DDM residential - 10 Step Plan by Fine & Country / DDM Residential

10 STEP PLAN TO

SELL FOR THE BEST PRICE

This step by step guide is based on our tried and tested formula that helps us achieve maximum market value for our clients.

Step 1: Price

Step 2: Presentation

Step 3: Launch

Step 4: Online Exposure

Step 5: Passive Buyer Exposure

Step 6: Enquiries

Step 7: Viewings

Step 8: Feedback

Step 9: Review

Step 10: Offers and negotiation

REMEMBER

Everyone wants to buy what everyone else wants to buy, but no-one wants to buy what no-one else wants to buy.

INTRODUCTION

You’re probably thinking about selling your property soon or maybe you have a property currently for sale?

If so, I am sure that you want to sell for the best price and to the best buyer.

Finding any buyer is easy, but finding the best buyer willing to offer the best price is not. Some estate agents have a very good marketing plan but many tend to focus on the wrong areas. It’s why 50% of property owners end up having to change estate agents before eventually selling their property which costs them unnecessary stress, time and money.

I created this structured strategy of 10 steps to ensure that you understand the importance of presentation and exposure and how they are both required in order to achieve the best possible price.

Follow this 10 Step Plan carefully and you will almost certainly achieve the best price for your property in the shortest space of time.

It really does work! We implement this exact plan on every property we sell (as a minimum). It has evolved, and continues to evolve, based on proven results of selling hundreds of properties.

Each step is as important as the next one, so do not skip, settle or compromise.

Good luck,

David

David Gardner MNAEA, Managing Director

david@ddmresidential.co.uk

01472 358671

@ddmresidential

DDM Residential

You need to decide from the outset whether you’re happy to settle for just ‘a buyer’ or do you want to attract ‘the best buyer’? If you just want to sell your home quickly to any buyer, then this plan is not the one for you.

STEP 1 PRICE

The marketing price should be based on factual market evidence and not simply be the price you’d prefer, or what the property may ‘owe you’.

Price to entice

It’s important to remember that the purpose of a marketing price is to entice maximum interest. The wrong marketing price can seriously affect your chances of achieving the right price. Too high and your house may not attract enough interest and stagnate on the market. Too low and you may attract buyers who are unable to pay the desired price*.

*A good negotiator will never undersell a property - even if the marketing price is far lower than the actual value. If you have confidence in your agent’s negotiation skills then a lower price will undoubtedly get you moving quicker.

Use a round figure

With the above points firmly in mind, make sure that you market at a round figure i.e. £300,000 as opposed to £299,950. This will mean you appear in online searches up to £300,000 ‘and also’ from £300,000. At £299,950, you would only appear in searches up to £300,000 using this pricing strategy will help maximise website click through rates and drive additional traffic to your listing.

Use ‘Guide Price’

It could be that you and your agent feel your property should be worth £320,000 but it’s agreed that the best marketing approach to adopt in this particular instance is “Asking Price £300,000”, not Guide Price. Your agent will then be able to convey to interested parties that offers will need to be in excess of £300,000 in order to be considered. If a buyer is not found with this approach then the dialogue can change - rather than the price. This is also why you should avoid “Offers Over” or “Offers in Excess Of”.

Agree on a marketing price

STEP 2 PRESENTATION

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Getting the presentation right is crucial especially when you consider that virtually ALL buyers will review all of the material before deciding to view in the current conditions.

Photos

Floorplan

Consider the negotiating strategy whilst pricing. Discuss with your agent what you are hoping to achieve and what they can reject on your behalf. Remember, a good agent works for the seller, not the buyer.

REVIEW COMPARABLE EVIDENCE

DETERMINE UPPER PRICE POINT

DETERMINE LOWER PRICE POINT

Choose an agent that offers professional photography, it has been proven time and time again that professional photos help achieve higher asking prices and achieve faster sales times, don’t settle for second best when selling one of your biggest assets.

Video

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video speaks a thousand pictures. An agent-led video will capture the lifestyle of a home in a way that still images never will. It doesn’t have to be Oscar-worthy, but dark, shaky footage from a mobile phone isn’t going to cut it. Ask your agent to invest in a videographer to produce a video ‘advert’ for your home.

An accurate floorplan is not just an option, it’s a must. Not only will buyers gain a sense of the space before they view, they will spend more time looking at the material and will start to visualise how they would live in the space. Floorplans also cut down on wasted viewings where the layout does not suit the buyer’s needs. You must have the floorplan attached to the marketing material at the point of launch.

Description

Buyers want to hear about the lifestyle and benefits that come with the property. They want to know whether or not it could be their next home.

