Small things done right add up to a better sale price (and experience).

We're close to the start of Spring, and let's hope some better weather! A client has just had 39 groups through their first two good old Welly rainy and windy Sunday open homes, so it's not about the sunshine. BUT now is a good time to be looking to your buying and selling plans.

Experience (from selling over 500 homes over 17 years) tells us that there's many points in the sale process where a seller can do things to help them have more buyer interest, sell for a better price and sell more quickly. The cumulative effect of this is staggering if you just do each bit of the process a bit better.

We don't just do this for clients, we live it ourselves. Our recent Vendor Diaries series, from being vendors 4 times in the last 3 years selling up our rental properties, will give you lots of tips that can help as a starting point:

1. Getting Real Results Outside → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/vendor-diaries-entry-1
   

2. Getting the House Exterior in Shape → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/vendor-diaries-entry-2
   

3. Getting the Inside Sorted → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/vendor-diaries-entry-3

   
   

4. Inside Touches and Styling → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/vendor-diaries-entry-4

   
   

5. What Actually Got Our Own Homes Sold for More → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/vendor-diaries-entry-5

   
   

6. Buyer Information Pack: What to Gather → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/buyer-information-pack-what-to-gather-before-selling-your-wellington-home-vendor-diaries-entry-6

   
   

7. The Two Things That Sabotage a Good Sale → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/vendor-diaries-entry-7

   
   

8. The Art (& Often Missed Opportunity) of Negotiation → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/vendor-diaries-entry-8

   
   

9. Sold Is Not Done: The Pre-Settlement Bit → https://www.leonieandsteve.com/post/pre-settlement-inspection-wellington

The 3 myths that can be a seller's undoing

Meeting hundreds of potential sellers over the years, there's 3 common myths that can be a seller's undoing which you should avoid.

I know you love your home, I love mine! In fact, I've only ever met one seller in 17 years of real estate who said 'I hate it, get rid of it'. I was taken aback when he said it and laughed out loud. The saying and belief is more common than you'd think and it's nonsense. No matter how good you think your house is, or how good it actually is, the market is highly competitive now and the house won't just sell itself.

Be careful about giving the market a mystical quality or reading too much into negative media to get clicks. Now granted, and to be fair, in 2021 the Wellington market turned into a fully fledged unicorn and it probably never will again. This was where Wellington property values shot up just short of 30%, from some unprecedented circumstances related to the pandemic policies, and then completely reversed coming back down over the following 3 or 4 years. That chapter is done.

For the majority of the time nothing really sensational is going on in the marketplace... just regular buying and selling. There are cycles, with peaks and troughs, yes but they are many years apart. People's lives on the other hand are a bit more here and now, and even if you could pick an exact peak or trough, and most can't, it's unlikely to line up with your plans. Some people will look at the few percent they might gain putting something off for a few years, but they rarely look at the loss over those same years of the lifestyle they could be living now and are missing out on. There's seller markets and there's buyers markets, BUT in any market there's always things you can do to have a better sale.

Buying real estate services is a bit unique, in that you won't know what your sale price is until the end, some months on. You own the product, the house. What you're buying in picking a representative is the capabilities to sell it, sell it for more and sell it more quickly (think knowledge, skill, systems and services, most of all think quality!).

The first two myths together can see a major mistake on this third one, which goes something like this: my house will sell itself (myth 1) + the market isn't as good and I might get a lower price (myth 2) = so this cheaper agent is the way to go (myth 3). It's what the French aptly call a Fate Of Compli!

Over the years, and especially in a buyer's market rather than a red hot frenzied seller's market, when we've met a potential seller that's gone down this road, they've almost always and without exception ended up selling for a poorer price with the difference (READ their loss) being great multiples of their real estate saving. It's the cumulative effect in action.

Not everyone gets this and the strength of belief under the myths can blind them. That saying above sums it up perfectly.

Seeking expert advice, preparing your place well and to a plan, and picking the highest quality representatives you can is the best thing you can do for your sale and your experience as a seller... the rest will just take care of itself. As a prominent real estate guru recently said somewhat bluntly, 'don't fall for an agent sales pitch, it's cheap for a reason'.

What's my home worth? →

No fuss, no sales pitch, no juniors, just service. Leonie & Steve