Selling Your House in a Bad Market

Slumping property prices are not a problem exclusive to the United States at the moment, because over in Britain the Times is offering tips on selling your house in a downturn. Some of the most useful include the following:

• Select the real estate agent carefully, and ask at least three for their ideas on a selling strategy. Make sure they have detailed local knowledge of the real estate market.
• Know your local market well - they give the example of knowing what kind of prospective buyers there will be and deciding whether a third bedroom might be better displayed as a study than a bedroom.
• Be realistic about the price you can achieve in the current market; apparently setting a higher price and then reducing it drastically later is a bad strategy that makes the house look less valuable than it is.
• Make the house look most marketable by cleaning it well and giving it fresh paint wherever it’s needed - the cost of this (especially if you do it yourself) can be relatively low but can increase the value a lot.
• If you’re selling the house because you need more space, carefully consider whether you could extend your existing house instead.
• Be flexible about a purchaser’s requests - for example, if they want to move in especially quickly, it might be worthwhile for you to move out to rental accommodation while you find your next home.