Overviews Photography

Free help and advice for you

This project was managed throughout as an experiment in self marketing. Our belief was that a reasonably intelligent person could market their own property at least as well as an agent and save a packet into the deal, here's our story....

July 2008:  The worst recession in living memory rocked the world, huge corporations went broke, we decided to sell our house in Australia and start a new business in New Zealand.

First things first, we needed a plan.

When we studied the subject it became clear that selling a property depends on just a few key items.....

1. Price

2. Appearance

3. Advertising

4. Effort

5.Legal issues

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Price is everything.

The very first thing people look at is the price, thinking can they afford it? Have a long hard look at your area and price your place accordingly or get a valuer in to do it for you.  Then don't be coy, tell it loud and clear, if you don't, your competitors will. Vine Creek Cottage was sold on an "offers from" basis. This was intentionally done to dissuade the dreamers as it sends a strong message of "don't bother with a cheeky offer", so that when your buyer comes along they are already conditioned to the price.

Next, add value, include things that in themselves are not very expensive but in the buyers view are desirable. It might be a mower or a flat screen TV, bear in mind that you are saving many thousands on agents fees, a few bucks therefore is unimportant.

Appearance.

Your focus needs to be on the potential buyer, what would they want to see? You won't notice the day to day clutter of your home but they will and for many people they just can't get beyond the kids toys, the dogs, the clothes on the washing line, the TV blaring out MTV etc. 

Stop and think; most people want a home that is a haven, a safe and peaceful place. So first off get rid of all the clutter, yes all of it, rent a lock-up if you need to, just get rid of it from view, off the property. Next clean the place spick and span, top to bottom, inside and out. Same with the gardens, the car and the roadside verges. First impressions are the most important thing right now.

Okay so now we're getting there, take loads of photos, not  a handful, a heap. Think about each shot, look at the scene and think would this appeal to a buyer? We're professional photographers and that helps lots so if you are unsure of what looks right, pay a few hundred dollars and get the Pros in. We'll send you a checklist of things to do and not to do, we'll take low level aerial pictures to show off the house in it's surroundings and then take the ground level shots inside and out. You can have video tours, the works,  you are in charge of your marketing budget, don't forget that.

As with all things the more we do the more we charge but the more you get for your money.

Ready to advertise.

More houses are sold via the internet than any other way. No we're not talking about some dodgy auction of a gangs drughouse you bought unseen, the net is a tool for you to use. The internet is your world wide shop window, setting up a website is cheap, even free if you do the work yourself and it's surprisingly easy.

Create yourself a website (to see ours click the image to the left) so that you can show and tell people everything about your property. Once the site is to your liking it's nearly  time to advertise.

Before you advertise you need to get some decent signs made, ones that really sell your home. Agents signs advertise agents, why would you want to do that?

Find a good sign-maker, write the copy, give them the words, the pictures and the layout and see what they come up with. You'll be surprised at how cheap it is and what good quality you can achieve. Below is a perfect example of how not to do it!

Get some flyers printed too, something for passers by to pick up from a waterproof box by your sign. Don't expect people to come and knock on the door, put the sign and the box a little away from your front gate so folk can take a flyer without having to feel that they are being watched or about to be pounced on by an over-eager home-owner.

 This is one side of our A4 tri-fold flyer

Advertise!

Newspapers are still a good place to advertise, you only need a small ad with the price, location, a picture and the website address. Anyone who is serious will look at your website and that is where you do your selling, not in column inches of newsprint!

Free listing websites have their place as does Trademe et al. Remember that you are doing this inexpensively, you aren't going to do it for free so be prepared to spend a few bucks on advertising.

Effort.

This is the big one, you'll only get out of this project what you put in. If you want to sit back and do nothing, all the while fretting about the agent and their various ploys, then go ahead and employ an agent. To market your own place as described above should cost you much less than $5000. That's still a considerable sum but remember that if you priced it realistically and included the cost of marketing in the price then you're on your way to a sale. The good thing is there'll be no agent bring around dreamers who will offer you 30% less than your price!

Legal issues.

Get your solicitor onside early in the piece, brief them as to your plans and do shop around for one who knows his stuff.  The contracts here in NZ are simple and straightforward, a solicitor will not charge much for their end of things and you will almost always need a solicitor at some point.

Contracts.

Deals fall through because of complicated contracts so keep it simple, very simple and you'll be halfway there.

Deals also fall through for stupid reasons, the buyer likes your new lawnmower or they want occupancy a week earlier than you'd like and they want you to make it part of the deal. Don't say no, stop and think, is that $3k ride-on mower a deal breaker? Does it matter if you need to stay in a motel for week? You'd consider a 5% drop in price so why not use these deal breakers as bargaining chips, it's just plain common sense.

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Back to the story....

We followed exactly this path, the newspaper advertisements created a lot of interest in the website, the people who did come and view all wanted to buy but most had a place to sell and the recession was starting to really bite. We maintained a dialogue with all of our  potential buyers and that has now borne fruit in a sale, all the while with two others waiting in the wings, typically waiting to sell their own properties.  (Note to potential buyers, don't go looking without your money being organised, sellers don't want promises, they want a sale, plain and simple.)

Anyway, here's how we followed our own advice......

Price

We studied the local market, had valuations done, studied the market some more and finally identified  our price range, bearing in mind what the place had cost to build and what represented a reasonable return on our investment without being greedy. Then we looked at the chattels and decided what we were prepared to leave as a part of the deal to make the property more attractive still.  So far so good.

Appearance

We ensured that the house was always spotless and the gardens well tended. We took photos when the house was dressed and ready for sale. When people came to view we gave them plenty of time and space then let the house sell itself, nobody likes a pushy owner. 

Advertising

Without doubt the website did more in terms of selling the place than any other media and a detailed site like this one is not difficult to achieve. We placed reasonable sized ads like the one below in the press with the basic details and the web address where people could view the property in detail.

 We also listed the property on several multi listing sites and received a reasonable level of interest but from a very wide geographical area.

We had the local sign-printers make us four signs in this style, 900mm by 600mm at $110 each.

 We sited four such signs on the approach to the property and placed detailed A4 flyers, printed on good quality paper, in a waterproof box at the sign closest to the house.

Effort

Here's the hard part; you have to keep on trying, keep on advertising, keep on keeping on and when you've had enough, you must try some more. You will only get out what you put in, if you are easily daunted then stop right now and give your agent a call. 

Contracts

Like I said earlier keep contracts really simple, don't take verbal promises, don't be stupid about teeny weeny details, use a good solicitor.

Sold!  

We completed the sale in May 2009, almost 8 months since the sale project started, pretty good considering the global situation at the time. We got the price we wanted, the buyers and us both got a hassle free deal.

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Good luck, contact us if you need any help, let us know how it goes for you.