Winter Property Marketing

This time of year I get no end of owners telling me that they are waiting until the New Year to put their property on the market.  This may sound familiar and could work very well for you, however potentially you could miss out on over 60,000* property searches every week and that is just from one website!  Looking on the same website from which the above figure was taken, at the time of writing, in the last 7 days there have been 87 properties listed in Exeter, 34 of these were price reductions and 53 new to the market.  I know when I have looked myself for new property to buy  I have usually already trawled through all the properties on the market so just want to see the newest ones as these are the prime targets for me  to secure a good quality property. 

When it comes to marketing property, there are usually considerably fewer properties coming to the market at this time of year, so the chances of your property being seen are higher.  I find winter photographs taken in good weather with blue skies can help to enhance some of the best features.  Although gardens may not be at their prime, internal photographs of open fires and warm surroundings could be the catch for some eager buyers.  No one particularly likes traipsing around doing viewings in the rain so it is important to make the property as warm and inviting as possible.  Call me Scrooge but Christmas will eventually come and go very quickly so looking at it as a business transaction, I would personally not postpone marketing until after it, but of course everyone has their own views, including my wife.

If you would prefer to wait to market your property until after the New Year, it’s a good idea to have the photographs and details prepared beforehand so it can be immediately put onto the market when the time is right.

Due to the large supply and demand issue we are facing in the area, prices are set to go one way.  While this may be good news if you are thinking of waiting to sell and then downsizing when you do move; if you are looking to upsize or buy your first property, time is of the essence.  If your property increases in value by 1%, excellent, however if the more expensive property you want to buy also increases by 1%, that gap is getting larger and it may just be the difference between being affordable or out of reach. 

To try to reduce this effect, if you are planning to stay in the property over the winter and then sell, use these few months to carry out all those little jobs that you have been meaning to do.  I have inset halogen spotlights in my bathroom for example and although they look nice, they do tend to blow fairly frequently so I currently have two that are out.  This doesn’t particularly bother me, however if I was trying to sell my property and someone saw this, they may think there is an issue with the lighting system or have concerns about what else may not be working in the property.  Perhaps it would be worth getting a friend to have a look around the house and for them to suggest touch-ups?

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas & New Year and if you would like more inspiration or ideas on how to make the most of your property prior to selling or letting, please do call me on 01392 254488 (yes I am in the office between Christmas & New Year), Jon.

*Number of searches carried out on Rightmove in Exeter for week ending 09/11/2015