The wonderful thing about starting an estate agency in the middle of a recession (Sept 15th 2009) was that my options for success were very, very limited. With being a new estate agency, with no office and no track record, instructions were very limited in those early days, so everything that came on the books had to be sold.
Another thing was that because we were new and our approach was almost non-estate agent like, we were being instructed to sell houses that had perhaps been on the market for a long time and the owner was far more open to new ideas having tried many other agents, without success.
So, how on earth do you go about selling a house that has been advertised absolutely everywhere for the past 2 years without selling?
My method for selling any house is very simple. Work out who is going to buy it for the best price and solely target that buyer with the property marketing. So if your target buyer loves dogs, ensure the photography is geared toward showing how perfect the property is for having dogs. If a good kitchen/diner is essential to your target buyer as they’re a large family, make sure the table is extended and laid out for 8 people in the photo.
No other agent I’ve met thinks about targeted marketing to buyers. Estate agents, in general, are geared towards selling as many properties as they possibly can, and their instruction levels allow them to do that. But are they the best at selling YOUR home? Every home is unique, so the simple answer is that if they’re not targeting the ideal buyer, how can they be?
Understanding marketing is essential when selling property (if you want the best price). My skills have been mastered simply by selling the hardest of all property to sell (been on market ages and with lots of other agents), in a really tough market. When I now apply those principals to property that hasn’t been on the market before or for a short period of time, the results are outstanding.
It’s not rocket science to be really good at selling property, you just need to understand basic marketing and really care about delivering on it.
Simon Ward – Owner/manager at Mr Green.
