How to maximise your position when selling in this market

In a realistic market environment here are a few things that you can do to maximise your position:

1) Use an agent.

It might be tempting to save some money by managing the sale yourself, but the right agent is worth their commission many times over. Selling a home is a specialist skill. Leave it to the experts.

2) Know what your home is worth.

Knowledge is power, so if you can go into the sales process with some idea of what you should expect your home to sell for you’ll be in a stronger position to assess the merits of any offers you receive. I suggest to my clients to obtain three appraisals from various (well known, local and experienced) agents.

3) Give yourself as long as possible to sell.

The average time it takes to sell a home in Auckland has increased, so putting yourself under a tight deadline will increase the pressure to make rash decisions.

4) Some sale methods work better than others.

Ask your agent what sales method is working best in your suburb and for homes that are similar to yours.

You may find that days to sell is longer for price by negotiation or that an auction isn’t the best method for your particular property.

5) Present your home as well as possible.

Presentation has never been more important — so make sure your house looks great and that  maintenance issues have been seen to. If they’re obvious to you, they’ll be obvious — and potentially off-putting — to potential buyers. If you have a home that is in a very original condition, it is best to sell it 'as is where is'. If the home is in good condition, refurbishing instead of renovating is usually the rule of thumb to spend as little as possible to make as much as possible. For example, replace the old light fittings; garden maintenance, carpet and repaint where required can make all the difference. Also investing in staging is also recommended.

6) Be realistic.

Generally, there will be room for some negotiation on this so keep your eye on the bigger picture.

Don’t lose a sale out of pride or a misplaced sense of the value of your home, particularly if buyers aren’t beating down your door.

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