House Selling Tips For the Best Deals

More often than not property buyers already have an ideal house in mind as they search. They have thought through details like size, design and location depending on personal tastes and preferences. This means that for your house to sell, it has to be close to your potential buyers ideal. Which is why we have put together the top property selling tips to help you get the best value out of your property.

1. Packaging Your House

Packaging is key when selling or marketing any product. It impacts on the first impression a potential buyer has of the product. For a product to be attractive to a buyer, it has to appeal to factors they consider crucial in their decision making. To package your house, here are things you should consider working on;

Walls

The building obviously cannot be neglected. Touch up the walls; both the interior and exterior. Scrape off peeling residual paints. Fill up any nail holes with sand and putty before the paint job is done. Replace any old wallpapers with new ones to leave a smooth, fresh finish. Experienced painters come in handy here.

Pipes and Storage Fixtures

Conduct renovation on the interior fixtures that need touch ups. Replace taps, fix leaking pipes, repair and repaint cupboards and drawers and have the floors redone if necessary.

Doors, Windows and Netting

Door locks should be of good quality and in proper shape. If their current state doesn’t reflect quality, replace them. Windows should be clean and easy to open. The netting, if any, should be firm and rust-free.

Furnishing

If you’re selling the house with furnishings, you might want to hire the services of an interior decorator, who would know how to get nice items on a budget. Or, better yet, handle the furnishing yourself especially if you have an eye for aesthetics. The truth is that the more tastefully furnished your home looks, the more valuable and sellable it becomes.

The Surroundings

Do not underestimate the value of the exterior to your selling efforts. Anyone buying a house would like to imagine themselves in clean, tendered surroundings. Ensuring this contributes to the general appeal of the house and may as well contribute to its overall value.

Gardens play a pivotal role in the home. Whether it’s the kid’s playground, your venue for hosting family and friends or simply just a space of your own to relax in. Given the key role gardens play in homes, it is no surprise that improvements made to gardens can help you sell your property faster and at an increased value.So, if you’re contemplating selling off your home, it will be wise if you’ll roll up those sleeves; get that shovel and head to the garden to create the best possible view for prospective buyers and thereby, increase your property’s worth.

Home Staging

Another way of maximising returns from a property sale is home staging. The potential buyer would love to see how comfortable he can be in the house. This can be done by staging a normal everyday home setting to spark up the buyer’s imagination. Rearrange the furniture. Clear unwanted items in the house. Set a comfy and relaxing atmosphere by using candles to light up the interior and create a homely effect.Finally, it is important to keep the buyer in mind and not have too much of your own style in the staging of the property because you must remember that you are selling to someone else, not yourself.

2. Understand Your Potential Buyer

Their Profile

Depending on the location of the house and the value attached to the house, as a seller, you must have a rough idea of the kind of buyers that will come your way. If your house is a three bedroom maisonette in Lekki, you have a rough idea the profile of buyers to expect. This will help you as you conduct renovations, it will inform the kind of fixtures to put in place.

Show Genuine Interest

Everyone wants to be listened to and to feel special. Like it or not, this is the way people think, especially when they think they are doing you a favour. Discerning buyers might be able to smell your lack of interest in their welfare from miles away. It makes them presume that you’re only interested in selling off the property; not caring if it truly meets what they really want and need. It never hurts to be a little friendly and to show a little empathy. This will make the buyer trust you and be more open to hearing why he or she should buy the property you have to sell.

Don’t Get Clingy

When you have a property for sale, avoid being seen as a ‘clingy seller.’ We all know it can be very tedious to sell a property. However, as a property seller, you should just present your property to your buyer and give them space and time to think and really have a good review on the property you have presented to them. Selling a property is a business transaction and it is good to stay as dispassionate as possible.

Don’t Force It

Selling is a skill which very few people are excellent at. As a property seller or agent, your aim is to close many deals as quickly as possible.

Knowing that a delay could mean another agent closes the deal before you, there is the tendency of wanting to coax prospective buyers/tenants to make their decision quickly

However, this rarely turns out well for both parties.

3. What to Consider When Pricing

How to Get your Home Valued

To get the market value of your house, it is advisable to enlist a trusted professional. An approximation may result in overvaluing or undervaluing your house. Even though there are online property companies that offer valuation services, nothing beats the experience of a professional that takes into account tangible details of your house like building materials, soil texture and others.

Advertise the Price

Pricing is also a major factor. Fewer things will frustrate a buyer more than looking at an advertised property with no price. Your listing is usually the first time a possible buyer will see your house.If the required detail isn’t there, it’ll have to be something truly unique that gets them digging deeper, rather than just scrolling past to the next property that meets their criteria.

Budget is important for a buyer. It’s not always possible to pin down a finite figure, but if the property you are advertising doesn’t have a negotiable price listed, it’s a top turnoff for buyers (even if the property is reasonably priced).

Cut Down the Possibility of Fraudulent Transactions

The major reasons most people choose to check properties online instead of visiting high street agents is because of stress, price and credibility. Spotting a fraudulent real estate agent can be difficult, especially when you are dealing with a true con man who knows the ins and outs of the industry, but online property websites are more credible with verified agents and they offer you the same services for a lot less money. Most online agencies also give the control over your sale, allowing you to manage viewings, offers and negotiation yourself.

Timing is Crucial

Timing can also be a factor. If you’re eager to sell quickly, you might want to consider setting a competitive price to attract buyers, but if you aren’t in a hurry you may wish to set it a bit higher to obtain the optimum price.Take into consideration the season (time of year) too; for instance, in Nigeria, the dry season is the best time of the year to sell a property. Meanwhile, selling your property in December can be difficult as many people are away or don’t have the spare funds to move.

Remember to Manage the Sale

As an online seller, you can manage your ad, your viewings and your negotiations yourself.

In essence, you determine the pace of the sale. Meeting the buyers during the viewings will help establish a relationship that will make communication so much easier when conveyancing (the legal process of transferring property from one owner to another) begins.You should have an open channel of communication with the buyer to ensure everything runs quickly and credibly. You can also leverage on innovative property marketing solutions online for easy and fast property sale.

With the opportunity to save millions of naira on your house sale, and with approximately 95% of property buyers starting their search on the internet, you no longer need to depend on unreliable high street agents to achieve the sale of your property.

4. The Art of Selling

Marketing

Marketing your house involves the steps you take to make it known to potential buyers that it is up for sale. The creativity in the presentation of the property to your potential buyers and marketing strategy recommended by your agent would go a long way in determining if you would make a good sale at the end of the day. Connecting emotionally with your buyers is a way of enhancing sales in real estate marketing.

Consider Both Online and Offline

If you’re looking to sell your property, you can either choose online or offline marketing methods.

You can walk down the street to speak to an agent, or you can do everything from the comfort of your home. The last couple of years brought Nigerian real estate investors and homeowners a number of online property marketplaces offering a cost-effective alternative to the high street by selling your property online. Ensure that your online listing is detailed and the images cover all features of the house that can pique the interest of a potential buyer.

Choose the Right Platform for you

There are currently three approaches you can take as a house seller in Nigeria. These include;

• Online platforms
• Real Estate Agents
• Personal approach
• Online Platforms

This includes platforms like Private Property that has a reach of over 1 million monthly visitors and over 120,000 properties available.

• Real Estate Agents

These are individuals or companies that sell or rent out houses on behalf of clients.

• Personal Approach

You might decide to go all the way on your own to get potential buyers for your house.

With These Tips…

Don’t rush into getting your property sold. It is important that you put everything in place to ensure you have a property that potential buyers would be excited about and use the right platforms for marketing.