All sellers are different. Our approach is to try and cater for the various needs of our sellers by offering a range of options and strategies...
Fees… A brief look at our customer reviews will confirm how important the customer experience is to us. Part of this is offering highly competitive fixed fees - payable only upon successful completion of the sale, which in combination with our premium marketing materials and our focus on exceptional service should prove to be a package hard to beat.
Selling Strategy 1 – The Low Key Approach… in some circumstances using this approach can be beneficial and we may openly recommend it, or you may make it clear you are more comfortable with this approach. Sometimes it is a temporary strategy to see what interest can be obtained just from our database of potential buyers in a less favourable time of year for selling or whilst our sellers aren’t quite ready to expose their home entirely to the market yet, whereas occasionally we deal with sellers who just prefer a very private approach to marketing their home. We are entirely flexible but we would say that this strategy is not likely to secure your best possible sale price.
Selling Strategy 2 – The ‘Gung-Ho’ / ‘All In’ Approach… as the name suggests, this is a more common strategy where once a decision has been made to sell, we go for full marketing and the property is exposed immediately to all major property portals (we list our properties on Rightmove, Zoopla, Prime Location and OnTheMarket so as not to miss any potential buyers), a For Sale board goes up, posts on all our social media channels (facebook, instagram, twitter, google, youtube), added to our window display and our database of potential buyers are emailed the full details. With all angles covered this is the strategy that should ensure any possible purchaser notices the property and therefore should guarantee the best possible sale price is achieved.
Selling Option 1 – Launch Day… this involves scheduling a ‘launch day’ when viewings will commence, based on using the all in approach above and then advertising this upcoming date perhaps a fortnight or so in advance. This waiting period serves to lose the interest of potential viewers perhaps less serious about the property in the first place and the ones prepared to wait for the launch day were arguably the most serious and realistic buyers from when the property first went for sale. This is a convenient strategy if it is difficult for you to vacate the property perhaps due to children and/or animals all at once and therefore potentially doing it just once is far more suitable, or for sellers keen to reduce the numbers of people visiting their home.
Selling Option 2 – Open House… we have all heard of this method before and it ties in well with the launch day described above. Worth noting that when we conduct an open house we block visits to specific arrival times so that no two sets of viewers are in a property at the same time and they will be accompanied all the way around to ensure they are never left unattended – particularly important where an owners possessions are still in the property.
Selling Option 3 – Weekend Listing… as the name suggests, launching the marketing perhaps on a Friday evening or Saturday morning allows many potential buyers that are busy working in the week more time to notice and view the marketing over the weekend whilst they may be off. This can be combined with the ‘launch day’ and/or ‘open house’ options so is worth considering.
Preparing For Marketing… with the lengths (and expense) we go to now with professional photography, virtual tours and video tours it is a shame to waste the huge opportunity of being fresh to the market as a new listing by not presenting the property at its best. As the saying goes ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. The below comparison image is a good example of what a difference some staging can make to a room, so it is well worth spending a little time before the photographers visit presenting the property how you may have been most attracted to it when you were last out viewing properties.
The Selling Stage… we all hope for a swift sale, at a good price and to buyers in a great position to move forward quickly and efficiently, but the reality is that it can often take some time to find the right buyer, marketing tweaks can be required along the way and we hope that our sellers trust our advice and judgement as things progress. We will happily accompany all visitors, provide feedback straight after the visits and follow up if it was initially inconclusive. We will handle all offers that come in, gathering details of the potential buyers chain, their financial position and the timescale they hope to work to, so that our sellers can feel they can confidently make an informed decision of whether to accept an offer. We will then play an important part once the conveyancing solicitors are involved in liaising between the parties involved and chasing where necessary to help shave off some of the time that would otherwise elapse in the lead up to being ready to get contracts exchanged.
Completion Day… this is the day that, even in the best case scenario of having sold your property quickly, you will have been waiting months for. Knowing you may be frantically moving out of a property and later on into another we do our bit to make the day as easy as possible for you by collecting the keys once you are ready to leave your old property and will also meet the new owner there later to hand them their new keys after completion is official.
Consumer Protection… we are a member of The Property Ombudsman scheme and follow the code of practice, so buyers and sellers can feel comfortable they are dealing with a professional estate agent.
Our Promise… we are committed to building long term relationships with our clients built on a mutual trust stemming from good advice and honest service. We are perfectionists and believe strongly in the quality of our work. With this in mind we do not tie clients into lengthy contracts - our agency agreement have a zero week obligation but with just a two week notice required to leave us for another estate agent or to add one to the marketing of the property should you feel this may assist the sale. Our clients very rarely serve their two week notice as our regular communication and updates ensure they feel we are doing the best possible job.