How To Get The Best, Full Asking Price, For Your Property

We've provided this handy rundown of the most important aspects to think about when putting your property up for sale.

Get the marketing price right

Setting a realistic marketing price for your property when you first put it in on the market is very important.

Obviously, you want to get the best price for your home. In order to do this, you need to:

1. Visit the property portals and search for similar properties to your own for an idea on their condition and plus and minus asking prices. You need to understand that the asking prices of properties are often as much as 5% above the actual sold price, so keep this in mind when setting your asking price
2. Get an independent professional opinion. A Surveyor, used to valuing properties as part of their job has the knowledge and experience to do this and their advice will be totally impartial. Remember for a couple of hundred pounds in a valuation fee you might find your home is worth thousands more in the asking price, therefore, money well spent. You can get a quote from a surveyor here.
3. Decide how quickly you want to sell. If you have found a property that meets your requirements, then pitching the sale price slightly below similar properties might be the best way forward. If there are a large number of similar properties to yours on the market, then your property will have to be keenly priced or in exceptional condition to stand out from the crowd
4. If you don’t have to sell, then making your property stand out from the crowd will be the best option. So, what might be the best aspect your property has: Good parking, new kitchen, rear extension, south facing rear garden? Highlighting the best feature first is always a good idea
5. Make sure you engage an estate agent that has proven success in selling properties of your type in your area

Preparing your property for sale

• Show your property in the best light to get the best price
• Keep your property tidy all the time it is on the market, consider moving things into storage to provide an uncluttered feel to your property
• Do all the little maintenance jobs you have been putting off for another day
• If any rooms are in need of decorating, then put aside a weekend to bring these rooms up to scratch as it will pay dividends in the long run
• Make sure your garden and outside areas are looking the best they can to give a great first impression to viewers

Manage your estate agent

• If you want to get the best price for your property you cannot just leave your estate agent to get on with it
• Go through the property details carefully before you agree with them to ensure your property is described fully and all the best features are included
• Scrutinise all the photographs and make sure, where possible, that there are no cars, wheelie bins or rubbish in any photographs
• If you are not happy with the standard of photographs then ask your estate agent to take them again to ensure they represent your property in the best way possible
• If you have not received any viewings in the first week of putting your property on the market then chase up your estate agent to see what action they are taking to rectify this
• Set up a contact schedule with your estate agent to make sure you are kept fully informed about the progress of your property sale
• Make sure your estate agent provides comprehensive feedback on any viewings so you can rectify, if possible, any negative feedback/deficiencies highlighted by viewers

Managing viewings

• Make sure your property is fully prepared for every viewing, clean and tidy and that your house is not full with family or friends when the viewing takes place as these can leave negative thoughts
• Try to book your viewings all together at a weekend this will give viewers the impression that there is strong competition for your property
• If you have managed to book all your viewings for the weekend any offers should be forthcoming on a Monday and this may drive competition between offers received

Managing Offers

• When you start receiving offers they will usually be for below the asking price but do not reject these offers out of hand
• Find out why they are offering lower than the asking price and try to work with your estate to get nearer to the asking price
• If you are getting a number of offers you can you use this competitive situation to your advantage by setting one off against another in a bidding war

Conclusion

If you use our tips you will be more likely to sell your property for the full asking price. If in the end, you do agree to sell below the asking price you will know that you have made the best effort to achieve the maximum price for your property.

Remember money can be made or lost not just in selling but also in buying. To get the best deal on your new home find out what defects might be hidden by getting a full survey and use these defects to get money off. Get your free surveyors quote here

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