Instant market reaction
Putting your home on the market takes effort. There is the effort to select the agent; to choose a marketing strategy; to prepare and to present your home throughout the campaign. When you go to all this effort and don’t get an offer, it can be disappointing.
It is not that you would simply accept any offer. But an offer gives you tangible market feedback that someone likes your home enough to try to buy it. An offer gives you an option to sell, or to say “NO”, rather than having people come though says “thanks, but no thanks” to your home.
What most sellers want is an instant reaction from the market.
The good news is that modern real estate marketing gives you an almost instant response – even in a flat market.
Once your home is listed on the internet – in particular realestate.co.nz and the agent’s website – the agent databases are emailed and a signboard is erected, you will have reached over 95% of the current potential market after about a week.
After receiving this promotion, buyers will evaluate your home in relation to others currently for sale. Buyers will then decide whether to inspect or not inspect based on the value of your offering. This is the source of the instant reaction.
This reaction tells you how the market views the value proposition of your property.
No reaction is still an instant reaction. If buyers don’t enquire, inspect or offer, their silence is your feedback – feedback many sellers don’t want to confront.
It’s often hard for sellers to accept this feedback, because nothing gets said. Instead buyers whisper to themselves that they prefer other homes – they see better value elsewhere. In meantime you wait.
The internet is so powerful and dominant in its reach, it’s important to embrace early feedback and interest, rather than resisting it.
Throwing rocks at the agent is easy and sometimes it makes you feel better. But in most cases it won’t sell your home. Changing agents, as many people do in a slow market, pushes your problem from one company to another.
Instead, learn to read the play.This doesn’t mean you have to simply drop the price, there may be other options.
For most people Plan A is to “sell for a price that works” for us. That plan is easy to formulate, but sometimes hard to execute. Before going to market, you also need to think about your plan B.
Your Plan B should NEVER be simply leaving the property on the market month after month – this just advertises the fact your home isn’t selling.
If the evidence indicates that your desired price is achievable, don’t allow your property to languish on the market unsold. Move to plan B. Plan B might be waiting for a better market; or renovating to unlock hidden value; or renting the property for 12 months; or you could adjust your price to be closer to where current buyers interest is.
Your price attracts or repels buyers. Pricing to sell means using a pricing strategy which attracts buyers. This is where you need the guidance of a skilled agent. An agent you trust.
In this respect you must trust the agent’s integrity – that they will do the right thing by you as the seller. And second you trust their competence – how they attract buyers and negotiate the best possible price for your home.
For advice you can trust and a complementary copy of our latest book “Get the Highest Price for Your Property” phone us today on (06) 835-4321
