At Sterling First, our mission is to help you find your ideal retirement property and at the same time, to remove any financial worries as to how you will pay for it.
The first stage in this process for many people approaching retirement is to sell their existing property. Here we will offer a few basic tips as to how to go about that.
Price your house realistically
One of the commonest reasons for extended delays in selling property is that it has been over-optimistically priced.
A good real estate expert in your area should be able to give you a realistic and objective valuation on your property. That will usually be based upon their assessment of what the market is willing to pay, within reasonable timeframes, for a property of your type in your area.
Attend to any major problems
Most buyers aren’t usually terribly bothered by some decorative shortcomings. A room that looks a little “tired” and in need of some paint and wallpaper, is not going to put off buyers who otherwise love the property.
However, windows hanging out of their frames, blocked drains, badly maintained and cracked plasterwork and floors in poor condition are a different story entirely. If you try and sell your property with significant problems coming with it, you may encounter delays and find that potential buyers use the problems to drive down your price.
Keep external areas clean and tidy
Surveys show that a major turn-off for potential buyers is when their first sight of the property reveals rubbish lying around, an untidy and unkempt garden, broken-down fences and rusty gates etc.
In such cases, many people will simply carry on driving and won’t even stop for a look.
It’s well worth making an effort to make things look attractive from the outside and have a general tidy-up of gardens/yards etc.
Produce a sensible advertisement
Some property ads are so short on detail and photographs that it is almost impossible to tell just what the property is all about.
True, some potential buyers might relish the “lucky dip” implications of that and come along for a look anyway out of curiosity – but the majority won’t. They’ll simply conclude that you are trying to hide something and look elsewhere.
On balance, it’s always better to have plenty of photographs and a thorough description of your property when you are publishing an advertisement.
In passing, make sure your photos are relevant and of parts of the property, people want to see. Photographs of a dishwasher or a vase full of flowers on a table might look good in a holiday accommodation brochure but they will do nothing to help convince people to come and see your property!
An experienced real estate professional should be able to assist you with further advice.
