Island Life Magazine Ltd November/December 2005 | Page 46

PROPERTY FEATURE

What can I do to
sell my house?
We’ve all heard tales of friends who put their property on the market one day
and had the SOLD sign up the next – but with the market now slowing down to
a more realistic pace, it may take a little more time, effort and attention to
detail to clinch that sale.
So how do you make sure YOUR home is at the top
of a buyer’s “want to see” list?

1. Choose the right
estate agent
This is the first vital decision you’ll need
to make. Take a look at what’s on the
books of several local agents and choose
one that seems to focus on properties of a
similar type to yours. There’s little use in
instructing an agent who normally markets
trendy apartments or country estates, if
yours is a traditional 3-bed semi!
Also, remember that you need to have a
rapport with your chosen estate agent, so
choose one you can communicate easily
with, and who, you feel, is on your
wavelength. After all, the agent will
effectively become your business partner
during the selling process, and if
communication is poor, then working
conditions are hardly going to be easy. Ask

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yourself if you believe in your agent’s
ability to sell your property.

3. Listen to the experts!

2. Get the price right

Once you are this far down the line, it is
important that you listen to your estate
agent - after all you have now effectively
employed them to do a job. Your estate
agent spends all day every day looking at
other people’s houses, and they get to know
what will attract or put off a buyer – so ask
if there are any improvements you can make
to pep up the appeal of your home. There
may be something glaringly obvious that you
don’t see because you live with it, but which
an agent will pick up instantly.
The agent will be aware of the average
buyers’ favourite colours and design features,
and can often come up with easy and
inexpensive ideas you can carry out to
present your living space in the best possible
light. Remember, you’re going to be paying
for your agency service - so make good use
of it! If you co-operate and work with your
agency, you’ll find that they are more willing
to work harder to sell your property, because
they can see that you are putting in the
effort.

Once you have decided upon your agent,
the next step is setting an asking price for
your home. The usual advice is to
approach three local agents for a valuation
and take an average. Bear in mind,
though, that valuing property is not an
exact science, which is why agents’
valuations may show a 10% or in some
cases, even 20% difference. The
temptation is always to go for the higher
valuation, but remember that agents
sometimes value on the high side in order
to get an instruction. Often, these are
the agents who may call you after a
couple of weeks of marketing, to suggest a
price reduction. Bear in mind that buyers
are currently spoilt for choice as there is
much more property on the market, so
valuing realistically \