Five tips for sellers

We work with buyers every single day. From our position on the other side of the coin, we see a lot of vendor decisions that make for a strong campaign. But often we see vendors get things wrong too.

Here are five insider tips to help vendors navigate the important task of selling their property.

Knowing your likely selling price

Too many vendors get stars in their eyes and take their home to market with optimistic enthusiasm, only to be upset by market reality when their marketing campaign doesn’t yield them the result they were hoping for. Crafting a plan to sell usually hinges on confidently managing the next purchase (or at least prepping for it). It is integral that sellers have an accurate/conservative estimate of their likely selling price before they embark on a sale. More importantly, knowing what sale proceed they are likely to achieve will give them an important basis for their shopping budget on their next home. When this expectation isn’t matching reality, buyers risk committing to a subsequent home purchase that could break the bank and hurt them financially.

Being firm on your ‘why’

Asking the simple question, “Why are we selling, and what is our next move” will address the ‘why’. Whether it’s case of empty nester, changing needs, growing family, friends/family across town, a new job, or simply a change of pace/change of location, it’s important to know your why. Sometimes I see sellers who have identified the drawbacks to their current home make the same mistake again. Knowing why you are choosing to sell will help identify the criteria that are important for the next move. The biggest mistakes I see people make involve emotionally driven, spontaneous decisions. It’s of little wonder that regional moves come up on conversation at the end of January. Often, people who have enjoyed a summer holiday in a cute little coastal location start dreaming about a different life, but many find out later that their new life is impractical. Pragmatism is vital for those who are contemplating a change.

Finding your person/people

This isn’t always the easiest part of the puzzle. For the uninitiated, inviting two or three local real estate agents into your home to appraise and recommend sales campaigns is daunting. What questions do you ask? Can you trust a stranger? How do you navigate decisions when recommendations from various professionals vary, and how do you discuss fees? There are a few ways around this for those who are completely outside of their comfort zone, and vendor’s advocacy is a growing service in Australia too. But for those who feel up to the task, it’s important to know that referrals and recommendations go a long way. A good idea is to attend open homes in your area and get a feel for the agents’ communication style and manner at the door. After all, they will potentially be greeting your buyers at your door.

Once agents are called in to conduct market appraisals, a prospective vendor will likely be overwhelmed with information so it’s important to limit the number of agents to a manageable figure. You can only give one agent the job, so be mindful of all the rejection conversations you’ll have to have. My best tip is to ask your own local network of friends and limit your agent figure to two or three.

You don’t have to be best friends with them. You just must feel that they have your best interests at heart, and this includes their ability to tell you the hard truths too. The biggest mistake a vendor can make when it comes to agent selection is picking the person who tells you what you want to hear.

Last point of advice: an agent who doesn’t prepare you a report with some pricing evidence and well-mapped out approach is a worry.

Having a plan with sensible dates

Most good agents will have a pipeline of vendor activity in their calendar that pushes out to a few months. While agents are masters at pivoting quickly when they must, the best results are often borne from good planning. Talking to your agent about a realistic timeline is a good idea, and this should consider your time for finding your next home, your time required to tidy up/style/fix your home too. Agents are often hands-on with styling and trade-related tasks, so tap into their market knowledge and listen to their ideas with an open mind.

Managing the transition from current home to next home

Buying and selling in the same market is usually what a vendor faces. Sometimes a vendor may be relocating interstate or some distance away and the market conditions can vary in this instance. Making the decision to buy first vs sell first is a tough one, and it should be researched and understood first. A valuable person to talk to is a strategic mortgage broker. Whether bridging finance is put in place, or a comfortable time buffer is considered, it’s critical for a vendor to know what their financial position and borrowing capacity will be. Navigating a sale and a move requires a full dashboard of financials.

Related reading: We recently had this expert tips piece published by investar also.