This article is a follow up on the March 2021 article: “Fatal 5 sins, when selling your property”. The assumption is made that you have read and understood that article, which is considered the foundation.
The new information to sell your property fast, will contribute on the fine tuning to a successful sale.
To be successful, it is advisable to reverse the roll, the perceptions of you as the seller, and place yourself in the shoes of the purchaser. For a short while, put your “purchaser’s hat” on.
The bigger picture is that most purchasers are overwhelmed with information from various sources. Some information is confirmed by other sources. Some information is totally removed from reality and what is actually happening and what is seen in the market. Some information is built on misinterpretations that covers the truth and cause potential financial losses. This current belief system entails that there should always be a lower offer than the advertising price. This belief is established due to the fact that the majority of properties advertised, is actually overpriced. It is just logical then, that this became a ground rule by purchasers. Purchaser are looking at many properties on various advertising platforms. A ton of effort is invested to make an appointment, take time off, visit the property with expectations on what is advertised, just to find out the property is not exactly how they envisioned it and a far cry from the manipulated photos. Few estate agents elaborate of the workmanship. The word renovation is also misleading, unless it stated what exactly has been renovated or replaced with other fittings. Misunderstanding like this and other miscommunications is the core foundation of the mistrust the purchaser have in the industry and rightly so. Some purchasers are really uninformed and they will need assistance and be guided by facts. Other purchasers are very well informed and they will easily expose if the truth is twisted to finalize the deal, which may not be to their benefit. The third group of purchasers may pretend to be well informed, but will double check information after words before they commit to sign any contract.
Now, trade your purchaser hat for the seller’s hat. Back in the role as a seller. It is important to accommodate the purchaser’s point of view and know their fears and frustrations. Only from this point of view will you be different from the mainstream and stand out as a seller. If a seller is out of touch with what is going on in the market and form part of the mainstream, overpriced properties, with false claims on the property, the property will also fall in the category of being in the market for an unrealistic long period of time, with no result. It is not always a comfortable idea to know that the purchaser determines the market price what they are prepared to pay and not the seller. Finally, without a purchaser, there cannot be a successful transaction.
Knowing how important it is, let us move to what is important for purchasers and when are they willing to pay top prices and que up for a property with full offers. This is the position the seller wants to be in ultimately.
For this exercise from this point, we make the assumption that the purchaser is knowledgeable, knows exactly the area (micro pocket within the suburb where your property is situated), has the funds to pay for your property and is pre-approved already. Lastly and surely the most important one, it is a serious purchaser.
Below are the areas that the purchaser will surely focus on:
- Price
- First impressions
- Correct information
- Trust
- Do I like the person sharing the information (private sale: the owner, or whoever represent the transaction for example, the estate agent)
- The property should be market-ready.
1. Price:
Serious purchasers are looking for properties in the category that they are pre-approved for. Example: Property 24 – looking for properties in Eldoraigne, Centurion. One of the selected price range for this site is: Minimum @ R1 750 000. Maximum: R2 000 000.
If your property is advertised for R2 150 000, but the market value is only R1 900 000, you will miss all serious potential purchasers. Purchasers looking for properties above R2 000 000, will see your property, but will easily notice your property has less to offer that other properties advertised between R2 000 000 and R2 100 000 for example.
Even if statistics indicated from the website that for example a 120 people click on your property, but no call is received, it is a clear indication that something is amiss. That something is the price tag and cannot be ignored. Price adjustment should be made, unless you are not a serious seller.
2. First impressions:
Photos
The old saying that first impression last, holds truth with properties as well. The quality of the photos should be striking. To add a drone photo or two will let your property stand out, in fact it would be stunning, if the property is well maintained, irrelevant what the size is. Drone photos immediately give a purchaser a bigger view from an angle that will keep the attention of a protentional purchaser. The second advantage is that the purchaser will have a clear view of the roof, to zoom in and see if the roof is well maintained. Most probably the last view of the roof from such an angle, even if they purchase the property. This builds trust as it is clear, that there is nothing to hide on areas not visible when purchasing a property, if the drone photo was not added.
