Selling advice needed PLEASE

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    • #51230
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Hello Everyone,
      Is there anyone out there who can give me any advice on how best to try and sell my apartment, obviously I’m using the agents route already but this is proving a waste of time as I suspect that the main agents I’m using are talking my potential buyers, out of buying my place (I’ve had several very positive, keen viewings), and I’ve since heard these keen viewers have now bought “off plan” (with same company)
      It’s hard enough trying to sell for a sensible price, when agents are charging enormous fee’s, without the disappointment and added frustration of feeling that that I’m secretly being cheated.
      I did also make one singular attempt of private add over here but all this achieved was an endless stream of agents/ tele sales trying to talk me into up front payments for web style advertiseing!! Don’t get me wrong , the internets fantastic but it’s not very practical for viewings if the people live thousands of miles away!!
      Any advice would be greatly appreciated as to any good ways to generate interest, or ways that have proven to be sucessful for people.
      Thanks Lorraine
      p.s I do know there are genuine agents out there, I am also using 2 very very small agents, who do care but are reliant on buyers finding there little offices , so I know they’re not all bad.

    • #58747
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Not sure what area you are in but I can only comment on the Costa del sol. This is probably the worst time of year to sell as most people are only interested in holidays and buyers are few and far between. However, I don’t know any great techniques but can offer some advice:

      1) List your property with an agent who is part of a Mult Listing Service, such as the Interagency Network in Costa del Sol. This will mean that your property will also be available to anotther 200 or so agents for them to sell too. Commission can be up to 10% (ouch).

      2) Make sure your apartment looks impeccable inside and out. Apply some “house doctoring” techniques if necassary. In an apartment it is particularly important to create a sense of space.

      3) If you get desperate you could always try a Spanish property auction such as Auction property Spain, although you may not make so much of a profit.

      Hope that helps.

    • #58842
      Anonymous
      Participant

      I hate to disagree with Justin but I am afraid that he is incorrect in what he says. Traditionally mid September onwards and most of October are the most busy of the year. Almost 6 years experience tells me that.
      Flynn you have not indicated if your property is an existing resale or something approaching completion? There may be certain factors that are contributing to you not getting the exposure that you hope for? Good luck with the sale.

    • #58953
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Hi Flynn

      if you – or anyone else for that matter – wish to put your property on my website FOC then drop me a line and I will set you up with an account. Any enquiries that come through will be directed straight to you.

      With regards to advice about selling your property there are a number of methods you can employ depending on the type of property and whether it is new/resale or nearing completion. I will assumeit is a property that is built rather than off plan.

      First of all local papers – not sure of the papers down CdS but here there are many. Try the Spanish papers as well (if you want help translating your advert into Spansih drop me a line at the address below)

      If you dont want agents contacting you just put in “No Agents Please” they generally respect this (though not all of them)

      Try an advert in a UK paper or magazine. If you have a reasonable house then try Daltons Weekly or Exchnage and Mart, you could also try Lady magazine which is very good for particular types of property.

      Also newspapers such as the Surrey Mirror and Sussex times, country life etc are good places – again depends ontheproperty type.

      Find internet sites that offer For Sale By Owner – especially free ones. Dont under estimate the power of the internet – 75% of buyers initially search on the internet – so by missing this valuable medium out you are only appealing to the remaining 25%.

      If you have a large property worth a lot fo money (over €500,000) drop me a line and I will give you a site I have used for these kind of property. you have to pay for it but you get a lot of enquiries and hopefully a sale.

      Try posting it on this and other forums – many allow private advertisers to put their property on – not sure if it works but as tesco say every little helps.

      Print off some leaflets with your property details, and go round local towns and markets putting them out on car windows (not sure if that is aloowed down there but it is here and itis efective) drag family members and friends out to help – up here 6,000 small a5 leaflets will cost you about €100 and it could well give you enough enquiries to get a sale.

      Make an offer for someone coming to look at your proerty – Figure out how much you would save by not using anagent and offer to buy a car upto that amount for the successful purchaser – makes it something different to all the other offers and if all the properties are similar then your will stand out as a better prospect.

      Put the word about to friends in an email. Have a website with your proeprty detials (as Isaid you can use mine ofr this if you wish) and send an email to your firends in your contact list. Ask them to pass the email onto to as many people as they can to see if anyone out there wants your property. I have done this before when selling my own house and it worked a treat – never heard of the guy who bought it but he had received the email letter and was interested.

      Put the leaflets up in as many places as you can – restaurants, bars, Supermarkets anywhere where people may see it.

      And finally dare I state the obvious – stick a Se Vende sign on your window or door so people know it is for sale.

      Regards

      Vince
      vbtudor@spanishproperty-direct.com

    • #58954
      Anonymous
      Participant

      all good marketing ideas – but what about it you live in the UK! how would you show visitors around???

    • #58955
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Well in that case you need to find someone locally to help out. Have someone look after the keys for you – someone you can trust and not necessarily an agent – it has been known for agents to rent your property out and pocket the money – not all agents would do this but why risk it.

      It has already been mentioned that agents in this partiular case are not performing the function hence the reason for the question.

