So you’ve decided to sell. It wasn’t necessarily an easy decision, but nevertheless, the ‘for sale’ boards are up. What happens next will depend on a number of factors including the prevailing housing market, the price at which you are marketing and the value that’s on offer.
There have been rumblings in various media to the effect that we have entered a buyers’ market. In many areas buyers are sitting back and waiting to see what happens on the political front and keeping a close eye on the economic situation or how well the rand is (or isn’t) performing.
While buyers may be biding their time, this doesn’t stop sellers wanting to offload their properties. This means houses continue to go on the market, tipping the scales further in favour of buyers because they know that somewhere down the line, someone has to sell and will eventually drop their price.
In his recently released e-book, 5 Strategies in a Changing Market, Grant Gavin from RE/MAX Panache says it’s important that sellers are aware of what generally happens when a property is first put on the market and offers start coming in.
In most cases, everything the home owner and the estate agent do in the first three to four weeks should lead to a point where they can almost feel that something is about to happen. It is important that the seller is aware of this build-up in momentum and that they don’t let it slip by turning away a good offer.
He adds that buyers who are genuinely interested in a property are going to ask questions and the more serious the interest, the more probing these questions can be.
This, Gavin points out, is because the buyer wants to justify to themselves why they should or shouldn’t buy a particular home.
A good estate agent needs to have the answer to everything that could affect a sale either negatively or positively.
Questions regarding security are often at the forefront of most buyers’ minds, but issues such as noise as well as the overall condition of a home are generally topics that will also be raised.
Agents who are armed with all the information make a good impression on potential buyers and this will, in turn, boost the chances of a sale.
