We take the pricing of your property very seriously and a great deal of consideration is involved before we recommend a pricing strategy.

Honest valuations

You need people you can trust and rely on when selling a home or an investment property. There’s nothing worse than feeling let down by those you have sought out to advise you. We will make sure we achieve the best possible price for your property by giving you an honest and accurate valuation, backed up by statistical data and real time comparables.

We won't overvalue your property just to win your business. Don’t be fooled by irresponsible claims from other agents who provide you with a figure they think you’d like to hear, only to disappoint and potentially reduce your chances of achieving the best price for your property in the long run.

Establishing a marketing strategy that will optimise your chances of selling at the highest price within a reasonable timescale is something only an experienced and diligent estate agent with a firm grasp on the local market can advise on, particularly during a time when buyers are especially price sensitive.

Marketing at the wrong price can attracts the wrong buyers, thereby minimising the chance of receiving an offer and often resulting in a property languishing on the market for longer than necessary, which can be detrimental.

Marketing at a realistic price will usually attract more interest more quickly and potentially a competitive situation that may drive the price up.

That said, there is an argument for “leaving a little wiggle room”, as buyers like to feel they have negotiated a bit of a deal or have just come to expect to pay under a guide/asking price. The counter argument being that if you are realistically priced to start with, any good negotiator should be able to achieve or exceed the price quoted.

Timescales play a big part in pricing strategy

Whilst we will always look to achieve the best possible price for your property, we understand that your reason and timescale for moving are often equally important and the pricing strategy may need to be adapted to take this into account.

Many people need or want to sell quickly in order to fit in with their onward plans or for financial reasons. Whilst others are more flexible and happy to wait as long as it takes. Depending on what the market is doing at any particular time may affect whether you get what you should/want when you need/want it.

For those that do need to sell more quickly, a realistic figure is usually what is needed.

Whilst we generally don’t recommend pricing your property optimistically or above what we can justifiably argue it is worth, we also don’t want to lose your business because we are not overly-confident we will achieve it. We will be very honest and open with you, so that if it doesn’t sell for what you want you don’t feel that we have wrongly advised you, and will happily eat our hats if we achieve it for you! After all, a property is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it, and if you are prepared to wait for the right person to come along, we will keep looking for them. Always acting in your best interests.

Some agents argue that if you don’t sell in your first two weeks of marketing, your chances of achieving the set price diminish as the property becomes “stale”. There is some truth to this, and if your property does take a little longer to sell it is important to review the situation and adapt where necessary, perhaps by refreshing the photography. However, particularly if you have a more niche property or are selling in the quieter months of the year/market, it is quite common for properties to take a little longer to sell. If you need to sell more quickly, addressing the price may be your only option.

If you are not constrained by a particular timescale and have reasons to believe you are priced accurately, don’t let your agent tell you you need to reduce your price. Some agents don’t like having properties sitting on their books for too long as they worry it will look bad on them, and they are looking out for their own interests in seeking a price reduction.

Apart from your own desired timeframes to sell. there are certain times of year that are typically more buoyant, when you can expect even optimistically priced properties to move quickly. Other times you may struggle unless you price realistically. We will discuss this with you and advise as to when the best time to market is and what strategy to adopt to achieve the best result for you.

The property market is constantly ebbing and flowing from quieter to busier periods, whether due to the time of year or as a result of economic, political and media influences. You need an agent who is on top of this and can advise accordingly.

Check out the competition

Another factor that affects how well your property will perform is the number of properties that are on the market at the same time or have recently sold in the same area in your price bracket (i.e. your competition or what you will be compared to by prospective buyers).

If there are fewer properties on the market, that is when you often see higher prices being achieved – known as a “sellers’ market”. Whereas, when there are more properties on the market, it becomes more of a “buyers’ market” and you may have to adapt your pricing to compete. We will constantly monitor the progress of your sale throughout the marketing effort and advice you if we feel anything needs to be changed.

Pricing an Individual Property

There are so many factors that have to be taken into account when looking at and comparing individual properties. Whilst you can draw comparisons from other properties of a similar square footage or with the same number of bedrooms in a particular area, each property will have its own pluses and/or minuses and reasons why they are priced the way they are/achieved what they achieved and sold quickly or took a little longer to sell. Knowing and understanding the local market is key to comparing and contrasting when drawing price comparisons.

Some properties fit the “core market” specifications (typically a 4 bedroom detached house with good sized garden and off road parking gains a lot of interest), whilst others are more niche, particularly in our local villages and more rural locations. Core market properties usually attract more interest and sell more quickly, particularly when there is little competition, whereas with more niche properties (or as we like to call them, “heart buys”) you are looking for a more specific buyer, and they may be there in the first week of marketing (having waited a long time for this type of property to come on) or they may come further down the line, but, with the right buyer, they will pay a premium for the individual nature of the property.

Understanding what is important to potential buyers and how they end up choosing which property they buy, helps us to create a selling strategy that you can be confident with.

Picking the right agent

Ultimately, the critical thing is to select your estate agent on the strength of their service, reputation and marketing plan - not simply on their valuation or commission rate. After all, you’re going to be working in partnership with them, so choose the agent you trust and prefer!

If you are considering selling your property and would like a carefully considered and qualified view of the likely sale price of your property in the current market, then please feel free to contact us.