Marketing Your Property

Marketing Your Property ‘the Neilsons way’ – A Five Step Process

• 1. Property Appraisal
• 2. Property Administration
• 3. Property Launch
• 4. Property Marketing
• 5. Sale Conveyancing

Helpful Selling Advice and Strategies Explained

House Doctor Appraisal

It is important to present your property for sale in such a way as to appeal to the widest possible range of buyers. Expand the text below for our top House Doctor tips…

Presentation is key. 

Properties which reflect a previous occupier’s taste in decoration presents an impediment to the prospective purchasers taking the all important mental step of projecting themselves and their life into the property and moving their furniture in. The decision to buy is an emotional not a rational process and you must create the environment for that thought process to take effect. Everything that follows stems from that basic principle.

• Freshen paintwork on any outside doors and windows.

• Freshen paintwork inside the property in a neutral colour scheme – bold fashion statement colours don’t work with the majority of purchasers!
• Thoroughly clean the property particularly the kitchen and bathroom. Fresh cleaning sprays make a better impression than a strong smelling bleach. Don’t forget the windows.
• De-clutter by removing bulky items, excess furniture toys and gym equipment and store off site. These items will impact on a potential purchaser’s concept of the space available in the property.
• Define clearly the function of each room or part of the room. A bedroom should where possible have a bed in it rather than used a storeroom. A study area should have a desk and chair and a dining kitchen should have a small table and chairs.

• Plants provide good feng shui and can purify the air. Fresh flowers also make a good impression – consider placing some in your kitchen and living room.
• Depersonalise: Remove the personal items which get in the way of the viewer imagining his or herself moving into your home: family photographs, souvenirs, slippers, signs of domesticity etc all get in the way of this essential process.
• Tidy the garden and edge the lawn. Remove dead plants and leaves and if possible pressure hose the path. There is a theory that potential buyers make up their mind about the property in the first three minutes so the kerb appeal impression is crucial.
• Final touches – new white linen for sheets and fluffy white towels. Cushions often work best in bolder colours to counterbalance neutral painted walls.

Any questions? Give us a call today!

Viewings

Before the first viewing have a walk round each room and think of what features you will wish to bring to the viewer’s attention when conducting the tour. Expand the text below for our top viewing tips…

• Remove clutter from the hallway including coat stands, bikes, toys and shoes.
• Use lighting and prints to make the best use of light and create a sense of space. Uplighters create diffused lighting to good effect. You can create an impression of space in any room by improving the lighting; painting the walls in a bright neutral colour, and putting up a large scale landscape print and /or a large mirror.
• Clear all signs of domesticity: washing up liquid, basin, draining board and any clutter and gadgets from the kitchen – keep your work surfaces clear with only a bowl of fresh fruit or a vase of flowers.
• Switch on table lamps, unit lights and cooker hood lights at all viewing times – even in daytime – this will add light and brightness to the property.
• Switch on any coal effect fires.
• Fresh Flowers brighten any room. A basket of fresh fruit also works well.
• The smell of a good quality furniture polish or fresh cleaning spray gives a better impression than air freshener or a bleach spray.
• Scented Yankee Candles/Yankee Candle Wax burners provide lovely subtle scents.
• If you have squeaky floorboards try putting talcum powder in the joints.
• If you have a particularly uninteresting room that may be a good time to talk about the other good points of the property generally – the school catchment area – the good local shops, the excellent neighbours – the bus service – the community spirit.
• Feel free to ask the potential purchaser questions to break the ice – do they know the area well? Why are they considering moving? etc.

What Next

Don’t get carried away and make misrepresentative statements, although you have no obligation to draw any bad points to the viewer’s attention. That is the job of the  surveyor. You must answer any direct questions truthfully and accurately but you do not have to volunteer any information about any negative aspects.

Open the door of each room and allow the viewer to walk in. You should stand at the door and describe the features of the room. If you go in to the room with the viewer the room will appear smaller. Never ever go in to a room and stand in the window.

Keep an informal Visitor’s Record to enable you to keep a track of who’s who when you receive a note of interest or an offer.

Engaging In Conversation

Never talk money with the viewer. We are professional negotiators with many years’ experience in property sales and you may complicate the negotiations if you commit yourself to a deal without reference to the big picture. Bear in mind it is only in the purchaser’s interest to do a deal directly – never in your interest!

If asked what figure you have in mind, say only that your solicitors have recommended this price structure but that it is for the prospective purchaser to submit any offer in writing and you will consider it with your Solicitor.

“Any Offer not in writing is not worth the paper it’s not written on”.

Marketing Price structures

There are three main marketing price structures. Expand the text below to find out more…

Offers Over

In a strong market, properties are set at an ‘Offers Over’ price. This can be anywhere from 10% to 15% below the figure the sellers are hoping to achieve in order to attract interest. We consider the Home Report valuation when recommending the ‘Offers Over’ figure’. The ideal situation using this form of marketing price structure is for lots of parties to be interested in submitting an Offer in which case a competitive closing date would be set. This style of marketing became less common during the difficult market of 2008-2012 where there was regularly only one interested party with choices of property to pursue. The Fixed Price structure became more common during that period. However, confidence in the market is growing and it is truly a sellers market at present therefore Offers Over is a key marketing price structure.

Fixed Price

‘Fixed Price’ means in theory that the first Offer received at the fixed price would be accepted if agreement could be reached on other issues, principally date of entry.

The fixed price strategy works best if you have a property where there is a “book price” for the property and there is very little likelihood you would receive an Offer in excess of that price.

A fixed price will sometimes secure a quicker sale if the property has been on the market for a while at an alternative price structure without interest from buyers. However, going to a fixed price means that you are unlikely to achieve a price in excess of the fixed price and you may end up with less than the fixed price.

Unless there is a specific reason to do so, such as personal circumstances, a property which is likely to be popular should never be advertised at a fixed price straight away. You may end up with several quick Offers all at the fixed price when you could have fixed a closing date and achieved a far greater price at “offers over” or indeed “offers around”.

Offers Around

The most recent addition to marketing price structures is ‘Offers Around’. Home Reports have changed the marketing choices because they contain a full survey report including a valuation.

Edinburgh and the Lothians are a patchwork of different locations and styles of property and, as a result, every potential sale has to be marketed individually.

An active market would respond well to an ‘Offers Over’ strategy, the figure being modest enough to attract good interest. However, since the arrival of Home Reports, ‘Offers Around’ has been equally popular.

Recently, the improvement in the current market has favoured the ‘Offers Over’ style with the intention of attracting more than one potential purchaser, setting a closing date and encouraging all interested parties to bid their best price.