Property Selling Guide

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Marketing Materials

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Once you have appointed your solicitor/estate agent, everything is in motion. They will order your Home Report and the next stage is to get all the marketing materials prepared. This involves photographing your property then preparing all of the advertising for the property.

• Photographs

Photographs will form the main visual interest in your estate agent’s property advertising and it is crucial that your property looks as appealing as possible for the photographs. High quality photographs that make your property look as spacious and as bright as possible are key to attracting a steady stream of viewers. We recommend that, unless you are a professional, interior property photographer, you leave it to the professionals. A professional photographer with several years’ experience will have specialist camera equipment for interior photography, and a third party brings a fresh eye to things and sees your property in the same way as a potential buyer would see it.

• Promotional Material

Your promotional material, prepared by your estate agent, might include advertising your property on national property websites, local property websites, printed property brochures or schedules or even newspaper advertising. Some of these might be provided as standard by your solicitor/estate agent and some might need to be paid-for in addition to the estate agency fee or commission.

• Floor Plan

We would always recommend a floor plan to any potential seller. The visual representation of the layout of your property allows people to picture the layout and it might also give them an idea of home improvement such as knocking-together some rooms. Statistically, floor plans have been proven to attract more interest and to increase sales. They aren’t hugely expensive but they contribute a huge amount to the marketing of the property.

• ‘For Sale’ Board

A ‘For Sale’ board is one of the key ways of letting people know that your property is for sale. Some people don’t want their neighbours to know that they are selling their property, but it is essential to maximise the breadth of marketing. However, it’s a personal choice and any solicitor/estate agent should respect the wishes of their clients.

Getting ready for viewings

There is a fine line between making your property feel like a home and making it feel like someone else’s home. One of the main tips for selling your property is to de-clutter and de-personalise it, but you still want it to feel like home and you still have to live there meantime! Not everyone likes dogs and not everyone will love young children running around – this can distract potential buyers from the viewing! Keeping across-the-board appeal is no bad thing in increasing your prospects of a sale.

Remember that people don’t just use their eyes to judge a property, they also use their other senses. Making sure that the property is well-aired, that there aren’t strong cooking smells, and that there isn’t loud music in the background all helps to increase a property’s appeal. In addition, the less people you have in the property during the viewing, the larger the property will feel.