Tips for Selling a House

If you are selling your property then it’s natural to want to try and secure the best price for your house. However bear in mind that you probably don’t want to pay more for a property than it’s actually worth – so why would someone else want to do the same?

The trick to maximising your property’s price is to secure as many viewings as possible. The more viewings you get, the more likely you are to secure an offer. The more offers you get, the more likely you are to get two or more buyers to bid to purchase your home. And if you want to get the best price possible for your home, you want two or more people competing to buy it as that’s the time when most people will pay more for a property than it’s potentially worth.

In a slow market it’s tough to get one person offering to buy a property, let alone two. So to maximise the price, it is vital to understand what buyers want. For example, post the credit crunch, buyers seem to split into two types of purchasers.

The first type of buyer post credit crunch is the person that is looking to buy a home but has to put all their savings into a large deposit, so is not able to spend any money doing the property up. This type of buyer wants a home with neutral colours or colours fitting to the property’s character, so they will want it in a great condition with nothing to do to it, but move in.

The other type of buyer is someone that has a decent deposit and spare cash to do up a property. Ideally they’ll be looking to paint and decorate as well as upgrade the kitchen and bathroom. What most buyers aren’t keen on, without a big discount is re-doing the electrics and plumbing. So if you are selling a ‘wreck’ and want to maximise the price, then make sure the electrics and plumbing are up to scratch but leave the rest of the property to be done by the new owner. Alternatively, find out how much it’ll cost to upgrade the property, so if costs around £10,000 you don’t end up knocking £20,000 of the price of your own home.

Whether you are selling a wreck or a show home, another way of making sure you maximise the price is by selling at a time when there are few other properties like yours on the market. For example, if there are five properties similar to yours already available for sale on your road, wait if you can, until they are all sold and yours is the only one advertised. If you have the only three bed for sale when most of the other properties are two bed, you are likely to get a better price than if you are competing with lots of other three beds to secure a buyer.

I am one of the UK’s top property experts being regularly quoted in the press including the Telegraph, Independent, Times, Daily Mail and Express and have appeared on BBC2, featured on BBC Radio 4, Channel 4 and a number of local BBC Radio stations.

I have been a consultant to the property sector for a number of years and renovating properties for over 20 years. I have also written a number of books, including four for Which? – Buy, Sell, Move House, Renting and Letting, Develop your Property and the Property Investment Handbook.