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Marketing Your Property
Marketing your UK PROPERTY
Most of us take a few months or even years mulling over such an important decision and it is certainly critical to understand one's own reasons for taking such a drastic step for without such an understanding the move may end up being for the wrong reasons, to the wrong house, at the wrong time.
Always ask yourself “What am I trying to achieve?” for having your motivation at the front of your mind will help keep you on the road to the right home, particularly by separating the “must have” features home from those that are of lower priority on the “wish list”.
When it comes to selling your own property an analysis of the same features will help you identify the ideal buyer who is also the one that will pay you the most money!
With a bit of forethought and planning it will also help guide you in choosing which estate agent use and ensure that their marketing campaign is the most effective for the sale of your home.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR HOUSE AND IDENTIFYING THE IDEAL BUYER
Let's start off by creating a list of the positive features of your property by going through the checklist below.
Consider The Location First.
- How is it situated- village, town or rural?
- What is the local environment- residential or commercial?
- A peaceful or noisy setting?- yes it may be on a main road, but this is a benefit for some commercial activities such as a craft shop, bar/restaurant, B&B!
- How far is it from local shops, schools and transport links? How far away are business or commercial centres?
- What about recreational amenities such as surrounding countryside, footpaths, leisure lakes, tourist attractions, sports facilities etc?
- What Are The Outside Features?
- What size is the garden?
- Is it private?
- Is the garden easy to look after?
- How much space is there for animals or growing vegetables?
- What could the outbuildings be used for?
- Is it a handsome property or could it be changed to be so?
- Will it photograph well?
- Does it look cared for?
- Is there space for a pool?
- Has the pool been updated to comply with the latest regulations?
- Is there space to extend?
- What Does The House Offer?
- What are the room proportions like?
- Are there good ceiling heights?
- What are the aspects of the rooms?
- Are there any original or character features?
- When were the services updated?
- When was the property refurbished and what was done?
- Are there any guarantees for work done or appliances installed?
- Could some rooms have alternative uses- a ground floor bedroom might be a study.
Every property has positive points and most have elements which will be appealing to some buyers and not to others.
By highlighting them in your mind and communicating them to buyers within marketing and advertising literature you will maximise interest from the right type of buyer.
Thus, by stating that it's a village house with a garden of 100 m² you won't get enquires from those looking for total privacy, whereas if you have a garden of 100 m² but the house sits in the middle of nowhere with no neighbours for half a kilometre, you will!
A good tip is to ask yourself what factors made you buy the house!
Generally the more information that you can give, the more relevant the enquires that will be generated.
All dwellings sell better in the spring and summer months but this is even more the case for those in the country.
Houses in a noisy position will appeal more when there are leaves on the trees to help deaden the sound. Quaint period homes in a tourist hotspot will appeal more when buyers don't have to fight through the teeming hordes to reach it.
Some times of day or even year are busier than others- don't show prospective buyers around at 11.15 when the kids at the primary school next door are in the playground during their “break”. Conducting a viewing during the peak rush hour probably isn't going to create the best impression.
Many vendors are tempted by an agent advising a wildly optimistic asking price yet find out the hard way that such an approach can dramatically limit interest, makes the marketing “stale” and eventually gives the impression of there being something wrong with the house! The net result- a poor sale price.
In the England and Wales it is easy to see what comparable neighbouring houses have actually sold for (NOT necessarily what the owner told you!) online on websites such as www.houseprices.co.uk.
As a general rule, combining a realistic asking price set by considering the sale price of genuinely comparable properties that have actually sold (not just the quoted asking price) with a comprehensive, targeted marketing campaign will maximise the number of viewings, reassure all interested parties that they are not the “only fish in the sea” and by encouraging such competition allow the property to find its optimum price level.
Really that it just appeals to them for some unquantifiable reason.
What is without doubt though is that a positive “feel” is often to do with the overall impression and appearance of the property.
This is created both by the finish and style of the house but also by its general presentation.
A clean, tidy and warm house feels attractive to buyers but a smelly, cold and cluttered property will not.
Therefore if you want to sell easily for a decent price, get out the duster and rubbish bag and put the dog away!
The first impression a buyer will get of your property is created by the photographs!
Every effort should be made to ensure that these pictures are as positive as possible.
- Do Make Sure That You Include Photographs Of Your Home's Strong Points- That Well Presented Sitting Room; The Expensively Fitted Kitchen; Those Magnificent Views
- Do Take Photographs On A Sunny Day
- Do Take Photographs With The Sun Behind You Thus Keeping The Light On Your Target
- Do Update Your Pictures As The Seasons Change ( a house being marketed in summer with a picture showing “leafless trees” is a dead giveaway that its been on the market for a while)
- Do Make Sure that your Photographs don't show a glaring negative feature (e.g. white lines on the lane in front of your house making buyers think that it's a main road)- IF IN DOUBT, LEAVE IT OUT
- Do “Frame” your external shots with trees or some such to create an appearing setting for your property
- Don't miss off the roof or half a wall
- Don't include your car, pets or in-laws in the photo- you're trying to sell the house not the mother-in-law
This is certainly still the case when composing the Sales Particulars.
There are a wide choice of styles that you can choose from and different estate agents will have different approches but irrepstive of whether they believe in a wholly visual or a more descriptive option do make sure that you are emphasising the Situation, Local Amenities and Facilities, the Accomodation and External features.
Sometimes it's obvious where to invest e.g. a property offering fishing lakes should appear in the Angling Times, but in other cases a more general advertisement in a widely read publication may be a sound investment.
What is for sure is that the more often your house is exposed through advertising to buyers, the greater the likelihood of it selling well!
At the extreme, by only telling one buyer about its availability, you will only get the price that buyer can afford! Tell many ten's of thousands and price you receive is likely to me far higher!
If your Estate Agent knows his job he should be able to instantly advise on when and where to advertise. If they don't, find a different one!
Again different Estate Agents' have different approaches to this subject. Some will let the owner show all buyers around, some will conduct all the viewings themselves, overs will eulogise over the benefits of “Open Days”.
Usually this would mean that you start off by showing them around the inside first, then visit the garden and buildings and afterwards give them the opportunity to have a second tour by themselves in order to absorb what they've seen.
Do consider which order to show the rooms off in. Start with one of the best, keep the weaker areas to the middle of the tour and end on another high.
At the end of the second tour offer them tea or coffee and the opportunity to ask any questions whilst sitting in a comfortable environment.
Its easier to buy a house from a friendly vendor than one who's obviously just itching to see the back of you!
The rest of the Sales Process, from NEGOTIATING AN OFFER, through the SALES PROCESS to EXCHANGING CONTRACTS and COMPLTEION can be read about in www.propertyjunction.com/ukpropertybuyingprocess
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