11 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. It has been adapted to suit COVID-19 conditions.
11 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.
Remember Everyone wants to buy what everyone else wants to buy, but no-one wants to buy what no-one else wants to buy.
It has been adapted to suit COVID-19 conditions.
Contents Step 1 – Price Step 2 – Presentation Step 3 – Launch Step 4 – Online Exposure Step 5 – Printed Exposure Step 6 – Passive Buyer Exposure Step 7 – Enquiries Step 8 – Viewings Step 9 – Feedback Step 10 – Review Step 11 – Offers and negotiation
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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.
This edition of the 11 Step Plan has been modified to accommodate and adhere to current COVID-19 guidelines as of May 2020. Each step is as important as the next one, so do not skip, settle or compromise. Good luck and stay safe,
I created this structured strategy of 11 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 11 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.
Joe Parry MNAEA, Managing Director joe@archerandco.com | DL: 01291 639277
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.
“ Selling a property is easy... selling a property for the best price isn’t
11 STEP PLAN
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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. If you don’t, then 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 “Guide Price £300,000”, not Asking 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 (reductions should be avoided at all costs). This is also why you should avoid “Offers Over” or “Offers in Excess Of”. Use a round figure With the above points firmly in mind, make sure that 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. Consider the negotiation strategy whilst pricing. Never use the term “asking price”. This will make negotiating above the attached figure difficult and uncomfortable.
Agree on a marketing price
£???
THE PURPOSE OF A MARKETING PRICE IS ONLY TO ATTRACT MAXIMUM INTEREST
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Step 2 Presentation Remember that 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.
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You wouldn’t ask your estate agent to photograph your wedding day!
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Photos Insist on professional property photography. Your estate agent turning up with a point and shoot camera (or even worse a phone!) is not an option within this plan. After all, you wouldn’t ask your estate agent to photograph your wedding day - I hope! Floorplan An accurate floorplan is not an option it is a must. Not only will buyers have 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.
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Description Buyers want to hear about the lifestyle and benefits that come with the property. They just want to know whether or not it could be their next potential 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 glossy 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 all of the lifestyle photos taken by the photographer as well as have style and appeal. Video walkthrough Before COVID-19 video marketing was an option, a luxury offered only on the most premium properties. Video is now an absolute must. Don’t worry about winning an Oscar, the purpose of a video walkthrough is to offer the viewer as much of a sense of the property as possible. Some sellers may insist that potential viewers have watched the entire video before allowing them into their home to view in person.
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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. Even better, insist that the key members come and visit the property in person. 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 to those who seem interested.
Interest can peak 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.
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 6. Don’t be tempted to put this up before the material is ready as this needs to form part of the launch. Featured Property (Rightmove) These are covered in the next step and are an excellent way to complement the launch strategy.
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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 3 Zoopla 3 Rightmove, 3 OnTheMarket 3 PrimeLocation 3 Facebook 3 Facebook Marketplace 3 Agents own (mobile friendly) website
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.
Why Facebook? Chances are, your agents Facebook page 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 of 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’. Don’t bother with Premium Listings, but make sure that you have a Rightmove ‘Featured Property’ for at least a week at the point of launch as it will shoot you to the top – as well as in the usual list.
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Step 5 Printed Exposure This guide is designed to achieve the best possible price and with that in mind you must cater for buyers who are not online or who still search the property supplements. Printed adverts Ask your agent to submit an advert for your property in the best local and regional publications. If there is a dedicated property paper in the area then make sure you are advertised regularly until sold. Editorial & PR Even better, you or your agent should contact the editors of these publications to convince them to run a feature or a piece of editorial. Think of an interesting angle that may be of interest to the readers. It may be about the property or it may be about you and your story. It’s extra coverage and it’s free!
Do not let anyone tell you that local papers are no longer an effective way of selling property.
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Step 6 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 thought the door, stumbled upon a Facebook 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 as they remain at home presently. 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 Facebook advert is as important nowadays as any of the property websites, maybe even more so.
Facebook One of the easiest ways to reach passive buyers is by advertising on Facebook. There are two things that must happen with the listing once it is live on the agents Facebook page: Share the agent’s Facebook post and ask your family and friends to do the same. This will quickly reach thousands of passive buyers for free. Ask the agent to ‘boost’ the post with an agreed budget. If your agent won’t fund it, offer to pay as it’s too important to miss. Even as little as £5 will reach thousands of passive buyers.
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Step 7 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. Evening s & 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. An agent that closes at Saturday lunchtime and does not take calls on a Sunday might cost you valuable leads. Send brochures 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 with an invitation to view.
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.
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Step 8 Viewings Viewings are obviously a crucial part of the process. Since COVID-19 viewings in some cases will only be invited after the potential viewer has reviewed every piece of marketing and watched every second of the video. Safety first All parties must wear PPE when viewing. Keep aside a small supply of masks, gloves and shoe coverings in case your viewers (or your agent) arrive unprepared. Leave all doors open and ensure that touchless access to all rooms and areas is available. You are advised to clean the property thoroughly before and after each viewing.
Virtual viewings You should consider offering potential viewers a ‘virtual viewing’ after they have watched the video walkthrough and before they commit to a first viewing.
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 - curb appeal is real! Get those unsightly items hidden away, paint the bits you’ve 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) You must let the agent do the viewing without you in the house. There are several reasons why, aside from government guidelines, 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.
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Ideally this should be a three-way call using FaceTime or WhatsApp with your agent leading the call as you conduct the tour for the viewer. Second viewings The first viewing is usually more emotional than logical. Presentation and lifestyle discussion is far more important that 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 them. It isn’t!
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Step 9 Feedback Honest feedback, warts-and-all, 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 buyers directly. That’s what you’ve entrusted your agent to do for you.
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Step 10 Review After four to six weeks, if your property is still for sale, then – depending 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 Price amendments should be avoided at all costs. Only if all of these steps have been covered in full, or market conditions turn against you, should you amend your marketing price. Review Step 1 and consider a lower Guide Price with a view to attract offers in excess of the figure. 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.
3 Step 1 3 Step 2 3 Step 3 3 Step 4 3 Step 5 3 Step 6 3 Step 7 3 Step 8 3 Step 9 Step 10 Step 11
Review the steps If Steps 3-6 have not been done properly then go back and review them before even thinking about a price reduction.
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Step 11 Offers and Negotiation If you are reading this guide, you are clearly hoping to sell your property for the best price possible. Well, negotiation 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.
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.
Don’t be greedy If you receive one or more satisfactory offers early on in the marketing process, it can be temping 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.
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 entertain a renegotiation.
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
Good luck Having read this 11 Step Plan, you should now understand the importance of a well planned 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!
Your agent is your appointed negotiator. You have hired them to represent you and get the best result on your behalf.
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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 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 into 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 Facebook page and that they have professional photos and floorplans on every property listing. Check if they are they open on Sundays and don’t forget to read their reviews. Call them Call around the agents who made it past your ‘research’ stage and ask them where they advertise with Steps 4, 5 and 6 in mind. If they are not on all of the property search websites, move on. If they don’t do video tours, move on. If they’re not available for evening and weekend enquiries, move on. Invite them for an interview and valuation 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. 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
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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 11 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 includes uploading their own photos to Rightmove and Zoopla and whose negotiation skills are limited to ‘I won’t be beaten on fees’ is never a good choice.
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