Selling a property is a big decision and can involve a lot of emotions. The ultimate goal once you’ve decided to put your home on the market is to sell as fast as possible at an optimal price. This task can be made so much easier with a professional real estate agent on board.
At Roper Properties, our in-depth knowledge of the Lanzarote property market makes us perfectly equipped to offer advice on a range of factors involved in the selling of your property abroad. Our advice is informed by up-to-the-minute knowledge and awareness of developments in the local market, gained through our privileged, hands-on position based in the Canaries. We offer our clients guidance throughout the entire selling process, ensuring a smooth, hassle-free transaction.
A guide to putting your property on the market
Choose the right agent: It is important to choose the right agent, as this will be imperative for the sale of your property. Estate agents are not all the same, some will be more effective than others. Ensure your choice leads you to a professional and pro-active service. Here we give you a guide to choosing the right agent.
Research
- Ask around for recommendations – reputation in real estate is everything.
- How long has the agent been established on the Island?
- Browse the agents windows. Which catches your eye and is appealing.
- Look at websites – A professional impression is important, there may be information about the company, staff, services and also testimonials from previous customers.
- Look at the properties they are listing for sale – are they similar to yours and presented with good quality photographs, and clear information
- Check that the agent advertises properties on the major property portals like idealista, Kyero and Rightmove Overseas
- Always visit their offices to make the valuation appointments.
- You will be trusting them to market and sell what is probably your most valuable asset – you want to know they are people you are able to trust and get on with.
- How do the staff respond to you, do you feel welcome, are they helpful, Is it a polite, professional and friendly environment?
- If the above boxes are ticked and you feel comfortable, make the appointment
- Property marketing
- Ask how they will go about marketing your property.
- Ask if they have potential buyers already on their books, interested in your type of property.
Ensure that the service they provide includes the following:-
- High quality photographs to include every room and from different angles
- A virtual tour
- Exposure on a major portal
- Listing on their website
- A detailed description of your property highlighting the main features
- E-mails and phone calls to a database of potential buyers interested in your type of property
- Social media marketing of your property
- Your property should appear in the estate agents office windows
- Communication.
- Find out if they will always accompany the people who view.
- How often they will keep in touch to let you know how things are going and to give you feedback when viewings are carried out.
- What service do they provide once a sale is agreed.
- A good agent will be able to tell you the sales progression process, which is really important to ensuring the sale goes through.
- The agent will charge a fee to sell your property. Fees are usually a percentage of the selling price.
- A good agent will explain all this in detail and there should be no hidden costs
Your house should be suitable to sell: The focus has to be on the sale of your property and you need to prepare the house in order to achieve your goal. For a potential buyer, the first impression of your property is essential. De-clutter and create a minimalistic neutral feel, ensure the property is clean and tidy, paint and carry out minor refurbishment works that are required. As experienced professionals in the real estate business and knowing how competitive the property market can be nowadays, we highly recommend that you take the extra time and effort to prepare before you sell. An experienced real estate agent can help you by providing tips, checklists and strategies to guarantee that your house is ready to be sold.
Pricing a property for sale
Based on over 40 years of experience, we know that one of the most important factors to whether a house sells of doesn’t, relates to its pricing. If you price your property too high from the beginning, it will surely lead to an undesirable outcome of your increase expenses. It is important to realise that todays buyers are very educated and due to the evolution of technology, they have tons of information at their fingertips. The buyer will often know when a house is overpriced and by one look at the wrong price, they will probable choose to not even consider it. For this reason, your property’s price must be competitive in order to sell as fast a possible. Roper Properties we can help you with this matter by providing you with a valuation service, where we inspect and later recommend the appropriate price to sell.
Kevin Roper has been successfully selling properties on the beautiful island of Lanzarote for over 4 decades. He has built a solid reputation as trustworthy and honest. His unsurpassed knowledge of the local market and depth of experience makes him the ideal person to discuss the sale of your property with – Just ask anybody on Lanzarote.
