Advice

First impressions are not only important when selling your home, they are absolutely critical. When people come to view a property for the first time, they are unlikely to be scrutinising the unseen. They are simply trying to get a feel for the property. They will be bombarded with mostly visual impressions, many of which you can positively influence.

Fear not - you are not alone! There are ways through this. Did you know that 46% of property sellers fail to achieve a sale through the first agent they appoint? Very often a second, more objective, pair of eyes can see through the fog and create the sale you have been hoping for.

As the evenings begin to draw in, sellers should take stock of their property if they are to maximise their chances of securing an early sale. Buyer activity is traditionally very good at this time of year, but your property still needs to compete well if it is to sell readily. Here are some tips, with my compliments:

If anyone thinks that the confusing political shenanigans of the past few weeks have destabilised the property market, they’d be wrong. If anything, we are seeing more “lubrication” in the market, as sellers realise they’d be foolish to hang on for an overly ambitious sale price in the run-up to Christmas.

As we move from a scorching summer to a cooler autumn, will the property market return to “normal”? Certainly the latest HMRC figures indicate a positive outlook, with a 0.3% increase in the number of transactions over the last year. That’s not bad considering increased political uncertainty and two interest rate hikes.

Most estate agents think that it’s okay to take their own photographs. Digital photography has improved everyone’s photographic skills, with instant previews quickly highlighting whether a picture will be good enough for property marketing.

Some sellers feel that if they have “missed” the spring market, they should wait until September before selling their property; but there are solid reasons for marketing your home during the summer.

There is a strong argument for creating maximum exposure for a property during its time on the market, and much of our effort and resources are spent achieving the right exposure in the right places.