Tag Archives: break from market

I spoke to a lady recently who hadn’t had a viewing in six months; another gentleman seller called me who had been trying to sell his house for three years, and in all that time had only had three viewings. If you’re in that boat, you have my sincere sympathies. It’s even harder if a friend or neighbour is getting a viewing a week. So what can you do today that would help you get more viewings?

1. Review your marketing – look at your photography, description, online advert and brochure, and make a list of improvements you could make to them. Ask your estate agent about getting the house re-photographed, and whether they would cover the charge of a professional photographer. Write the description from scratch, including ‘owners’ quotes’, interesting historical anecdotes, and any other human interest element you think might intrigue a buyer.

2. Call your agent – my experience has shown that the more often you talk to your agent, the more likely your house is going to be in the forefront of their mind if a prospective buyer calls. How often have you phoned your agent to ask them why you haven’t had a viewing in a while, only to be told a day or two later that someone wants to view?

3. Take a break – taking your house off the market for a little while may seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes it’s all you need to increase the interest in your house when you re-launch. It’s also a good idea if you are going to revamp your marketing materials, as your home will have extra impact when you go back to the market. As a general rule of thumb, I would suggest a month off the market for every six months you’ve been for sale. Upon your re-launch, an email alert will hit all the inboxes of buyers who have registered with Rightmove and the other portals, and this alone could help encourage viewings.

By taking action, not only will you give yourself the best possible chance to increase interest in your property, you will you feel reassured that you are taking control of your own house sale.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Hello, Happy New Year and welcome back!

Have you resolved to sell your home this year? The market is certainly hotting up, and for the first time since the last peak, we’ve been reading headlines about gazumping. However, this activity is not widespread, and as so often is the case, seems to be confined to popular property hotspots. If you’re living in a more rural area, or a non-so-popular town, you may find that for sale boards go up then hang around for months, if not longer.

If you’re really dedicated to selling your house this year, you need to take decisive action. Here’s my quick guide to selling before Christmas comes round again:

1. Rest from the market

If you’ve been trying to sell for quite a while without a break, do make sure you take one now. As a general rule, I would withdraw from the market for a month every three months or so. For example, market from January to April, then rest for a month. This can help prevent your house from becoming stale and also helps protect your property value, as properties generally lose up to 1% of their value for each month they spend on the market.

2. Change your estate agent

This simple change can make all the difference. Sometimes just a new approach is enough to refresh your marketing and target new buyers.

3. Stage your home

Ask family and friends for their honest opinions on the way your house is being presented. Scour current home magazines for trends and accessory ideas, and if necessary, commission a home stager.

4. Commission a professional photographer

One of the most important, yet underused steps in property marketing. A professional photographer can make your house look fantastic, and sometimes all it takes is getting people across the door. A great image can do that for you.

5. Only accept a brochure that does your home justice

It’s tempting to allow your agent to produce an ‘information leaflet’ on his desktop, but this will not put you above the competition. To really stand out and tempt a buyer to view your home, your brochure needs to really showcase your home. Photography, design, description and paper quality – they all matter enormously.

6. Prepare a viewing plan

Take a trusted friend around your home and write up a viewing plan. This is a simple written list of what rooms to show in which order, and any comments or details about each room or feature you feel deserving of mention. Type this up and give it to your estate agent, if they are doing the viewings. If you are doing your own viewings, practice, preferably with a friend who doesn’t know your home well. Even if you are required to show your home yourself to viewers, your agent should give you some help and guidance in this aspect, so get them involved too.

7. Time your re-launch carefully

There are some times of the year when activity is traditionally higher, though this does depend on the market for your home. This post will give you more information, but in general, focus on selling in Spring, early Summer or early Autumn for the best results.

8. Ask for help

If all else fails, why not give me a call? Ten minutes on the phone may just help you to understand what the issues are, and whether or not you can do something to improve the situation. Let’s make sure you keep to your New Year’s Resolution and sell your home!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

When you first engage an estate agent, you may find that you get a flurry of viewings, that your agent calls often, you get full feedback of each and every viewings, and your house is profiled in the office window. You feel that you’ve chosen the right agent, and are busy between viewings patting yourself on the back.

Six months later, it may be a different story. You didn’t receive any feedback from the last viewer, and in fact you haven’t had a viewing in weeks. You can’t remember the last time you heard from your agent, and he seems to have stopped returning your calls. When he does eventually call you back, it’s only to suggest a price drop.

It’s all going wrong – what can you do about it?

One strategy is to reinvigorate your agent by incentivising him. This will only work if he’s going to actually benefit personally from this, but my advice is to get the branch manager involved and offer an extra commission if they sell your house within a certain time period.

Have a strategy meeting with your agent. Thoroughly examine all the marketing and advertising – online advert, photography, brochure, print advertising – and look at ways it can be refreshed and made more efficient.

If none of the above works, take your house off the market for a short break, then put it back on with a new estate agent. That way, you can recreate that initial burst of enthusiasm and activity, and this time, it might just work.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.