As we head into October, there is still time to get your home on the market, find a buyer and get your sale moving, but this is not the time to test the market or take a “let’s see what happens” approach.
The faster you can attract the right buyer and agree a sale, the more breathing space you give yourself for everything that follows, including surveys, mortgages, searches, conveyancing and the inevitable paperwork. If you want to be moved in time for Christmas then you really need to act now.
What can you do to give your home the best possible chance of selling quickly?
Get the price right from day one
This is probably the most important decision you will make.
It can be tempting to start slightly higher because you can “always reduce it later”, but an unrealistic asking price can mean losing valuable weeks at exactly the point when you cannot afford to waste them.
Your home will usually attract some of its strongest interest when it first appears on the property portals. When your listing is fresh and marketed at the right price, buyers who have alerts set up will see it and will want to book a viewing.
You want those buyers thinking:
“That looks worth viewing.”
Not:
“That seems expensive compared with everything else.”
Look at evidence of what similar properties are actually achieving and listen to an experienced abbotFox estate agent who understands your local market.
If being moved before Christmas is important to you, attracting serious buyers quickly should be the priority.
Look at your competition
Before your home goes on the market, put yourself in the position of a buyer. Search online for properties within a similar price bracket, location and property type.
What else could your potential buyer purchase?
Look at their photographs, kitchens, bathrooms, gardens, room sizes, presentation, parking and asking prices.
Then ask yourself a difficult but useful question:
If I were buying, which property would I view first?
If another property looks more appealing, work out why.
You may not be able to make your house bigger or move it to another road, but you can improve presentation, tidy the garden, repaint tired rooms, improve photographs and make sure the advantages of your property are immediately obvious.
Sell the benefits, not just the features
A good property listing should do more than provide a list of rooms and measurements.Buyers want to understand what living there could actually be like.
Instead of simply saying there is a large garden, think about the benefit. Is it secure for children or dogs? Is there plenty of space for summer entertaining? If you have a utility room, perhaps it is ideal for muddy boots, school bags or dog towels.
A driveway is not simply off-road parking. It could mean getting home after a long day without having to search for a parking space.
A home office could allow somebody to work from home comfortably without sacrificing a bedroom.
Nearby countryside could be perfect for dog walkers. A station nearby could make commuting easier, and being within walking distance of schools, shops or cafés could transform somebody's daily routine.
You know what you love about your home, so make sure prospective buyers know too.
Presentation matters
You do not necessarily need to spend thousands of pounds preparing a property for sale. You do, however, need to make it feel cared for.
Start with the basics. Declutter surfaces, clear unnecessary furniture, clean thoroughly, make beds, open curtains and blinds, and let as much natural light into the property as possible.
Pay particular attention to the entrance, because buyers start forming an opinion before they have even stepped through the front door.
Sweep the path, remove weeds, clean the door, hide overflowing bins, and make sure the front of the property looks inviting.
At this time of year, gardens can quickly become covered in fallen leaves, so keeping paths, patios and lawns tidy can make a surprisingly big difference.
Remove things that could put buyers off
You are selling your home, but during a viewing you need to temporarily stop thinking of it as your personal space.
The objective is to help buyers picture themselves living there.
Remove excessive clutter, very personal photographs if they dominate a room, piles of washing, overflowing coat racks, children's toys covering floors, and anything else that makes rooms feel smaller or chaotic.
Also think about how your home smells.
Cooking odours, cigarette smoke, damp, cat litter trays, wet dogs and strong artificial fragrances can all influence somebody's reaction to a property.
You do not need every room smelling of freshly baked bread. Clean and fresh is enough.
Have dogs? Arrange for someone to look after them
You may absolutely adore your dogs, but your buyer might not.
Even somebody who loves dogs can find it difficult to concentrate on a viewing while an excited Labrador is following them around, barking at the door or trying to make friends.
Some buyers may also be frightened of dogs or have children who are nervous around them.
If possible, arrange for someone to take your dogs out while viewings are taking place. Remove their beds, bowls, toys and other clutter where practical too.
Your buyers should be concentrating on your kitchen, garden and living space, rather than wondering whether a dog is going to appear and jump up at them.
Make viewings easy
If you need to sell quickly, flexibility matters.
A buyer who wants to view on a Saturday morning may have several other properties booked that day. If you cannot accommodate them until the following Wednesday, they could have already found something else.
Wherever possible, make your home available for viewings at different times of the day and at weekends and always make sure it is viewing-ready. When time is limited, every serious viewing matters.
Fix the little things you've stopped noticing
When you have lived somewhere for years, you stop seeing certain things.
- The cupboard door that does not quite close.
- The dripping tap.
- The cracked light switch.
- The peeling paint by the back door.
- The blown lightbulb in the hallway.
Individually, these are tiny issues. Together they can make buyers wonder how well the property has been maintained. Walk through your home as though you have never seen it before and make a list. Those small jobs you have been meaning to do for six months? Now is the time to do them.
Have your paperwork ready
Finding a buyer is only the first stage.
If Christmas is your target, you also want to prevent unnecessary delays once an offer has been accepted, so start gathering important paperwork now. That could include guarantees, certificates, planning documents, building regulation paperwork and information relating to alterations or improvements you have made to the property.
If you have installed something such as an electric vehicle charging point, solar panels, a new boiler or replacement windows, find the relevant paperwork rather than waiting for your solicitor to ask for it.
You can also instruct your solicitor or conveyancer early so that some of the initial administration is already underway when you accept an offer.
Be realistic when the offers arrive
Naturally, everybody wants to achieve the best possible price.
However, if moving before Christmas is particularly important to you, the buyer's position may matter as well as the number on the offer.
- Are they a first-time buyer?
- Are they already under offer?
- Are they a cash buyer?
- Do they have a mortgage agreement in principle?
- Are they part of a long property chain?
Christmas isn't far away
Christmas is always much closer than it feels.
Finding the buyer is just the beginning of the moving process, which is why homeowners hoping to move this side of Christmas need to give themselves as much time as possible.
- Price correctly.
- Present your home properly.
- Know your competition.
- Make its best features impossible to miss.
- Make viewings easy.
- And once you have a buyer, do everything possible to keep the transaction moving.
If you are thinking about selling your Norfolk home and would love to be hanging your Christmas decorations somewhere new this year, now is the time to get moving.
Thinking of selling?
Speak to the team at abbotFox and let's get your move underway.
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