5 Tips To Sell Your Property! 

No matter where you live or who your estate agent is, there are some basic things that you can do to help sell your property. These are things that are “out of our hands” as agents, we can advertise a property as much as possible and correctly match it to our buyers, but if certain aspects are missing, it will always be much harder to sell. After all, it is a team effort!

1 – Presentation. It is true that a lot of prospective buyers will be able to see past the aesthetics of a property, however it is much easier for them to visualise it as their home if it looks nice. With this we are referring to nicely made beds with cushions, remove any visible mess, make sure there is no washing up in the sink or visible laundry, no rubbish that needs to be dumped or stacks of old new papers on the coffee table. Even though everyone has their own taste and preferences, we also recommend the use of neutral colours when it comes to bedding, curtains, towels, etc – this will please all tastes and will normally help to make a place to brighter that darker or stronger colours.

2 – Light and airy! Weather permitting, before a viewing we always open all of the windows and curtains (or blinds in Spain!) in order to air out a property and let in as much light as possible and allow fresh air to flow, if the owner lives there then we ask that they please do this as well. That first impression means everything when you walk through the front door. For example, a property owner could be a smoker, use strong bleach when cleaning or could have several pets living in the property, to certain prospective buyers these smells would cause instant dislike and they would spend less time walking around the inside of the property. On this note, we also advise the use of good strong light bulbs especially in bathrooms or storage rooms which often lack natural light, there is nothing worse than switching on a light during a viewing to see that it hasn’t made a difference at all.

3 – Go for a walk! As harsh as it may sound, a lot of buyers feel more comfortable when the owner is not in the property at the time of the first viewing. It means that they can have “a good look around” without feeling like they are in someone else’s personal space or that perhaps they could be taking too long. Owners can often provide valuable information about the property but we normally recommend for this meeting to happen during a second visit, this way there is a strong chance that the client is seriously interested and they can exchange any useful information that they see necessary. Another reason why this is a good idea is because sometimes the seller will have a lot to say or to explain during the first viewing, always with the intention of being helpful of course, but it can distract from the actual viewing and the client won´t be able to take everything in. A good estate agent will be able to answer most questions and show the property in the best possible light.

4 – Access is key. In our case, we are pleased to say that we hold for most of our clients which allows for very easy viewing. It is quite a common occurrence for a client to walk into our office and want to see properties on the same day. If we have a key, it makes things so much easier and greatly increases the chances of selling. We do understand that this isn’t always possible, in which case we would ask that you allow easy access with as much notice as possible or even leave a key with a neighbour if you are out at work all day. It really does make all the difference.

5 – Rent OR sell. On the Costa del Sol, a lot of sellers will also rent out their properties for short term holiday rentals until they sell. As much as we understand that this can provide a great income, it makes our job very difficult when we have serious clients looking to buy and we can´t access a property because it is rented for the week. We understand that tenants do not want to be disturbed on their holiday, in which case we suggest that the owner offer a special price reduction for the inconvenience of allowing viewings to take place. The right buyer will not always be available when the property is vacant, often it coincides with a rental booking and it is a great shame to miss out on a potential buyer in order to satisfy holiday rentals, especially when an owner is looking for a quick sale! If an owner has booking for the entire summer for example, then we would suggest taking it off the market until after the busy summer season in order to allow for viewing to take place.

After viewing properties with our clients, we always contact our sellers in order to give them feedback. This will help them to understand what clients are saying and what their overall impression is of the property. If more than one person says “it felt a bit cluttered and I couldn’t see past it” then we know that something needs to be done. It is our job to help in any way we can, we don’t just sit in our office and wait for clients to walk in!

We hope you find these tips useful, if the property has been priced correctly for the market and you follow these simple tips, then you stand a very good chance of a quick sale!

Thank you for reading.

All the best!

Alicia Rodriguez Lewis – Sales Manager at Future Homes Estate Agents, Estepona (Spain)