      So unless you would be willing to come and show people round yourself or you know someone locally you can trust you will need to find some other method of performing this function. Who do YOU trust with your keys and property?

    • #58957
      Anonymous
      Participant

      it has been known for agents to rent your property out and pocket the money – not all agents would do this but why risk it.

      been there had that! I doubt if people even consider this possibilty but I CAN assure you it happens!!

      Who do YOU trust with your keys and property?

      Unfortunately you HAVE to give the agents keys to show it, unless you have VERY GOOD relations or friends. If people know a house is empty or for sale you get people offering you cash “just for a month or two” I fell for that one as well, because you “know” neighbours you would assume you could trust them, unfortuantely Spain does appear to attract the immoral and corrupt. my neighbours relation, trashed the place and left me with 1000E worth of bills. Not surprisingly the “nice neighbour” has done a runner as well. This seems to be quite common, have heard about it from other people.

      Choose an agent, try and find a reputable one (ha ha) and get a receipt for the keys , phone them up on a regular basis telling them you have friends or yourself who want to use the house that weekend, so you are just letting them now in case they have a viewing. Logic being it they think you are over here regularly they wont let friends stay there and it reminds that THAT YOU EXIST! think how many properties are up for sale with them at moment.

      I think you have to come over on a regular basis to stop them letting it out or worse having all the services cut off. Its quite difficult to show a house with no electricity or running water.

    • #58958
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Vince, I live in Surrey, and I have never heard of the Surrey Mirror. There is a “Surrey Life” , like the “Sussex Life” you mentioned. I think a very good way of selling is, as you say, by putting a “Se Vende” sign up with a contact number. We notice properties more this way, and discuss whether or not a property would suit us….IF we had our money back,leaving us free to buy somewhere else. !! It’s a hobby! 😀

    • #58959
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Hi Claire

      the Surrey Mirror is printed in Reigate (or it was when I advertised in it a year ago) and stretches from Redhill to Hindhead/Haslemere as far as Guidford. It used to get to Woking too but I am not sure about it now. But it still has a readership of some 40,000 or so.

      I used to advertise in it when I sold mahogany furniture and it is a good paper to advertise quality in because it is a broadsheet paper.

      However if you go to their website you get redirected to icsurrey which is run by tirinity mirror (who own the Surrey Mirror)

      However the best form of advertising I found was printing off leaflets. If you live in Surrey then a great place to go would be Hindhead/Grayshott/Haslemere. There are lots of people there who did hanker after a place in the Sun. When I did a leaflet drop there for the furniture I got a 7% or so response rate – norally you get 1-2% if you are lucky.

      Anyway good luck

      Vince

    • #58961
      Anonymous
      Participant

      I’ve tried advertising, problem is, so far had lots and lots of agents, despite the no agents request (had one only this morning!!) or have had phone enquiries from people looking to pay half it’s real value!!. Cannot put a SE VENDE sign up as community do not allow it. Daltons has resulted in massive amount of SPAM and requests to use my bank account for Nigeria and the like, going to try the local paer again on Friday, will expect a torrent of agents yet again!!! I am marketing it with agents but seem to be getting lots of people who’s hobby is viewing other people’s house’s. Can’t see a solution short of a miracle at present, the market is just too saturated.
      Flynn

    • #58962
      Anonymous
      Participant

      I’m looking to buy an apartment on the CDS.
      Do you have a link to your property on a website.

    • #58963
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Yes, idealista.com property ref171279

      Flynn

    • #58968
      Anonymous
      Participant

      @Anonymous wrote:

      have had phone enquiries from people looking to pay half it’s real value!!.

      Surely this tells you something? Your property must be overpriced for the current market situation, like it or not. A property’s “real value” is not what it’s worth to you, the vendor, it’s what it’s worth to a prospective purchaser.
      Who calculated it’s “real value”, a bank’s valuation surveyor? And what is that based on? Euros per square metre or what adjacent properties are selling for?

      It’s all relative anyway, surely? If your house is now worth 20% more than it was when you bought it, then so will be the next house you are looking to buy. Ditto if it’s 100% or just 1%. So unless you are getting out of the Spanish property market what does it matter? Talking up house prices does nobody any favours except for estate agents.

    • #58970
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Flynn – that property reference number doesn’t seem to exist on that website ❓

    • #58972
      Anonymous
      Participant

      No, I couldn’t find it either. Praps that’s why it’s not selling!

    • #58973
      Anonymous
      Participant

      If you cant find it from that ref no, then go into search by town, click Mijas, click 180,000€ and it’s the 2nd one down francia 19c . Its giving me the ref no vw171279 but maybe thats just an advertisers ref.
      The apartments not over priced, how can anyone offer a low price without seeing it!!! I take no notice, as these people are just sharks hoping to get lucky!!
      As I’ve said before the problem is purely a glut of 2 beds on the market, similar apartment to mine on same complex is 20,000€ more, so I know it’s not too expensive, have asked several agents their opinion and have been told it’s very competitive price and that I would need my head reading to lower it, so what can I do ??? I dont want to lower it further anyway.
      Flynn

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