TA:02 Ray Wood tells us the best way to sell an apartment

Talking Apartments

From many years working in Real Estate Ray Wood has discovered the key issues when it comes to selling real estate. He has written about them in his best selling book "How to sell your home for more" We discuss this very topic with Ray and from our chat I have written up the 5 rules of selling an apartment. So here they are... The 5 rules when selling an apartment The very first decision to make is … “Are you committed to sell the apartment?” This may seem like an odd thing to ask but throughout a sale process there are some critical moments where you will need to revisit your commitment to sell the apartment to help guide you through. Assuming you are committed to selling you need to do whatever you can to maximise the sale price and then sell the apartment at that maximised price. That is not to say you will sell at any price, but if you are only half-hearted in your decision to sell or have a relatively high target price then you may be wasting your time and money and should perhaps not sell at all. Selling an apartment can be expensive, time consuming, and stressful so please don’t go through the process if you are not 100% committed to selling. You can also damage the image of the apartment if it is casually for sale for a long time. Once you are clear on your decision to sell, it’s now important to do everything you can to get the very best result. There are many “experts” who have watched one too many reality TV shows and learned all there is to know about presenting and selling an apartment. The rate of change in markets, technology, regulation, buyer tastes, economic conditions and demographics is rapid and so is the best way to sell real estate. Every apartment has its own attributes and challenges, which coupled with the owner’s personal situation, requires a tailored approach 1 selecting the best agent The most important decision when selling is hiring the very best agent as they will work with you through the entire process and make the rest of the decisions a whole lot easier. The two things many sellers ask a real estate agent is “how much? …and how much? “How much is my apartment worth?”, and “How much is your fee?” They are two very important issues, but there are the two worst criteria when selecting the best agent to sell your apartment. Some agents are hard wired to suggest a high value to attract your interest in hiring them. Of course, it’s about the money, but the best agent will get you the very best price regardless of what they think it is worth. The sale price is determined by buyers. Don’t believe the myth that if the agent doesn’t think the apartment is worth $750,000, they aren’t going to achieve that price. How many times have you seen a property sell for way above what everyone thought the property was worth including the agent. Only time judges who is right and who is wrong about value. Selecting the agent who tells you the highest price is a big mistake and sets up the entire selling process on the wrong foot. You want the agent with the best plan and experience to get the highest price. The second “how much” question relates to agent’s fees. This is also a bad criteria to select an agent and is something to discuss with the agent, once you are satisfied they are the best agent for you. Agency fees are negotiable and any small difference in fees between the best agent’s fee and the other agent’s fee will be repaid to you many times in the price achieved, the advice provided and the service delivered. The net cost of the best agent will always be the cheapest. In other words, the best agent will get you the best net price (sale price less the fee) making them the cheapest as a lesser agent may cost you much more in a lower sale price. The agent you hire needs to be an experienced professional that can present your apartment in the best way and with a strategy that has regard for your situation.