Make sure the property description is lifestyle and benefits-focused and does not simply list its features. Do not let your agent

open the description with “XYZ Estate Agency are delighted to present to the market...”. That is not attention grabbing and only serves to promote the agent at a time when the emphasis needs to be on the property. It’s as wrong as having the agent’s logo as the main photograph.

Brochure

There is a reason that car manufacturers create beautiful lifestyle heavy brochures. As with any premium product, there should be an individually designed brochure to go with it. Do not settle for a few stapled sheets of paper with a list of rooms and photographs. The brochure should be informative and feature the lifestyle photos taken by the photographer as well as have style and appeal.

Remember: Speed to market doesn’t mean speed to sale.

Interest can peek within the first few weeks of your property being launched - in fact research tells us that 64% of interest in a property comes within the first two weeks of marketing.

STEP 3 LAUNCH

How your property is launched to the market is incredibly important.

There are clearly lots of different places where your property will be advertised, but before we get to that, you must start with the following process at that all-important time of launch:

Don’t jump the gun

It’s essential that all of the presentation material is in place at the point of launch as most buyers want to be sent the brochure and video walkthrough at the first instance. Make sure the material is looking at its best before you begin the advertising process.

Team Briefing

There will probably be a sales team involved in the promotion of your home. Make sure that they have all been fully briefed on the property, its benefits, its flaws (to pre-empt objections) and its exact location. Just as important as the property, the team need to understand your motivations to move and what goals they are helping you achieve.

Hit the Phones

Your agent will have a mailing list of buyers looking for homes like yours. Make sure they hit the phones calling through and emailing their lists-of buyers, sending brochures and the video to those who seem interested.

Viewers of Similar Properties

There’s a high chance that your agent will have recently sold other properties like yours and therefore will have a ready-made set of buyers to target out of those who viewed and those who lost out. Include these in the initial call-out.

For Sale Board

A vital component that is mentioned again in Step 5.

Featured Property (Rightmove) and Premium Listing

These are covered in the next step and are an excellent way to complement the launch strategy.

STEP 4 ONLINE EXPOSURE

With nearly all buyers now starting their search online it is crucial to maximise the online exposure of your property.

Don’t settle for less

Make sure that, as an absolute minimum, your property is being advertised on

Rightmove

OnTheMarket

Social Media

Agents own (mobile friendly) website

Why social media

Check every website to make sure that the images all look right, the video and floorplan are both showing and the location marker (including Streetview) is set in the right place.

Chances are, your agents will have a four-figure following of local people who have some sort of interest in them or in property. That’s a larger readership than some of the local newspapers! It’s no longer an option in this plan - it’s a must. It is also a great way of reaching passive buyers. More on that later.

Featured Property adverts

Some of these websites offer enhanced options like ‘Premium Listings’ and ‘Featured Property’. Make sure your agent offers these features to really stand out from the competition.

STEP 5

PASSIVE BUYER EXPOSURE

All ‘active’ buyers will be regularly searching for a property online as well as making themselves known to the local agents. But what about the ‘passive’ buyer?

Ask any estate agent and they will tell you that they have, at some point, sold a property to a buyer who wasn’t actively looking. They are more of an opportunist buyer who saw a board on the school run, had a flyer through the door, stumbled upon a social media post, or walked past and saw it in the agent’s window. You need to be in front these buyers, bearing in mind that people are spending a lot of time online.

For Sale board

Boards form the crudest part of the strategy but are essential to cover all bases. They appeal to active house hunters as well as passive movers so make sure yours is in a prime position.

Teaser flyers

Not strictly essential, but highly recommended. Consider sending a ‘New to the Market’ flyer to a targeted demographic of nearby addresses. You’d be amazed how many people move around the corner!

A social media advert is as important nowadays as any of the property websites, maybe even more so.

Social Media

One of the easiest ways to reach passive buyers is by advertising on social media. There are two things that must happen with the listing once it is live on the agents social media page:

Share the agent’s social media post and ask your friends to do the same. This will quickly reach thousands of passive buyers for free.

Consider ‘boosting’ your social media post within an agreed budget with your estate agent. Even as little as £5 will reach thousands of passive buyers.

STEP 6 ENQUIRIES

The goal is to turn enquirers into viewers and viewers into buyers. The steps so far will ensure that your property is visible to thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of buyers. It is imperative that the resulting enquiries are dealt with properly.

Be prompt

Strike whilst the iron is hot. Replying to enquiries as quickly as possible will maximise the chances of turning an enquiry into a viewing.

