2. Day of appointment
You do not have to “specially” tidy up your property for the visit as I do not usually take photos during my first visit.
In order to achieve the best outcome, I believe in taking property photos using a wide-angle lens and tripod.
As they are bulky, I do not bring them with me every day. So you can relax and treat it as any other normal day.
I usually start by asking that you bring me on a tour of your property when I reach.
This quick tour allows me to know more about your property and as I walk alongside you, I will be putting myself in the shoes of a buyer.
You may ask, why does Jack put himself in the shoes of a buyer?
Putting myself in the shoes of the buyer
When a seller puts a property up for sale, there needs to be a committed buyer in order to have a successful closure.
This means the buyer is essentially the seller’s customer.
As such, we (both you and I) have to understand the customer – how the customer thinks, how the customer assesses and how the customer behaves.
If we can adapt our approach to selling the property to the needs of the buyer, we will have a higher chance of success.
I will also need your permission, to be frank, and open with you about my assessment of the property.
And then you can decide for yourself whether what I share, makes sense.
Is selling the best option?
After the tour of your property, comes probably the most important conversation that I will be having with you.
I will seek to understand why you are thinking of selling your property.
I have been in this line since 2010 and have encountered a number of cases where I discovered upon serious discussion with the sellers, that selling was seriously not the best option for various reasons.
If I feel that selling is not the right option, I would not hesitate to advise you not to proceed.
What price can the property fetch?
If we agree that the sale should proceed with good/valid reasons, I will share my assessment of what a buyer walking through your property is likely to be thinking about.
This will be followed by a discussion of what is the optimum sale price we can target to achieve if the property goes onto the market at this point in time.
Getting the price right is probably the most important ingredient for a successful sale and this is something both of us will have to agree on.
Marketing & time to think
I will then touch on how I plan to market and drive demand for your property in order to achieve the price that we have set.
We will confirm the terms of the engagement after all the above is done and I would be happy to give you and your other co-owners time/days to discuss if you would like to proceed to engage me to represent you in the sale of your property.
I hate it myself when someone pressures me to make decisions that do not have to be made at that instance.
There will not be any time pressure or old school tactics applied for you to make a decision on the spot because the whole conversation should be treated as a friendly and relaxing chit chat.
I am at your place just to understand your needs and to share my views with you.
Work with me if what I share makes sense and very importantly, you feel comfortable with me and you feel that you can trust me.
Sellers also like to ask:
“How long will it take to sell my property?“
I wish I can make bold claims like “3 days! 1 week!”. The truth is it really depends on a combination of factors.
- Affordability of the property
The higher the price, the smaller the pool of buyers who can afford to buy. The wider the pool of buyers, the better the chance of securing a deal.
What is the competition like? How many comparable properties are on sale at the same time?
Is there general and consistent demand for the particular property? At what rate are similar properties sold on a yearly basis?
- Is the property vacant, tenanted or owner-occupied?
This point affects a couple of things.
* Is it easy to access the property for viewing? It is usually more difficult to schedule viewings for properties that are occupied. Opportunities will be lost if there is perpetual difficulty in trying to arrange for viewing. This can happen if the occupier is perpetually overseas or if the property is only available for viewing at odd timing.
* Depending on the profile of the active buyer (buying to stay? buying to invest?), a tenanted property (for e.g), may be less attractive in a market where the bulk of the active buyers are buying to stay.
* If the property is occupied and happens to be cluttered, that may not allow us to present it in the best possible state. This, in turn, affects the sale.
The standard contract appointing me to act in the sale is for a period for 3 months.
It can sometimes take longer. Depending on what stage of the market we are in.
I am not able to promise the sky but I will endeavour to secure a buyer for your property in the quickest possible time.