Durrants Residential Area Manager, George Berry, explains why looking at both the sale of your home together with the purchase of your next one can help you navigate the property market.
Look at the bigger picture when selling your home
Can you have the mindset of a buyer and mindset of a seller at the same time in the property market?
As a buyer, you want to get the best value you can and buy a property for the least amount possible. As a seller, you want to achieve the highest possible price within the market conditions. It is easy to see that these two stances are polar opposites. So where does this lead?
The buyer and seller stance
Those that choose the seller stance focus solely on selling and maximising value without looking at the next purchase. They tend to be prepared to break the chain and go into rented to make themselves stronger buyers.
Those that take the buyer stance and focus on seeking their new home can often weaken their position. If they fall in love with a property but are not in a position to proceed themselves, then any offer is unlikely to be accepted.
It also weakens their negotiating power as a seller is less likely to give a reduction if they are not in a strong position. If you opt for this route, you could potentially find your dream home but left heartbroken if the stars don’t align for everything to fall into place.
In a challenging market, how do we move forward in a way to ensure we are in the strongest position on both sides? It is worth looking at the bigger picture.
Reality is key
Many start the sales process with a view of what they think their house is worth. Agents then may have a mixed opinion on what the value is. I would suggest the agent that speaks to you candidly about the market and the reality of the situation is going to be the most sensible. It might not be what you want to hear but it will be honest.
You will never undersell a property and this is really important to remember. If the guide proves to be on the lighter side, it will generate increased viewings leading to multiple offers and in turn a higher price being achieved. If you base your search on your lower figure, then it will only be a bonus if you achieve more for your property.
What happens more often is vendors are told big figures by agents. In some cases, the vendors drive the guide prices themselves. All that happens is the market confirms it is too high and either you will have limited or no viewings at all. You then have to reduce, potentially more than once. The end result will be receiving offers for less than if you had started at a lower level.
If you take this approach and look at the same time for a purchase, you are likely to be left very disappointed. You may have to accept less for yours meaning you cannot afford to buy your dream home.
Manage expectations
It is an agent’s job to manage expectations. A good agent will then meet and surpass expectations. However, it is vitally important that your expectations are sensible from the start and that you can listen to advice. An agent can’t control the market but they can control how you are looked after and that starts with honesty.
If you take the view that everything is relative you can have the same mindset. If you have to take a drop in price it is likely that your purchase will have to do the same.
If everyone had this stance then the market would be a lot smoother with far more potential sales unlocked that are being prevented due to stubbornness.
We all want everything, and often all at once, but that isn’t realistic. However, you can have more if you focus on your sale and purchase together within the bigger picture rather than isolated incidences.
This article fist appeared in the Diss Express.
