With all the doom and gloom being reported by the media at the moment, it’s no surprise the impact is being felt by homeowners wanting to sell their property. For the last few years we’ve been lucky to experience a booming market where properties have just about sold themselves! Unfortunately this is no longer the case and agents need to work harder to capture the attention of the right buyers.
Selling your home is stressful enough even when there are plenty of buyers around. However now with fewer people looking to buy and more properties about to come on the market, the thought of selling may be too overwhelming to contemplate. However please don’t forget – if you’re planning to buy another property, any losses you have on your sale should be re-gained when you purchase. In any event, if you are considering making the move and want to sell your home quickly, we’ve put together the following tips to help you along the journey.
1. Property Presentation
If you’ve been reading our articles for a while now, you will know we continually talk about how important this is. Now more than ever, property presentation is crucial to a successful sale. In a recent article called 7 Tips for Selling Your Home This Spring, we outline the main areas to focus on.
A well presented property will photograph better and therefore stand out online against your competition. When buyers come to inspect, a well presented property is more likely to evoke an emotional connection than one where little or no care has been taken to create the right impression. Cleanliness is extremely important and we always recommend a good deep clean from top to bottom just before the first open house.
2. Property condition
We are currently finding the majority of buyers are less interested in properties that require work to be done. The cost of labour, product supply shortages and the overall delays with getting tradespeople in to complete work, puts the “renovator’s delight” into the too hard basket.
Properties that require the least amount of work and are ready to be moved straight into, are attracting the most interest. If your home is tired and needs some work to be done, it’s best to focus on those areas that provide the biggest impact with the least investment. Above all else, new carpet and paint go a long way to immediately improve the appeal of a property. Buyers can move straight in and then progressively update the kitchen and bathroom as they wish.
3. Real estate agent
A common mistake made by sellers in a slow market is choosing a real estate agent who promises the world but then finds they cannot deliver. Make it clear during the interviews that you do not want the sale of your home delegated to a junior team member. Let them know you want the agent who is sitting opposite you to be the one attending every inspection and calling back buyers.
When an agent gives you their estimate of your property’s value, ask for evidence of how they arrive at their price and be wary of agents who overestimate your property’s value to secure your listing. An astute homeowner will have already done their own research by attending other open homes, auctions etc to get a good idea of where their property sits in comparison to other recent sales.
To add a little extra motivation for the agent, you could consider offering an incentive commission structure. Instead of the usual practice of a flat commission structure where there is little incentive for the agent to work hard to achieve the highest possible price for your home, try this:
- Offer to pay a reduced percentage commission if your property sells within a pre-agreed range, but if the property sells at a higher price, the percentage commission increases.
4. Marketing
Over the last few years, many record sales were made without any marketing at all! Selling off market was easy as the agents used their database to find buyers who wanted the opportunity to get in early and buy before the property went to market. Unfortunately these days are gone, and vendors need to get a little creative with the marketing of their homes.
Spend time finding out from the agents what their proposed marketing campaign includes and how they are going to find the right buyer for your home. In a slow market where the number of buyer inspections are down significantly, it’s not enough to just advertise on domain and realestate.com.au. Having a good social media targeted strategy can attract people who may not necessarily have considered the area your property is located. Once they see your property pop up in their news feed, they may just decide to come and take a look.
5. Price expectation
Try to remain objective when it comes to the current market value of your home. Your attachment to the home may cloud your judgement, causing you to hold on to unrealistic expectations about its worth which in turn will delay your sale.
If you price your property higher than others with similar characteristics you risk buyers turning away. In a slow market, buyers may simply ignore the listings that fail to offer good value, which means they’ll never even make it to the open house to see the merits of your property. If you have been doing your own research and watching property prices since the start of the year, you should have a good idea of how much Sydney values have come down in the last 4 months. In a transitioning market it can be difficult to assess the true value of your home unless there have been similar sales in the preceding months or, better still, weeks. The market changes very quickly so you will need to adjust your expectation based on sales happening now rather than 6 months ago. If you’re planning to sell in a month or two’s time, you may find you will need to reassess the value then, as it will no doubt be different from an estimate made today.
Understanding market dynamics as well as the ins and outs of selling real estate is something we specialise in. As your Vendor Advocate, we take the guesswork out of how to sell your home quickly in a slow market. Preparing your home for sale, choosing the right agent and working with the agent to achieve the best possible price is our number one priority. Whether you’re upsizing, downsizing, divorcing or selling a deceased estate, we can help without it costing you a cent. Feel free to Book a Call with us or find out more here.
