The New Market Mantra - You have to be in it to win it, or at least be prepared!

Last week I was contacted by a very exasperated and desperate client. The cause of their concern and stress was that they had missed out, for the third time, on the opportunity to buy a bungalow in uphill Lincoln.

Last month we provided the client with a free marketing appraisal and they were delighted with our professional pricing advice, the depth of marketing we would offer their home, especially in the London market, and our fees. So with a future sales instruction in hand for a very attractive bungalow in a popular north Lincoln village, all appeared well. However, our clients parting comment was, “When we have found the bungalow we want to buy we will ring you straight away to get ours on the market”.

Their question to me last week was, what did they needed to do to avoid missing out on a fourth bungalow? I reminded them of the three marketing options we original discussed.

Option 1 - You have to be in it to win it – take your own home to the market! As our clients have found out, in a buoyant market ‘some’ sellers are not prepared to entertain viewings from buyers who are not in a position to proceed. Others are prepared to consider buyers as yet to sell, but, only if they have already taken the positive step of taking their own home to the market and can report they are generating some interest from buyers.  

This is a market where to give yourself the best possible chance to be in the right position at the right time to secure the home you want, you have to consider taking what could prove to be a very worthwhile ‘risk’ – and give it a go by taking your own property to the market! You can then show the sellers you are a 'highly motivated' viable potential buyer for their home and they will want you to pay them a visit!

There are risks, but at RB&Co we can manage these for you.

• If you don’t sell because you cannot find what you want to buy, there is of course no sales commission to pay.
• We can manage the risk of any abortive marketing expenses down to a very low level, even to nil on some occasions.
• The key is to be upfront and transparent with buyers from the start, letting them know that if a sale is to be agreed to them, they will have to be patient whilst you hunt down a purchase. Yes, some will, understandably, not be able to wait. However, others in the present climate, keen on buying your home, will. But it still must be said, nobody can or will wait indefinitely.

Option 2 - At least prepare now, and be ready to go to the market without delay!

Whilst option 1 is the best approach at the moment for maximising your sale price and puts one in the best position possible to compete for the home you want to buy, for many understandable practical and personal reasons, the risk/the gamble of going straight to market is not a viable choice for some.

So, the best alternative option, as soon as you do see what you want to buy, is to ensure that we are in a position to launch your home to the market literally within ‘seconds’. With just a couple of mouse clicks your home can be for sale and live to buyers in the world at large.

To do this, all we need to do is to prepare all the marketing for your home now, from professional photography, sales brochure, present for marketing on Rightmove and the other portals, 360 degree VT and video, social media, mailing to buyers, etc., etc., all in readiness for the ‘Eureka Moment' when you find what you want to buy!

• Again, we can manage the risk of any abortive marketing expenses down to a very low level, even to nil on some occasions.
• If you cannot find that elusive home of the future to buy, there is of course no sales commission to pay.
• If you do find the home of your dreams, the speed of your reaction in ‘immediately’ marketing your home, will show the seller you want to buy from that you are a 'highly motivated buyer' and that you could well end up selling very quickly indeed.
• This option will give any pre-offer you make for their property some genuine credibility.

Option 3 - Wait until you see what you want to buy and then pray for divine intervention - in your favour!

This has been the default choice for many would-be sellers and the one initially chosen by our client. But with some homes selling in just a matter of a few days, or the odd week or two, by the time you have made a decision to act and instruct RB&Co to take your home to the market, the opportunity could well have already gone.

So which option did this client choose? Well, it was option 2, prepare now and be ready to market their property at the click of the mouse, as soon as another bungalow in uphill Lincoln is found. As the client said, with default option 3 they had been, “purely relying on a lucky throw of the dice to succeed.”

Why did they not select Option 1? Whilst they acknowledged that this is the best option for most sellers, I had to agree that in their 'personal circumstances' it would have been inappropriate for them to select this option.

So the moral of the tale is: If you are looking to sell and buy in the present market, you ideally need as best you can, to minimise your reliance on that lucky throw of the dice for success. Contact a member of our RB&Co Sales team today and talk through as to which option suits you best – we all have different needs to satisfy when we come to buying and selling. However, do remember, the evidence suggests that good fortune often tends to favour the bold in a buoyant housing market.

Tony Wing DipSurv MRICS FNAEA

Sales Director

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