There are a number of factors that affect a property’s price. Once you put your house out on the market, everything becomes a competition. Whether it’s against a slow market, a housing crisis, other properties or a global pandemic that might have some adverse effect on the market.
As with any competition, you’d do well to conduct research and consider a few things before plunging yourself into the thick of it. You need to arm yourself with proper tools and the right mindset when selling. It’s not enough to sell your property quickly. You also need to maximise the value you’re getting.
Here are a few tips and considerations to serve you as a guide in selling your property quickly!
Get to know the housing market
Do a little research on the housing conditions of the market you’re selling. Generally, you’d be fine with looking at country-wide statistics. But if you want to be thorough, trends and forecasts that focus on your local area would be best.
A few things that you need to consider here are:
1. Housing conditions
The housing market is volatile. Factors such as supply and demand, mortgage rates, and other external issues can tip a housing market’s performance. In February 2020, the average house price in the UK was £230,332, with a 120.8 index. This is lower compared to that of January by 0.6%.
In mid-2020, the UK house sales is predicted to collapse because of the pandemic freezing the housing market. If you want your property to do well, you need familiarise yourself with these statistics. While you are not in control of the statistics, you can optimise your pricing better if you know these things.
2. Demand levels
You can get a good idea of what the market is like through acquainting yourself with the inventory levels of properties being bought and sold in the market. This way, you can keep track of whether you, as a seller, is being favoured by the market. You can also analyse how long it takes for properties to sell in your area.
For example, in Scotland, the volume of residential sales in 2018-2019 decreased by 32% at 101,628 in comparison to the highest recorded sales in 2006-2007.
3. Look at comparable listings
One good way to get ahead of the competition is to conduct a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). Look for recently sold properties that are similar to yours. You can consult with a professional for a comprehensive CMA, but if you know what you’re doing, you can do this on your own.
When looking at comparable homes, it needs to be within your local area. It’s even better if it’s in the same neighbourhood. The recency of the sale also matters. It has to have been sold within the last three months.
Then you can go for the physical properties. It’s best to look at properties that are of similar age as yours. When it comes to the size, make sure that the square footage is within a 10% difference. This means that if your house is 2000 square feet, houses that are 2200 and 1800 square feet will perform similarly to yours. This way, you can have more accurate comparisons.
Edge out the competition
Once you’ve done your research, you may come across competitions. This is normal in any market. Now, if you want to get ahead and win the race, here are a few things you can do.
1. Get to know the competition
After looking at comparable listings, you can also look at things such as withdrawn and expired listings, pending sales and active listings. This way, you can see what they’re doing wrong or right.
Prices can change, of course, and it’s the seller’s decision how much they value their properties for. As such, the asking price on listings may not be that accurate. If you want to be aggressive about it, you can contact the listings’ agents and ask some questions. This will help you gain better insight on the competition.
2. Consider undercutting the price of your home
This is another aggressive method to sell. This may sound counterintuitive since you’re looking to get the best value for your house. But if we’re talking about optimising time and profit, you can start a bidding war!
If you strategically lower your property’s price, multiple offers will come through. Sellers are not the only one competing in this market, after all. Buyers will try to get ahead of other buyers. After all, it’s such a “low-priced” property. However, when the bidding war starts, buyers will inevitably offer higher and you may get more than your original asking price.
3. Avoid overpricing
It’s tough for sellers to put a price on a home, especially if they’ve lived there for years. Even after doing their research, some might stretch the price upward as much as they think they can. This is something you have to avoid.
If you overprice your property, it will stay in the market longer than it should. When this happens, you’re giving the buyer a lot of room to offer lower. This ultimately foils your plan, which was to sell a house quickly and with the best value.
Most of the time, “guess-pricing” isn’t the best way forward, especially in a market with a lot of competition. Thinking strategically and keeping yourself informed might just give you the edge.
Aggressive strategies can be risky, but it can have high returns. There are also a lot more factors that may become obstacles for you. If you want to secure your property’s value, it’s always best to talk to an estate professional and create a proper plan.
We hope this article helped you. If you need any more guidance, don’t hesitate to contact us! 0191 486 2386