Guide to Selling your home

If there’s one thing more than any other that will help your home sell quickly and for the best possible price, it’s setting the right asking price.

It’s only too easy for overpriced properties become underpriced sales. Buyers who might have helped trigger a closing date (or made an early offer to avoid a closing date altogether) hold back, leaving the property lingering on the market and looking unwanted.

That’s why it’s vital to get the valuation and pricing strategy right first time – there are no second chances.

Make sure the surveyor providing the Home Report for your home is acceptable to the major mortgage lenders. That way, you can be confident that your buyer’s lender will accept the valuation in the Home Report without instructing a mortgage valuation report of their own.

Most buyers will decide whether or not your home might be the one for them based on the first few photos they see, whether in print or online.

So it’s essential that you have your home looking its best before putting it onto the market.

Fresh pair of eyes

If you can, ask someone whose judgement you trust to look at your home as if they were a buyer and listen to what they say (we can help here if you want). It’s easy to be house proud (we are), but don’t forget that you are selling – very soon the property will no longer be your home.  Don’t let personal preferences or sentiment cloud your judgement about appealing to buyers.  In general, clean is essential and simple is good.

Expert photography

First impressions really do count, which is why high quality photography is so important.  Whichever agent you use (and we hope it’s us), if the photographs are not good enough, send them back and ask for better.

The first few days on the market are crucial to getting the best sale price; this is the point of maximum interest from buyers and the time when interested buyers will act quickly to avoid losing an opportunity.

You should be ready to act quickly if the occasion demands it.  Your agent should be giving you regular updates and constructive feedback on what viewers thought about your home.  If that’s not happening, there’s a problem.  If so, raise it now, not later.

But there’s no point in feedback if you are not listening.  Don’t dismiss criticism from buyers out of hand and, if a lot of comments are similar, be ready to act rather than hope for the best.

Annoyingly, the best offers rarely come from the buyers you liked best when they viewed your home.

That’s why it’s really better to have an experienced negotiator between you and any buyers.  Unless you are absolutely certain that the offer from the friendly couple you liked so much is the best you can get, don’t negotiate with buyers, or you may end up selling for less than full value.

A good negotiator will check the position of buyers, test their interest and push for the best possible offer without their judgement being affected by favourites.  At Pacitti Jones, we won’t recommend that you accept an offer until we’re confident that we’ve secured you the best possible sale price.

Do you accept an early offer that is hard to refuse or wait to call a closing date?  This is where expert advice comes in to its own.

As a rule, closing dates generate the highest offers.  But declining a generous early offer can be nerve wracking, so you need to be sure that you are making the right decision.

A bit of preparation while your home is on the market will help to ensure that the legal part of the sale goes smoothly.

Talk to your solicitor about the documents he or she will need long before you accept an offer.  That way, you will be ready to act promptly when the time comes.