This is naturally one of the first questions home owners ask themselves before they sign a listing with a Real Estate Agent and begin the marketing campaign for the sale of their property.
The three areas I know, that make an absolute difference to an eventual sale price are;
IMAGE
COMMUNICATION
PHYSICAL VISITS
The first step for you as a property owner is to walk through your property and take notes about things around your property that may need doing but that you have been putting off. We all have them around our homes!! So.......Yes, repaint the door your dog loves scratching. Yes, do paint touch ups where obviously needed. Yes, fix the wonky tap and the door handle that is loose and Yes clean up the exterior surrounds of your property. (Over grown lawns, Green swimming pools and Dead plants in pots look forlorn, its NOT the look you want!) This isn't a question of hiding things from potential buyers, if these things have been bothering you then the chance is they will also be noticed by buyers and the better your property looks on first inspection, the more chance it has of appealing to potential buyers.
Every property is unique and making an effort to MAXIMISE your properties appeal to the marketplace both through internet exposure and also in person i.e. physical tours of your property are the most important tools you have.
COMMUNICATION must be precise and part of an agreed marketing plan because nothing sinks a properties value faster than mixed messages from various agencies as they compete to sell the property by undercutting each other on the perceived sell price they will quote to potential buyers.
A truly negative image is when a BUYER clicks on the internet to look at properties in a particular area and sees the same property listed with different agencies with different texts, different images and YES, often different prices!!! By browsing the internet you will quickly find multiple examples of this.
The buyers first question is immediately; ' Whats WRONG with that property'.
If you want to MAXIMISE your sales price don't make this common mistake. Listing with multiple agencies and over exposing your property is a sure sign to buyers that there is something wrong with the property or the sellers are 'DESPERATE'.
If you want to make sure your sale price is MAXIMISED choose 'ONE' local agent who can represent your property, not just to the local marketplace but the global marketplace through the internet and social media. What this does is gives buyers a single line of clear communication (no mixed messages on price or vendor expectations) and gives the agent the ability to adapt changes in the marketing campaign quickly and also take advantage of multiple interested buyers to achieve a maximum market price for YOU. Your properties desirability is immediately increased with carefully controlled marketing and making sure property buyers see one consistant image of your property on the worldwide web. For the seller, it also takes away the stress when with one phone call or email they can be quickly updated on the progress of the marketing program for the property rather than having to check with multiple sources.
The PHYSICAL VISIT is also an important part of the marketing of your property.
My golden rule is that the property owners are NOT present for visits! There is nothing worse that sellers HOVERING while prospective buyers TRY to look around their home.
I find buyers are much less forthcoming if the owner is present and buyers will not be frank about what they are feeling or feel free to have a really good look around; i.e. opening up kitchen cupboards and drawers to see storage space or just resting on a comfortable sofa to take in a beautiful view.
Buyers need to take their own time to discover a property and to have questions answered by a non emotional third party who won't be offended by comments such as;
'I love the property but dislike the kitchen and the living room floor tiles are dreadful!'
While an owner would start grinding his teeth a good agent can minimise these negatives by for example offering to arrange for the buyers to contact a local tradesman to give them a quote to make the changes that could turn YOUR property into their PERFECT home. A good agent can turn negatives into positives and this will ensure you MAXIMISE the sales price you will achieve.
IMAGE is everything!
Images really can paint a thousand words which is why the images of your property on the world wide web are so important. My goal is to present evocative images that invite potential buyers to want to see more of a particular property. I take my own photographs and also use a professional photographer for larger properties that require more time and effort to achieve exceptional results. To me very property has a unique angle and my goal is to present each property looking at its best.
If you are thinking of selling your french property and have questions about how you can maximise YOUR sales price please do not hesitate to contact me for advice.