ADVICE TO RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SELLERS: THE CHOICE OF YOUR AGENT IS CRITICAL
Category News
Home owners, who are contemplating selling, sometimes have a tendency to take the plunge without sufficient forethought and planning, say two of Alexander Swart Property's leading sales staff, Jason Blight and Wian Ingram.
As an essential first step, they advise all prospective sellers to analyse their motives for selling: are they planning to upgrade or scale down, find a more attractive or more secure area, or one better suited to their lifestyles? Are they looking for a more modern and chic home? There can be many, sometimes confused, reasons for selling. A realistic understanding of the reasons for wanting to sell will help sellers to make the right decisions - or quite possibly, to defer their decision. Fairly frequently, Alexander Swart consultants find sellers are not only vague about why they wish to move on but also not mentally geared up to tackle the challenges that such a decision will entail.
The next step should be to find the right estate agent: as in most sale businesses, there will be those with a really good track record and reputation. The prospective seller MUST ensure that he aligns himself with one of the front runners.
How does a seller find the right agent? The Alexander Swart agents' advice; before appointing an agent, it that it is acceptable to interview several agents until one is found who can be trusted and with whom the seller can comfortably partner. A good agent will be thoroughly cognisant with the market in his area and the overall economic conditions which can so seriously impact on house prices. He should be grilled to reveal just how much or how little he really knows. This in-depth understanding of the local market may also have a bearing on the timing of the sale. In certain situations, it may be wise to hold back for a while. Some agents, say the Alexander Swart team, very seldom do true professional research on these subjects. Neither do they have regular weekly training sessions, such as those organised by Alexander Swart, to keep them up to date with these matters and accurate in their valuations. The agent should be able to produce a well-researched Comparative Market Analysis, giving sound reasons for the valuation he recommends.
It is not a solution to appoint several agents to compete for the sale. This can all too easily result in an unseemly rush to secure a sale ahead of the agent's rivals, which in turn is likely to result in the client being persuaded to accept a price below the true market value. Conversely, inexperienced or poorly trained agents often recommend too high a price, which after causing the home to stick on the market, eventually results in it selling BELOW its true market value.
When checking the agent's standing and credentials, he should be asked to prove that he has achieved a satisfactory number of sales in recent months. Have these been not only fast, but within a few percentages of the asking price? A good agent will have an impressive list of recommendations from previous satisfied clients. In the home sales market, say Blight and Ingram, there are agents who take life fairly easy and cannot be described as truly committed. If you question the leaders of the Alexander Swart team, you will find that they all work several weekends every month and make and receive calls and emails round the clock i.e. fairly late into the night. Try, they say, to align yourself with one of these dedicated hard workers.
It is also essential to examine his agency's willingness to outlay money on an ongoing basis, which give homes for sale really good exposure. Any reader of the social media or printed property publications will quickly see that certain agencies dominate the publicity media; those are the agencies that the seller should opt for. One of the first steps an underperforming agency will often take will be to reduce overheads by cutting back on advertising.
For further information, please contact Rowan Alexander, Director of Alexander Swart Property, on cell phone 082 581 3116 or by email: rowan@asproperty.co.za
Author: Independent Author
