Of course, its natural to want to get the most money for your property. Who would want to sell their property for less that its market value? No one, of course. But what about competition. 

Lets say you have a shop selling shoes, and there is a shop 3 doors down that sells the same shoes for the same price, but they have a bigger range, more sizes and there shopping is generally more bright, airy and modern. How do you sell more shoes? Well realistically the main choice would be to sell the shoes that you have for less. You may take some of their customers, but still, some are not temped by the reduced price because they value the different ranges and sizes the offer. Selling a home is very similar to this. You have to think about your competition, what you are offing in comparison to everyone else, and why someone whould come to you, when there are 39 other shoe shops in the area that are closer to schools, parks and have a more modern look.

• As we spoke about briefly in another article, estate agents often over value your home without considering the other competition in order to get your business.

• You will also have sentimental value attached to your property, often making you think it is worth more than it is, but to an outsider it is just another property in a sea of property for sale.

• Many sellers boost up their price as they want to leave wiggle room for negotiations. This is a huge mistake as it will filter out in the search results when people are searching for properties. If someone wants your property they will be able to pay that extra £5,000 to £10,000, as buyers often have additional room in their budget for renovations. In addition buyers will skip over your property as they have been looking at so many option and they know what is out there, they will know if your property is overpriced and they will not bother to arrange a viewing and negotiate.

• Lying to yourself that when people move into the property they wont need to renovate – this is never true. Every person who buys a property will want to put their own stamp on it, and they will find issues with the property that doesn’t fit their style and will want to renovate, or at least paint, change the flooring and light fixtures, blinds or other things.

The biggest mistake a seller can make is thinking their property is great, amazing, competitive in the market and will be in such demand. No – there is too much choice on the market and while you think your property is brilliant, there is a better one out there somewhere for the same price.

With people now working flexible hours and hybrid or fully remote working, people no longer have to be within a 15 to 30 minute drive of their workplace, people are more flexible. So when you are comparing your property to other properties within a 1-3 mile radius, this is no longer relevant, you need to compare to properties within a 15 mile radius, people are more likely to travel further if they only have to travel to their workplace 1-2 times a week.

Labour intend to make remote and hybrid work a compulsory option for employers in the UK, therefore people are no longer constrained by location. The trend in the property market is now becoming less about location, and more about being near family and friends, staying close to childhood roots, and as many will know, your either a city person or a rural person, some choose to be closer to parks and greener areas, especially with outdoor exercise becoming more normal and trending with the younger generations. Or some tend to prefer to be within 15 minute cities, where everything you could need and more is all accessible within a 15 minute walk.

Either way, people are getting out more, so if you think being next to a school, shop, motorway or bus stop is going to entice people to buy your property, please relook at the offering. At the end of the day, your marketing specification is a sales pitch. What does your property offer that people really want? What is your USP. 9 time out of 10 you will find many properties on the market that have a better offering than you and often are more reasonably priced.

Its time to be more considerate of the competition, and price your property based on its offering and state, rather than just listing local amenities that are available with almost every other property on the market. Be competitive and be real. Its time to consider if you want to sell quickly.

If you are reasonable with your pricing and would consider taking the recommendation of experts to get your property sold in as little as 28 days, please contact us today so we can comprehensively discuss pricing and what we can do to sell your property, for free, with no selling fees. 

Call us or send us an enquiry.