Not Sold? Why haven’t I sold?
It is an interesting time in the property market at the moment, the amount of property available to buy is at a historic low, driving around there seem to be Sold boards everywhere you look, yet the amount of properties locally that are still on the market after twelve weeks is nigh on four hundred, with the average time on the market showing as 168 days (Rightmove intel - 19th June 2018), and this appears to be increasing.
If you are one of the 399 local home sellers who are on the market unsold you might be wondering “Why haven’t I sold?” and “What should I do?”
As an estate agent, who really would like your business, it would be easy for us to say change to us, honestly, we want to sell your home for you, however, this isn’t about me, this is about you, so before we go down that route, there are three things that we would like you to look at, these are the same three things that, as estate agents, we look at first.
Price Is your home competitively priced? Over the years I have been told by clients that they ‘want’ or ‘need’ a certain price to make their move, however, buyers don’t recognise this, they see a price on their iPad, computer or in the press and make an instant decision, and if they think the price is wrong, they generally just don’t view.
Have you looked at the competition? Have you reviewed other properties that have come to the market after you, or who have reduced their price and are now competition that your potential buyers are looking at? How do you compare? Ask yourself, honestly, “Would I buy my house or one of those?”
Presentation How is your home presented, both by the agent and by yourself when potential buyers view. I often offer advice myself when I undertake an appraisal (and have been known to do some surreptitious tidying before taking photos!) I also recommend clients invite a trusted friend or neighbour around to give an honest opinion, it can be difficult to be objective and an honest outside opinion can be worth its weight in gold. There is a whole article about presentation here
Next, it is time to look at your brochure and online particulars, would you buy your home based on the photos and description? Would you arrange a viewing? How does it compare to the competition? You need to work with your agent to ensure the photos are the best they can be, and that without being flowery, your property is described as positively as it can be. Think “sparkle and shine”. Do you have a floorplan, is it correct? It can be confusing when rooms don’t have doors or windows on plans.
Promotion Although this is generally down to your agent it is worth reviewing. If you don’t already know how your property is being promoted we would recommend asking the following questions. Where is your home being advertised? Which property portals? Is Rightmove the only portal they use or are you being advertised on Zoopla , Primelocation , and OnTheMarket too. Do they use social media? Do they phone through their applicants or just rely on email? What does your window card look like? (Have you looked in your agents' window?) Can you have a For Sale board, if you can, do you? It is surprising how many people ring from boards.
Time to pause.
How are you getting on? Are there any changes you need/would like to make?
Question Time
Why did you choose your current agent? If you chose them because they gave you the highest price or indeed the lowest fee, both of which are understandable reasons, you really should consider changing.
Highest Price: Sadly some agents, do tell you what you would like to hear, or, even what they think you want to hear. Some valuers are targeted to achieve a certain number of instructions and may be encouraged to suggest a high price to achieve their target.
Lowest Fee: Fee’s aren’t what they used to be, however, the cheapest agents may compromise their service, for instance not accompanying every viewing, advertising on less portals, not having a prominent office and window display, not advertising in the local press. The difference between one agent and another maybe a few hundred pounds, the difference in the marketing may be worth thousands to you. Your property is your biggest asset, it needs the best service to achieve the best possible price.
Time to Review
We have discussed the Price, the Presentation and the Promotion, we have briefly mentioned the appraisal, high valuation and cut-price fee’s, the final item to think about is your current agents' service.
* Are you getting viewings? If yes, great!
* Are you getting feedback from the viewings? You should be!
* Is your agent talking to you, discussing the market, making suggestions? Whether you agree or not, are they trying?
* Do you get on with them? If not, try one you do get on with.
No agent can promise that they will sell your home, we don’t, what we will promise is that we will do our best, we aren’t the biggest in terms of sheer numbers, however, according to rightmove , so far in June 2018, we have been number one for sales in the local area, working with about a third of the vendors of some of the big agents. We believe we try harder and we will always do our best for you.
Sometimes a change of agent can freshen your marketing, bring out different potential purchasers and achieve the result you want, not all agents are the same.
PS. If you are happy with your agent and don’t want to change, please may I make a suggestion, try some different photos, even if just taken at a different angle, it can make a huge difference, if you had professional photo’s even a change in order can make a difference.
PPS. If you would like to chat to us, to see if we could work well together, please call us on 01305 250402, or pop in to the office and have a coffee.
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