Selling a property can be a tough task when the market is running a bit flat or seeing a downturn, trying to achieve the best possible price may require you to adopt some techniques in order to add value to your property.
When the market is slow then it is likely that buyers will have more time and reason for picking property that tick more of their request list boxes than when the market is vibrant and property selling much quicker.
The most common things that will put a buyer off your property include:
- Location. This could be simply that your property is too close to a noisy road or that it is too far away from the nearest train station to London.
- Over valuation. Setting your price too high will likely exclude it from searches online when people place their budgets within the search system and it will also turn off potential buyers in that you will likely require of them hard negotiations to bring the price down to a more reasonable level. A great put off, especially in a negative property market, are requests from sellers of O.I.E.O (offers in excess of) and this just spells greed.
- Parking. A car for many people will be one of life’s essential items and being able to park in front of your property or have a designated parking slot if you are selling an apartment will offer a much better prospect of getting your property sold compared to no parking or parking permits.
- Outdated kitchens / bathrooms. Some of the most popular rooms of a property will be the kitchen and bathroom so how these are presented will have a key influence on how well your property sells. If one or both need a complete modernisation and especially if you have not allowed that cost within your selling price, it will put off potential buyers as they know these updates are usually expensive and require the services of skilled labour.
- Bad neighbours. Something that will be hard to control though has a big effect on your property value are neighbours. If you suffer from bad neighbours such as messy properties, large vehicles parked outside and noise then this will turn off buyers or have a negative effect on your property value.
- Steps. Stairs to a property can put off many would be buyers especially those who are senior. Most people will prefer a property where you can simply walk from the street to the front door without steps – This will also be the case for apartments, many would prefer to know the building contains a lift over just stairs.
- Out-dated decor. Especially artex or textured ceilings and pebble dashed exterior walls will be a negative when it comes to selling property.
- Small / No garden. Many people like to have at least a small plot of land to stand on and when it comes to gardens then the bigger the better for many (so long as they are manageable). Houses without any land and apartments without balconies or communal gardens will not favour as well as those which do.
- Local area stats. High crime figures or high immigration can effect the value of your property. Today it is easy to research these figures online.
- Bad DIY and maintenance. A property that seems to have merely paper covering the cracks will signal ‘problems’ to potential buyers. Cheap decor will also effect the value of your property as well as dirty/stained carpets, over grown gardens, leaks in plumbing, cracked windows etc