How to get the highest offer in the quickest timeframe
When marketing your property for sale, the strategy that you follow can make all the difference to your success.
It is a common mis-conception that all estate agents do is put your home on Rightmove, and hope the phone will ring. There are instances where this will work, but it is rare, especially in the current property market. It is wise to choose an agent that has a marketing plan in place to maximise exposure, which ultimately leads to more viewings and offers. We have refined our marketing approach over many years to ensure that your home achieves the best possible price in the quickest timeframe. Here's a quick overview of the tools we use:
Marketing
With the huge number of properties being launched to the portals everyday, your property needs to stand out from the crowd to capture the attention of potential buyers. Getting the basics right of having great photography and a captivating description are essential. We take the time to ensure that we show your property in its best light, and it works.
Phased launches
Many agents are focused on setting the marketing live as quickly as possible across all the portals they use. This may be simpler administratively, but we don’t feel it is in our client’s best interest. We have a more considered and strategic marketing approach. This is focused around maximising the exposure of your property and ensuring actively ready buyers (who are registered for new property alerts) receive and don’t miss a key notification. One of the ways we achieve this is with a phased launch:
Day 1 - Local launch to sandersonsuk.com, active applicants registered on our database & social media
Day 2 - OnTheMarket portal launch for ‘Only With Us’ at the top of the search page
Day 3 - Zoopla launch including partner sites such as Prime Location
Day 4 - Rightmove on launch
Staggering the release of your property maximises exposure and ensures actively ready buyers (who are registered for property alerts) are less likely to miss a key notification. We can review the response from each phase and if need be, alter the buyer profile before launching to the next portal to get it exactly right. Buyers have a sense of anxiety to act promptly before the launch to the next online channel.
OnTheMarket promotes properties that are exclusively listed with them for 24 hours. Firstly through the 'Only With Us' banner that means the property appears at the top of searches for 24 hours. Also through their partnership with Country Life Magazine, exclusive properties with them are frequently promoted online and in the magazine.
Social media
We have built an active following on our social media channels. Buyers use this to find out about our latest properties. New listings are launched on social channels before they reach the portals as part of our phased marketing launch.
Property match
Our dynamic property match is not like other agents in our area. Thousands of active buyers are continually registering or updating their profiles for our property alerts. When a new property is listed that meets their specified criteria, they receive an instant alert. We can monitor exactly who engages and make proactive calls with active buyers.
Guide pricing
There is an art to valuing a property. Market it at a low price and sellers are left wondering if they could have achieved more. Market it at a price that is unrealistically high and the property will generate little to no interest, leading to gradual price reductions and a painful wait for a purchaser. Known as a stale listing, this often occurs as potential buyers assume there must be a problem with the property for the price to keep dropping and it still be on the market. This is often an unavoidable situation for a seller as they are locked into a fixed term contract, often for a 3 month period.
All sorts of terminology exists when it comes to marketing a property, 'Offers in excess of', 'Fixed price' and 'Offers in the region of' are some of the most popular. In our experience a 'Guide price' has been by far the most successful pricing strategy. The low end of the bracket draws the interest of more buyers, with the high end allowing for flexibility in the negotiation to ensure the property is sold for the highest possible price.