company, The Bungalow Centre, get the benefit of my advice FREE OF CHARGE. I am happy to be able to help and I don't sulk if people, for whatever reason, don't take my advice.

 

If you want to take me up on my offer of free advice, then just call me and we can make a mutually convenient time to meet up and discuss what, if any, stpes need to be taken in order to maximise the appeal of your Bungalow.

John Nixon

Senior partner

The Bungalow Centre