With the increasing rate of inflation, the increased rate of borrowing, the rise in interest rates and the surge in the cost of living, many buyers and sellers have been forced to delay their relocation plans. Market research has also found that the number of houses that will be sold in the UK in 2023 will be around 1 million houses, which is a significant drop from the 1.2 million houses sold in 2022. Despite the circumstances, market experts believe that many people will still put their homes on the market and there will be several potential buyers for these properties. The only thing that sellers need to focus on is figuring out the right asking price while buyers need to focus on finding the right home. If you are wondering how to price your home in these market situations, here are some ways to find the sweet spot, price-wise, in a competitive property market.
Do your due research
Before you even decide to put your property on the market, you need to do your due research regarding property prices. Find out the asking price for similar properties in your area and also find out how much these properties have finally sold for in the last few months. You also need to look at similar properties on the market in different areas and neighbourhoods to try to figure out how long these properties have been on the market. Estate agents in Doncaster believe that sellers will have to really reexamine the selling timeline in 2023, so researching how long similar properties have been on the market could help sellers figure out an average timeline. Also, by looking at similar properties in and around your area you will get a fair idea of your competition. Once you have all the data, you can easily figure out the sweet spot for your asking price.
Hire the right agent
As a rule of thumb, an estate agent who quotes the highest selling price is not always the best agent and an estate agent who quotes the lowest selling price is not always the worst agent. To be able to price your property correctly, you want to hire a local estate agent as he or she will have the best knowledge about local property prices. A local estate agent will also be able to tell you how much similar properties have sold for in the past, how long it took for these properties to get off the market, how many times the buyer visited the property before closing the deal and hence the kind of things that buyers are looking for in such properties. Choosing the right estate agent is crucial in such a competitive market because a good agent will be able to help you price your property just right, not too high and not too low.
Always leave room for negotiation
When the market is highly competitive, be rest assured that buyers are going to negotiate as much as they can. Until and unless you as a seller are lucky enough to find a buyer who walks into your home and makes a matching offer because it is love at first sight, you are probably going to have to leave some room for negotiation. The best way to do that is to figure out the lowest price that you are willing to accept, and then price your home around 10 to 15 per cent higher than that. So, if a buyer does decide to negotiate, then you know exactly how much room you have for negotiation and the lowest price that you are willing to accept. While negotiating, you want to make sure that you do not want to insult the buyer nor do you want to reject an offer without giving it a fair chance. Remember, negotiating is an art so if you feel that you do not have the skills to negotiate a good deal then you can ask your estate agent to negotiate on your behalf.
Remember, pricing your home is an ongoing process. If you set a certain price and do not find any buyers for 3 or 4 months, then it may be time for you to reconsider your asking price. Since this is not a set-and-forget type of deal, you need to keep reevaluating your asking price based on ongoing market conditions
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