Routine, I love it!

Admit it, who has breathed a large sigh of relief this week? Lovely as it is having the kids off over the summer holidays isn’t it fabulous to get them back to schooland all get in to a sense of routine and back to some level of normality. I love it, it is very good for my OCD as those who know me will appreciate what a creature of habit I am.

Everyone is back to work in our office. There isn’t any need to arrange cover for the relevant departments that are left short whilst people are sunning themselves in foreign climes and we can now easily get hold of clients without hearing that familiar overseas ringtone and worrying that you are waking someone up in some exotic location.

It also means that we should be entering one of our historically busiest times. September, October and a good part of November and always really busy months for us before the build up to you know what (cant bring myself to say it yet, it is too early). So if you have a house on the market already looking to sell or are thinking of marketing now is the time.

We are hopeful of an Indian summer when it comes to the weather so properties still look at their best with lush gardens and light evenings. Much better to present a property now than wait until the dark nights of November or December.

If your house has been on the market for a while then this is a good time to think about a price reduction to generate some new interest. Any reduction should have the desired affect and will achieve maximum impact with new applicants looking to purchase and hoping to move before the end of the year.

It is also important to keep your eye on the prize. When a property has been on the market for a while it is easy to lose a bit of motivation and forget the basics when it comes to house selling. Physiologically you have already moved out and are busy thinking about your next home and cant really be bothered with your existing one. Always remember for any prospective purchaser there will be a first time that they see the house and it may be an old cliché but that is the time when they decide to buy or not.

When you put the property on the market a few months ago you ensured that the lawn was cut, the children’s clothes were all picked up from their bedroom floors and that the dog had had a bath and wasn’t quite as smelly. Now, 15 viewers in and still no takers you cant be bothered and it is all you can do to open the door to prospective purchasers. You have used up all of your sales patter and now let them walk around on their own while you watch Jeremy Kyle on the telly wondering if anyone is still in bed upstairs?

I can understand how easy it is to lose motivation and know the effort it takes to present a property well, honestly. I don’t expect you to be baking fresh bread every time you have a viewing but like I said the basics must be done if you want to achieve the aim of achieving a sale.

I once was selling a very large house in Rochford. The lady selling was lovely, incredibly house proud and every estate agents dream. The property always looked amazing and even had loads and loads of fresh flowers around to brighten the house up (it was already amazing and didn’t really need it, truth be told), it must have cost her a few hundred pounds. I showed a gentleman round, we spent a long time at the house discussing it and he showed a firm interest. He asked if he could bring his partner round to view and once we had coordinated diaries with all involved we arrange a second viewing for him and his partner the very next day.

The next day we all rocked up and whilst the partner was taking in the house the gentleman and I that had seen the property the previous day looked at each other in amazement. The fresh flowers, throughout the house had been replaced with brand new ones. Bearing in mind the old ones were only a day old they would have been perfectly fine, then take in to consideration the cost and time to arrange them all in vases, we were a little shocked and spent a lot of the viewing giggling to each other.

This is obviously a bit extreme but it is important to treat your 25th viewing exactly the same as your first. It may be your 25th viewing and you would are quite rightly fed up with people commenting that your ground floor cloakroom is too small but it is the first time for these people that they have seen it, so sorry you have to be all smiles and brightness and get that hoover out one more time.

This obviously is exactly the same for people thinking of putting their properties on the market for the first time now. Presentation seems to be key at the moment with prospective purchasers. The actual fixtures and fittings don’t have to be the most modern or the best quality but a property has to be clean, tidy, bright and easy for people to imagine they can move in to.

If you have a few jobs that you think need doing before marketing then now is the time. It may be getting the front of the house painted, fixing a seal on a double glazed window or finishing the decorating in your spare bedroom that you said was going to be done 4 years ago. Be realistic though, if you think that the jobs will be done in the next 2 or 3 weeks and then you will be in a position to put the house on the market then great. If, honestly, you think that the jobs will take a couple of months, doing them in evenings or weekends then it might be worth holding off and marketing in the New Year?

As I have said in a previous blog the market is a little fragile at the moment but a few months shouldn’t make a great deal of difference and it is important to appreciate it is all relative especially if you are buying or selling in the same area.

So in summary, lets go in to Autumn having recharged our batteries over the summer months. Roll up our sleeves and get ready for the hordes of people expected to want to move to our brilliant town!