When we ask sellers what they want to achieve from the sale of their house, the answers we get range from:
“We want to live closer to our family for help with childcare”
To,
“We’ve always fancied the slower pace of life that the countryside offers”
However, whatever the specific reason, it’s almost always followed by:
“And of course, we want to sell the house for the best price possible”
And why wouldn’t you?
It’s your family home, pride and joy and labour of love. Not only that, but it’s probably your biggest asset, too. So naturally, you want to make the most of it.
Money gives you options, and selling your house at the best possible price gives you the best possible chance of securing your dream home.
So, how do we make this happen for you?
We could tell you it’s all about hard negotiation skills.
But, by the time it comes to accepting or rejecting an offer, the die has been cast and the price the buyer is willing to pay for your home has already been decided.
The truth is, the real work starts way before then…
Here’s what we’ll do for you
Advise you on how to present your home in a way that makes an impact
Your home is your castle, and whilst you might love the large side table in the middle of the hallway, there’s no getting away from the fact that it makes the corridor feel a little smaller than it really is. This may seem like an insignificant detail, but it’s details like this that make a big difference when people come to view your home.
For example, imagine that a new mum comes to view your home. As she squeezes around the table to get the lounge, all she can think about is how she’s going to get her double pram down that hallway. That’s not all, because whilst she’s thinking about that, she’s not enjoying the glorious view of your gorgeous garden.
We see dozens of homes and conduct hundreds of viewings every year so, we know what attracts buyers and, more importantly, what will put them off an otherwise ideal home.
It’d be wrong for us to keep this vital information to ourselves, so we’ll always share it with you to ensure you get the price you deserve for your home.
Present every offer to you
We will always present every offer to you, even if we think you won’t accept it.
We do this for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, we have a legal obligation to declare any and all offers that we receive on your behalf. So, if you do get an offer that’s lower than you’d like, please don’t think we don’t respect or value your property – we’re simply doing our duty to you.
The second reason is this:
When we talk about getting you the best price, we’re normally talking about getting you the highest price.
But that’s not always the case – sometimes, the best price is the price that gets you moved quickly.
Circumstances and priorities change. With that in mind, almost every offer is worth considering. And if you want to talk through what any given offer could mean for you, we’re only a phone call away,
Promote (not just advertise) your house
Anyone can take a picture of a house, stick it in a newspaper and call it advertising.
But actively promoting your home?
That’s a totally different ballgame.
Think back to the table in the hallway example from point 1. The same principles apply when it comes to promoting your property.
We know what’s likely to attract someone to your home and, as a result, we know exactly where we’ll focus our marketing.
This expertise informs the choice of photos we use on the property brochure, the angles we take them from and the order we put them in.
It also informs how we write your property description. Ultimately, our aim here is to secure viewings with the right people. We want to engage their emotions as well as their brains and get them into a buying mindset before they even put a foot through your door.
Get to know your red lines
Managing buyer expectations is the cornerstone of effective negotiations.
For example, let’s say that your house is on the market at £250,000 and we know you’d consider anything over £240,000.
The buyer can only afford up to £225,000 so showing them your house would be a waste of time.
If we did show them around, they’d inevitably fall in love with the house and make a low offer, and be bitterly disappointed.
Worse, that initial offer will probably get your hopes up too. Not to mention the time you’d waste getting your house ready for the viewing and the inconvenience of re-organising your schedule.
Now, you’re probably wondering how can we know the buyer can only afford £225,000.
The answer may surprise you…
…we ask.
Whenever someone calls to book a viewing we always ask a suite of key questions to get the information we need to understand their situation.
As you’d expect, that includes how much they are willing (and able) to spend.
If they have a house on the market, we want to know how much it’s on the market for. If they are first time buyers we want to know how much they can borrow.
We’re not asking these questions to be nosy or to put potential buyers off. We’re asking them because they help us do right by everyone involved. When you’re selling your house, there’s nothing worse than having your hopes built up only to be let down at the last hurdle.
It’s a situation we will do everything we can to avoid.
What we won’t do
What we won’t do
Lie to you
We all want to be liked and, by extension, we want people to like our homes.
However, the chances that everyone will love and adore your home as much as you do are slim to none. Think back to some of the houses you’ve viewed in the past and you’ll understand where we’re coming from!
That said, the good news is we only need to find one person who wants to make your house their home.
With that in mind, there’s little point in being economical with the truth when it comes to viewing feedback. Obviously, it’s deeply unethical but that’s not all – poor feedback that omits critical information has a practical impact.
If you don’t know why someone didn’t like your house, you can’t do anything to fix it. Therefore, it’s vital that we give you all the information you need to (potentially) secure a sale on the next viewing.
Give you false hope
Unfortunately, we’re not mind-readers so we can’t always tell if a viewer is going to make an offer or not.
However, our years of experience have made us pretty good at predicting one way or the other.
“We could put a sofa there” is a strong buying signal, whereas “We’ll let you know” is usually a resounding “no”.
Of course, it’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea. So, even if we’ve not had a firm “yes” or “no” from the viewer, we’re well-positioned to give you a reasonably accurate take on how well the viewing went and what is likely to happen next.
Pretend
So much can change from the first time we meet to the moment we get you an offer.
Anything from your timescales to the property market, in general, can alter dramatically. Therefore, what might have been a decent offer when you first came on the market may no longer be so fair.
And if that happens, we’ll tell it to you as it is.
We are laser-focused on securing you the very best outcome on the sale of your property. Whether that’s price, speed of sale, or a balance of the two. Nothing less will do. This means we’ll never pretend that things are better than they are.
If the market has taken a turn for the worse or you need to move fast, and it’s going to affect what we can achieve in terms of price you’ll be the first to know so you can plan accordingly.
In a nutshell…
Fundamentally, getting the best price for your property is a process of demonstrating the value of your home and understanding the buyers’ financial limitations.
That process starts at your market appraisal and doesn’t end until you pull up in the removal van and hand your keys over to us.
We’ll be your advocate every step of the way.
Lottie Hostead
01733 511099
lottie.hostead@belvoir.co.uk
