As the news stories about the woes of the property markets continue to pile up in the media, more people are tempted to put their homes on the market in the present climate to see if they are able to sell ‘at the top of the curve’ and take advantage of the capital gains they have made in the past years of the property bubble.

While experts disagree over the size of the market ‘correction’, or the length of any downturn in the market that is likely to take place over the next few months or even years, there is little doubt that more people will be in a position where they feel under pressure to sell their property as quickly as they can. The danger is that in putting your property up for sale you will be tempted into taking a much lower offer than you should, as well as the stress of dealing with demanding buyers.

On the other hand, being unrealistic about the value of your property, the motivation of your potential buyers, and the market conditions could lead to being stuck in a situation with a property that has been extensively marketed and still does not sell, despite discounts to the price.

Some of the situations you may encounter over this period of toughening market conditions are explored here, along with some possible strategies to help you sell your property at the right time and for the right value.

Be Objective – This is particularly important when you are selling your own home, rather than any kind of investment property, but it is vitally important that you are realistic and able to take the fact that agents or buyers may suggest you sell your property for less than you think it is worth.

This does not mean that you should just give in without a fight to the first offer that comes along, when you are convinced that the property is worth far more, but make sure your position is backed up with solid facts. In market conditions as they are at present, research in the local area is even more important, and can be the key to making your sale successful. Check estate agents’ windows regularly to see what at price similar properties are on the market, as well as how quickly they move.

Also, try to compare your property to other similar ones for sale in the same area, and be as objective as you can. Essentially, these similar properties are your competition for buyers, and you need to know where your property stands in relation to them. Think about things like proximity to schools, shops and leisure facilities on the positive side, and main roads, traffic black spots and industry on the negative.

Knowing all of this, and listing where your property is stronger than most of the other similar properties on the market at the time, will allow you to price your property effectively and realistically, as well as helping in its marketing. The knowledge that your property has the best gardens of the type, or has an extension as a utility room should allow you to bring out the advantages in the details as supplied by the agent, as well as helping you to sell the property when you are conducting viewings.

Aggressive buyers and tactics – One of the biggest problems with selling with the current turbulent market conditions is that buyers will feel they are in a true ‘buyer’s market’. This means they will feel emboldened by the prospect of being more sought-after than the property they are considering buying, a situation that has not occurred in the UK for example, in at least five years. Given this fact, buyers are taking up some practices that have not been seen by vendors for a few years – some of which are just a shift in the landscape and relationship between buyer and seller, other which are a degree more unsavoury or even immoral.

One of the biggest differences that sellers will notice in the current climate is the time factor. Buyers are now far less likely to be rushed into making an offer, or improving an existing offer as they will have the impression that you need them more than they need you. While this can be true, it pays to be prepared to wait for offers and responses to come in.

Of course, this is a legitimate buying tactic in the same way that in a rising market sellers are able to make buyers wait for their responses to try to make sure they would be prepared to move their offer upwards. Buyers will feel that by holding out on making their first or follow-up offer, they are sowing the seeds to make sure that you are ‘softened-up’ for a lower offer than would otherwise be normal.

Be aware in this situation of the research you have done on the right price for your property, and be prepared to stick to your guns – but not too much. While it is quite fair to ask for a fair price in negotiation, if you are completely inflexible in the money stakes, you will scare off legitimate and fair buyers.

Once you have accepted an offer for the property, there are other things that buyers may now feel emboldened to do given the market conditions. For one thing, the agreements for fittings and fixtures may go on longer and be more intense that you might expect. Again, buyers will feel that they are in a stronger position to demand that some of the items you would have taken with you remain in place or are prepared to pay less than you want for them.

In this situation you would be well-advised to try to keep the two issues separate, while the buyer may be keen to suggest that unless you move on the fixtures and fittings the whole deal could fall apart. If they continue to be stubborn on this point, and you feel that they are close to pulling out of the sale, there may come a time to make a difficult choice. If you give in to their demands, can you be sure that this is the only issue on which they will be aggressive, or will it be a signal to them that they can push you into a corner in any of the negotiations? Would you prefer to keep this sale, no matter how much you have to smile through gritted teeth, or are you confident in finding a buyer? There is no blanket answer to this, and each situation can only be judged upon your feelings at the time.

One of the more worrying trends in recent weeks has been the idea of buyers gazundering sellers. Gazundering is a process by which buyers agree a sale price and put the wheels of the sale in motion, only to demand a hefty discount on the property price at a very late stage, often just days before completion. The discount demands can be anything up to 20 per cent off the agreed price, and sellers are left with the option of either giving in to the demands of their buyers or risking losing their sale, the house they want to buy and causing the rest of the chain to collapse.

Some websites are deliberately promoting gazundering as a legitimate bargaining tool in the house buying process, and even go so far as to say buyers should have offers accepted on three different properties to maximize the chances of one of their gazundering attempts being successful. Most people will see this as a morally-questionable way of entering into a sale, but be aware that there may be some people out there who are willing to try it.

Make the most of what you have – Many of the properties that are coming on to the market at the moment are quite similar – in some areas there are so many two-bedroom apartments for sale at the moment that sellers are dropping their prices by up to £100,000 (approx 0,000) in order to attract attention from a smaller pool of potential buyers than has been seen for some years.

In this situation, the best thing you can do is to make sure that you have maximized the features of your property that are going to attract buyers and make it stand out from all of the other properties of the same type they will have viewed already. If you have a huge kitchen, make sure it is clean and tidy but that people can see you enjoy spending time in there, if the garden is 30 yards longer then the neighbouring properties, make sure it is tidy, the lawn mowed and some colour and life are evident. You may even want to demonstrate the its lifestyle possibilities by putting out garden furniture to show how it can be used.

A recent survey also suggested that spending a small amount of money on refurbishing and remodeling parts of your property can not only get you back almost the same amount of money as the investment you put in, but will also help to make the property stand out to buyers. Purely on a monetary basis, it is said that a minor remodeling of the main bathroom in a property is the best way to spend on the interior of a property, with up to 100 per cent of the investment being made back on the property sale.

Making your property ready for viewings is also important. Some say that brewing fresh coffee or baking bread in the kitchen is the best way of making an impression on people viewing the property, but nothing will stick in their minds more than a well-presented, well cared-for home. The much-vaunted ‘kerb appeal’ factor is very important in creating the right first impression and setting the tone of the viewing. Pets and clutter should both be banished for the duration of the viewing, and if possible and necessary, you may want to send the children and partner to the park for an hour while people are viewing the property.

What you really want to create in a competitive market like we have at the present time is a lasting impression on potential buyers. If you can let each of your viewings leave with a sense that they want to be in your property, and can see themselves happy there, you have won half of the battle and will have a better chance of sticking in their minds.

Think differently – Don’t be afraid to do something a little different in marketing your property to the buyers that are out there. Remember that

Tags: Challenging, market, Property, Selling —