Quality additional photos add to plenty of value. Photos are the first impression for the potential purchaser. This will greatly contribute to the reality if a purchaser will contact you, or scroll to the next property.
Description
The second impression is the wording of the advertisement. If you make use of an estate agent, request to read the wording of the advertisement, prior publishing. Common but inexcusable mistakes are when the description of advertisement refers to a “house” but it is in fact registered under a sectional title plan. There are some advertising platforms that do not have the a “tick box” for a duet. A duet has all the characteristics of a dwelling, but is in fact registered as a sectional title property. This should be explained to a potential purchaser and plenty of owners of duet properties told CN Valuers, that they have a full title property.
Another sin under the description, and I am sure, every single person who ever scroll through properties advertised came through such an advertisement where the main focus is not on the facts, but rather on the emotions and a clear, but poor attempt to manipulate or attract the interest of a purchaser. There are many examples, but the one that stands out is where a description, which should be based on facts, turn out into an essay and gets lost in nostalgia.
3. Correct information
- The golden rule is to share relevant information. Information triggered by emotions are seldom of any use to a purchaser.
- There will always be emotions when selling a property by the owners. Very important to know that purchasers do not share the same emotions. Your property is most probably just a number. Number 2 of the 5 properties that they will view.
- Correct, direct and honest information on the property will lead us to the next important step and closer to a signed offer. This is trust.
4. Trust
Sub-consciously people will know when someone share information that is not the truth. If a potential purchaser catches you on a lie, you and or the estate agent will most probably lose a potential purchaser to make an offer. That is also the reason why it is important to work with an estate agent with high values and knowledge. Whether it is deliberately done or by a lack of knowledge and experience, misinformation is never the best course of action. Possible claims may follow and a property that is not sold. People will buy if they like you and knows you are playing open cards with them. The same applies for the estate agent. It is better to choose an estate agent with knowledge and sound values.
5. Do you like the person sharing the information?
6. The property should be market-ready
- Clutter: A property should be clean and not cluttered. A cluttered property can sit in the market with little or no interest from viewers/potential buyers, comparing how quickly a similar property is sold once the property is de-clattered”. A seller will never, ever receive the same price if the property is untidy, with too many objects in the house, comparing to a property that is decluttered. Even the furniture in the property has an influence, although everybody knows the furniture is not part of the sale, few purchasers can distance themselves from that pitfall, to look past the current furniture. A little bit unfair in practice, but worth mentioning.
- Maintenance: A well-maintained property will always receive higher offers. Even if the fittings are older, but neat and impeccable maintained, potential purchasers feel more comfortable to pay even slightly higher than the market value, for well-maintained properties. Financial Institutions valuers will value more conservative on properties where there is clearly a lack of maintenance as this is a higher risk for bond purposes sue to time periods much longer to sell and lower offers.
- Renovated properties: In middle and middle/higher income suburbs, are always popular with potential purchasers, if the workmanship and colour schemes are good, prices even higher than the costs of renovations are possible as potential purchasers know the effort and time to renovate a property. As long as it is not over capitalized and secondly the most important parts of the house such as kitchen, bathrooms and floor covering with upgraded finishes are always a winner. In areas that is not popular such as “C” or “D” risk areas, renovations can easily over capitalize your property, and you may have a financial loss on capital invested towards renovations, when selling.
Other information and previous articles for 2021 are available to scrutinize on www.cnvaluers.co.za
Register here for a free zoom session to have insight on a professional valuation done on a duet property, where the content of this article will even become clearer when sharing that document and photos with you, as well as the dangers, how a tenant can jeopardise a deal for an owner and estate agent.
The discussions will close with assistance, how to prevent such a dilemma. This will be extremely valuable information to all property owners and potential sellers. You will also experience the importance of a motivated valuation report in context with the property in discussion.