Harcourts Team Group
Wellington (REA 2008)
When we’re called about selling, there are 3 core questions that usually come up. Let’s answer them!
First - Are Houses Selling?
YES – REINZ stats show 187 homes were sold in Wellington City & Suburbs in just September. The graph below shows that sales volume has been lower but that’s clearly not an issue if you are one of the 187!
We sold 3 client properties in October, with each selling over price expectation.
ALL properties we have listed in the last 12 months have SOLD. It’s not about listing them… it’s about selling them which is where experience matters.
Second – What’s the Best Way to Sell?
There are several different sale methods, and then you also want to take into account the market at the time, the property and likely buyer(s). And you may need to move through more than one sale method to get to sold!
Given a property is worth what ‘a willing buyer is prepared to offer and a willing seller is prepared to take’ and there will be a dollar range for which that is satisfied, working on probability rather than on possibility, the best way to sell is one that:
Invites the interest of more buyers, giving every buyer who might like your property both the chance to inspect it and the chance to make an offer.
Encourages competition to purchase, to see the best offers people are prepared to make.
Enables you to see all offers, albeit some may be prioritised as is the case with an auction which gives first dibs to cash bidders, but if unsold may move to conditional offerors present via negotiations.
Allows for negotiation between parties, somewhere in the process.
The two sale methods which meet this are Tender and Auction, which are a great way to start a campaign, with a 3-week window to invite interest. These also allow for a good amount of market feedback and information to be obtained, in a short space of time, so that if needing to move to other sale methods like, for example, ‘Asking Price’, it’s clear where value is in the market helping sellers to get that pricing decision right.
Do I need to have Open Homes or a Sign Out Front?
The old saying ‘you can’t sell a secret’ comes to mind. If you’re serious about selling then you need open homes and signage:
Buyers like anyone have busy lives and weeks and with house hunting are used to being able to go out for a couple of hours on a Sunday to look at properties of interest, and they plan on this. It also gives them chance to easily get across multiple properties in a short space of time.
Private viewings for a buyer are also useful in the toolkit, as some buyers work weekends, or others want to return and spend more time at a particular property and/or bring others with them to see it again after first doing their Sunday quick look ‘property speed-dating’ of 8 properties to narrow things down.
Busy open homes help buyers to see that there are others looking who may be interested also and open homes save sellers, who are also busy, from not having to run around and get their place looking ‘show ready’, twice a day and every day!
When selling, it’s best to avoid putting up barriers that make viewing harder for buyers and instead try to make it as easy as possible. Otherwise it may see your property getting less buyers through than it could have, and potentially missing a key buyer or offer opportunity that sees your property selling for less.
The open home question often has it’s roots in concerns of security. Having been in real estate for 15 years and selling over 400 homes we have never encountered any kind of security issue. We also run everything highly professionally by the book though and we do it personally.
Timing & Advice
With Christmas coming, there’s still plenty of time to be sold before the big guy in the red suit arrives with settlement either before Christmas or delayed to in the new year after holidays if preferred.
For a chat or updated price opinion on your property get in touch by email, text or call. No fuss, no sales pitch, just service (leonie.snook@harcourts.co.nz or 027 518 0008).