Evenings & Weekends

Make sure that someone on the sales team is available to talk with prospective buyers as much and as often as possible, including outside of usual business hours and on Sundays. Weekends are peak time for enquiries as people have more time to focus on their search.

Send brochures and videos

Anyone making an enquiry, even if it is tentative, should be sent a brochure and a link to the video - in the post and by email.

Follow up

If appropriate, even ‘lukewarm’ leads should be followed up a few days later.

Brochures that are sent out should be followed up with the invitation to a viewing. It might seem pushy but if done properly a good follow up can result in the viewing you’ve been waiting for.

STEP 7 VIEWINGS

Viewings are obviously a crucial part of the process, steps 1 to 6 would have been pointless if these aren’t carried out correctly.

Get the house viewing-ready

This is all on you. Declutter, declutter, declutter! Put yourself in the viewer’s shoes and view your own house including the drive-up and approach - kerb appeal is real! Get those unsightly items hidden away, paint the bits you’ve been meaning to touch up and get as close to that show home look as possible. Remember that you will be forgiven messy garages or sheds. Store as much as you can in there or consider a temporary storage option.

If there is a new development near you, go and visit the show home for presentation inspiration.

Identify the best time of day

You will know when the sun hits the patio and what time the neighbours band practice starts. Always consider the best time of day to encourage viewers to view at the most appealing times.

Go out (don’t forget the dog)

Consider letting the agent do the viewing without you in the house. There are several reasons why, but the main reason (and reason enough by itself) is that the viewer will speak more freely to the agent about any negatives, allowing the agent to step in and overcome objections.

Being greeted by a barking dog may be appealing to some, but not to all. It is also distracting. Dogs, like their owners, should not be present! Most other pets are fine.

Sell without selling

Nobody likes to be ‘sold to’ anymore. The aim of all viewings is to ‘show’ the buyer the house, rather than ‘sell’ the viewer the house.

Second viewings

The first viewing is usually more emotional than logical. Presentation and lifestyle discussion is far more important than taking up the entire viewing talking about the solar panels. Detailed discussions should be saved for subsequent viewings and therefore make yourself available at the second viewing, whilst keeping out of the way, as the agent conducts the tour.

Just remember that the viewer is there to learn about the house, not for a chat. This may sound harsh, but it is true. I have known viewers barely make it through the hallway chatting about the weather before they had to leave to make it to their next viewing!

MISCONCEPTION: Some people (and online agents) think it’s best that the property owner shows buyers around because “no-one knows the property like the owner”. It isn’t!

STEP 8 FEEDBACK

Honest feedback from every single viewing is crucial to your sale success.

Be Patient!

The best feedback comes after the viewer has had time to properly review, compare and consider. Try and resist the urge for instant or same-day feedback and wait until the following day.

Don’t be offended

If ten people view your house, the chances are that not all ten will make an offer. Therefore, there was something that put them off or that didn’t meet their expectations. These negative points are summed up as ‘buyer objections’.

Take action

Even if none of the ten buyers made an offer, you now have 10 sets of buyer objections to review. Identify any common themes and do what you can to overcome them.

Don’t swap details

Moving house is an emotional rollercoaster. As tempting as it may be, or as useful as you think you are being, never deal with the buyers directly. That’s what you’ve entrusted your agent to do for you.

STEP 9

REVIEW

After four to six weeks, if your property is still for sale, thendepending on market conditions - you may need to review all of the marketing and interest to date.

Consider every step so far

If the marketing has not been good enough, whether through poor presentation or lack of exposure, it may not be price related. Instead ask your agent to make improvements to the presentation with new photographs or to advertise to a wider audience.

Change agent?

It is not ideal to jump from one agent to another. The stress and time involved aside, it doesn’t look great to potential buyers either. Only ever consider changing agent if you feel that your agent has not covered the steps well enough. If you have not yet chosen an agent, be sure that they are able to complete these steps so changing later won’t be necessary.

Price amendment

If you have covered all the previous steps in full, market conditions turn against you or the viewing feedback you receive dictates; then it would be prudent to consider a price amendment. Review Step 1 and consider a lower price. If you do reduce the marketing figure, then you absolutely must fulfil every element in Step 3 again - it is the same process for a relaunch.

Review the steps

If Steps 3-5 have not been done properly then go back and review them before even thinking about a price reduction.

STEP 10

OFFERS AND NEGOTIATION

If you are reading this guide, you are clearly hoping to sell your property for the best price possible, the negotiation of which is the most important part of the process.

Recruit wisely

Make sure you employ an estate agent on their ability to negotiate. An agent who discounts their fee easily may not be the one for you. You must be satisfied with the abilities of your agent to negotiate on your behalf.

