So your property has been on the market for a while, all the media you’re reading is saying properties are being snapped up left, right and centre, so why isn’t your place selling? This is a common question but the answers aren’t that much of a mystery.
Here’s a look at four of the most common reasons why properties don’t sell.
1. You haven’t priced your home to sell
Your home is probably your most valuable asset, so making the most out of the sale is paramount to you. But to sell your home in a reasonable time frame, the price must be right, it must reflect what the market is prepared to pay for it.
To work out how to price your property consider the following:
Your initial appraisal
At the beginning of your campaign your agent would have appraised your property.
To get to this figure they would have conducted a comparative market analysis and looked at similar properties that have sold within the last 90 days. They would have considered current competition, wider market trends and your properties structure and conditions to arrive at a value that they believe you could achieve if you sold your property at that point in time.
Buyers sentiment
Understanding buyer sentiment is important when setting your price. Talk to your agent and see if there are any passionate buyers, what does the agent think they would be willing to spend, what is the general feeling at the open homes?
Advice from your agent
Your agent is at the coal face of your marketing campaign, they are hosting open homes, fielding calls, sending contracts, following up attendees after inspections. They know how much interest there is in your property plus any positive or negative feedback. They know what the market is thinking about your property and are an important resource to tap into when setting your reserve.
Any offers and market feedback
It is important not to get sentimental about your property and set an unrealistic reserve. It is very important to talk to your agent, to review any offers and listen to market feedback from your agent.
Over the course of a sales campaign, even a 3-4 auction campaign, the property market can fluctuate and it’s important to factor these changes in when setting your price. You want to be “in the market” not “on the market”. Consider carefully are you prepared to sell for what the market is prepared to pay?
2. A bad first impression
You only get once chance to make a first impression so you want to make a good one. With competition high in the market, to help make your property stand out from the crowd, and attract more buyers you need to spend time styling your property to sell.
Property styling isn’t as hard as you think. It’s all about employing design and presentation techniques to create a visual marketing tool which will increase the potential of your home attracting the most amount of buyers and ultimately a quicker and more lucrative sale.
A survey of LJ Hooker agents found that:
- 98% of agents believe that styling your property to sell can help achieve a higher sales price.
- 83% of our top agents believe styling can add over 2.5% to your property’s sale value. So if you had a property worth $600,000 that's an additional $15,000...a lot of money!
- 2% of our agents believe it helped influence a quicker sale and 88% believed it triggered multiple offers through private treaty and more bidders on auction day.
Whilst you can employ an expert to help you style your property, not everyone has the budget so here is some practical advice to help you prepare 3 key areas of your property for sale.
3. Poor photographs of your property
Most people's first impression of your home will not be up close and personal, it will be through the photographs you present in listings. To really put your home a cut above the competition, it's vital to capture your home's best side on film. One of the easiest ways to get this done is to hire a professional photographer to really make your home look like a star.
This means you can get crisp, clear, stunning imagery right through your photoset. A higher-quality set of photos is more likely to attract buyers, and is a must when selling.
4. You haven’t invested appropriately in marketing and advertising
Marketing your property is an essential part of achieving a successful sale. If your property isn’t selling, have you spent enough on the marketing plan to ensure your property has had maximum exposure in the market?
So what should go into your marketing plan?
- Professional photography of your property - with the majority of buyers seeing your property for the first time on line, the best way to grab their attention is with some great photos….. Video’s also work exceptionally well.
- Professional copywriting - this helps to engage buyers by highlighting the property's key features. This text along with a floor plan will appear right across your property marketing material so getting it right is important.
- Signboards - these are the cornerstone of property marketing; they are your 24 x 7 sales person. They enable you to showcase the features of your property and are one of the best ways to capture local buyers who may not be actively seeking a new property but are willing to purchase when the right property appears.
- LJ Hooker Boost promotion - This enables you to promote your property on the LJ Hooker custom built Facebook and Instagram advertising platform. This industry leading platform ensures you reach the maximum number of relevant buyers via these key social channels. With everyone on social this is a must for all campaign.
- Property Spotlight enables you to have a personalized website for your property to ensure it stands out from the crowd.
- Real Estate portals - Advertise your property on the key national and international real estate portals such as realestate.com.au, domain.com.au, allhomes.com.au and ljhooker.com.au. With 97% of active buyers looking at these portals this is a must for all campaigns.
- Newspaper advertising - Advertise your property in local newspapers and in the national newspaper lift outs - this is a great way to reach both passive and emotional buyers who may not be actively looking but prepared to move if the right property comes along….and that could be yours.
- Property brochures and drop cards - these are a great take away at open for inspections, to display in your agent’s office window and as letter box drops
- And finally, agent database marketing - your agent will also promote your property to their database of active buyers in the local market.
