How an Estate Agent should market your property

Posted 26 March 2018 by Neil Moore

Welcome to the GL & Co blog, where we write on a regular basis to keep every reader abreast of what is going on in the property market in West Sussex. We like to include thoughts and comments from our managers and staff, based in the 3 GL & Co offices in Storrington, Horsham and Pulborough.  Craig, the manager of our Storrington office, gave us his thoughts earlier this week....

With the property market more competitive than ever and no shortage of stock coming to the market, especially in West Sussex, how your property is taken to the market can have a huge impact in not only a sale being achieved, but the price in which is secured too.

The marketing is more important than ever. When choosing an agent to sell your biggest asset, make sure you look on internet portals such as Rightmove to see how they present and package properties for sale. This is particularly important now as when you start marketing on websites such as Rightmove, the date you are first listed is shown. Buyers are aware of this and will possibly avoid properties that go 'stale' and have been on for a long time. At GL & Co, we work hard prior to launching on the internet by making sure all staff have seen the new instruction and a pro-active and focused call out session is done as the property is being prepared for the market. This is known as our 'In The Know' section. We will typically sell around 20% of homes prior to being offered on the internet. Advantages for our clients are; We introduce buyers that we know well. We have more control over timescales to suit our clients. We can negotiate a better price by using the exclusivity of the pre-marketing introduction.

Property web sites such as Rightmove are great to offer the property to the open market, but buyers still very much like to get the call prior and are more likely to view a property that is matched to their requirements by an experienced negotiator. This discreet period can also last for as long as a client's wishes. We will suggest a minimum of a few days to make sure we can generate some interest and get a real feel for what buyers think - ultimately they can be the best judge on pricing as they see everything that comes to the market.

If your agent is not prepared to work hard prior to launching fully, are they earning their fee or just relying on the phone or internet to bring them enquiries?

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