Full disclosure

Make sure that your agent understands your exact wishes. They are your representative during this process and understanding your goal is key to them achieving the best outcome.

Do not be offended by low offers

Any offer is a good offer - it means someone wants to buy your property. It’s down to your agent to negotiate each offer to its best and final offer and lots of people start with low offers.

Don’t be greedy

If you receive one or more satisfactory offers early on in the marketing process, it can be tempting to hold out for more. Research shows that the best offers usually come in during the first stages of marketing a property. The Launch process (if done properly) can often produce the best buyers as they have been patiently waiting for a home just like yours.

Qualify offers carefully

As an industry between 30-40% of property sales fall through before exchange of contracts, one of the principal reasons being that the correct due diligence wasn’t carried out by the estate agent at the point of negotiation. Make sure your agent has fully identified the potential buyers’ chain and financial position before entering into negotiations with them.

A few golden rules of negotiation:

• Make sure your agent notes the language the buyer uses when offering. “Let’s try this”, or “see what they say to that” are clear indicators that they will increase.

• RARELY accept the first offer, unless the buyer pays a premium.

• Be mindful of the language that goes back to the buyer. Use words like ‘that’s a fair starting offer’ NOT ‘that’s a good offer”

• Price ISN’T the only thing that can be negotiated on. You can negotiate on timescales and contents too.

After agreeing a sale

The sales progression process could warrant a separate guidebook altogether! For the purposes of this section, do not be taken in by last-minute renegotiation attempts from buyers. Usually a response along the lines of “can you please confirm that the buyer is now withdrawing from the purchase and they are happy for the property to be placed back on the open market” does the trick, unless there are genuine, unforeseen reasons to entertain a renegotiation.

Good luck

Having read this 10 Step Plan, you should now understand the importance of a well prepared and executed marketing plan. Each step is as important as the next and if followed, you will sell your property for a premium price. Good Luck!

CHOOSING AN ESTATE AGENT

Choosing an agent can be daunting. Local agents charging different rates whilst all claiming that their offering is the best and online agents offering (what seems like) the Full Monty service for bargain fees can make it a difficult decision.

You are hiring the services of an individual and their team to manage the sale of what is likely to be your most valuable asset.

Like any ‘new hire’ you are looking to recruit an agent who can offer the right set of skills to get the job done properly. In this case they must be both a marketeer and a negotiator. Therefore your ‘interview’ should be conducted with this in mind.

Research online

Start by looking at each agent’s website remembering that this is an example of how your property would be advertised. Is it mobile-friendly? Yes - it does matter! Check that they have an active social media page and that they have professional photos, videos and floorplans on every property listing. Check that they are active on social media.

Call them

Call around the agents who made it past your ‘research’ stage and ask them where they advertise with Steps 4 and 5 in mind. If they are not on the main property search websites, move on. If they don’t do video tours, move on. If they don’t do accompanied viewings, move on.

Interview them

That’s right, it’s as much an interview for the role of your trusted agent as it is a valuation. Don’t be seduced by inflated valuations. Your property is worth what the best buyer is prepared to pay for it. This meeting is about how they intend to find that buyer.

FOUR TRAPS TO LOOK OUT FOR:

Overvaluating

The oldest trick in the book

Low fees

The easiest trick in the book

Long contracts

Nothing says confidence like an 18 week lock-in. ‘I’ve got just the buyer’ Have you now?

Avoid cheap fees

The cheapest agent WILL end up being the most expensive agent. They may charge you less than others in terms of their bill, but they will probably cost you more in your ultimate sale price. What matters most is what you walk away with and you must choose an agent who you think is going to achieve the very best price through presentation, exposure and negotiation.

Avoid long contracts

Some agents will want to tie you in for 16, 18 or even 20 weeks. If you are not happy or the agent isn’t able to complete the 10 Steps you need to be able to walk away. Ask them for a 4, 2 or even 0 week contract. If they are confident in their ability, they will agree.

Be comfortable

You may be working with your chosen agent for some time. Whilst you’re not recruiting for a new best friend, it certainly helps if you like them!

An agent whose advertising strategy is ‘I’ll match any fee’ is never a good choice.

Barton

12a George Street,

Barton

DN18 5ES 01652 661166

barton@ddmresidential.co.uk

Brigg

72 Wrawby Street

Brigg

DN20 8JE 01652 653666 brigg@ddmresidential.co.uk

Gainsborough 9 Church Street

Gainsborough

DN21 2JJ 01427 616161

gainsborough@ddmresidential.co.uk

Scunthorpe

46 Oswald Road