Setting The Right Price For A Property

When is the best time to put my home on the market?

The best time to sell depends an awful lot on what your property looks like and where it is. In London, the perceived wisdom is always that you put your property on in the spring, but there's never any property on the market in January, so traditionally, actually January is always the best time to do it, but no one ever believes that so they wait until the spring. Everybody puts their property on the market in the spring and suddenly there's a lot of property about so it's not necessarily the best time. If you've got a property with a garden, chances are it's going to look better in the spring. But about 8 percent of estate agency business is done in the first six months of the year. So there's very little doubt the best time to do it easier is in the first six months.

How can I read the market?

There are three different perceptions of the property market: there's the press, the public, and the estate agents. The estate agents like to see turnover, the press like to see property prices going up or down very rapidly, and the public like to see property prices going up. The press normally tend to get it right, from the public's point of view, so if you're reading the press and the press is telling you the property market is going up, the chances are they've got it right. So, if the press is telling you the market is going up, it's probably a good time to sell.

Should I go for the estate agent's valuation?

Well, estate agents tend to work on a turnover basis. Estate agents want to keep properties selling, so there is an argument that a lot of estate agents will price things knowing that you're unlikely to ask in more than one or two estate agents. So if they give you a price, which they know they can sell it at, and you only go with that agent, then that's the price they'll be able to sell it very easily. So, I think you need to do a little bit of work to make sure that you're maximizing your asking price.

Will fluctuations in the market affect my sale?

I'm afraid to say the English in particular are very short sighted when it comes to selling their property. If they hear the market's going up, they will tend to wait and think that if they wait another six months they'll get more money for their property. What they forget, of course, is they're probably buying and selling in the same market. What you are selling and buying is your home so don't get too tied up in fluctuations in the market. If you want to sell, sell.

Will a high price put people off?

My experience of buyers, nearly 3 years worth, is unfortunately that buyers are liars; they've always got slightly more money than they say they have. But I think setting far too high a price will put people off. Estate agents are there to find the market value of your property, and therefore, what you really want to do is to pitch the price at more or less the right level, or even slightly low. I think if you put it slightly too low, you're going to find you get a lot of people looking at it, and you might foster a situation where you have a sort of sealed bid or a situation with more than one person who wants to buy it, in which case you will find the true market value of your property.