Category: Selling Property

For want of paraphrasing Roy Bartell, a marketing author and influential sales speaker of note,  “Most people think “selling” is the same as “talking”. The most effective salespeople know that listening is the most important part of their job”. Well, this week, I think I’ve  been victim of possibly 
“listening” more than “talking”. Twice, potential sellers have been let down from securing there ideal home because they are not yet on the market. Twice, despite polite advice, have two vendors expressed there disappointment that the home they wanted to buy has been sold to proceed able purchasers.

At the valuation stage of my job and having explained and offered examples of why this scenario was likely to occur the client presumably thought “He would say that, he wants to sell my house!”.   I think the mistake we see here is that of “generalization”.

It’s a question that gets asked many times. “How can I add the most value to my property with the least amount of effort?”

Add an extension? Refit the Kitchen? Convert the attic, or perhaps landscape the garden?

All of the above are of course are very good ways to add value to your property. However they all take a lot of time and planning and require an up-front significant expenditure or outlay. Today I am going to reveal a way to instantly add value to your home without spending a penny or lifting a finger.

“Impossible!” I hear you retort. But it’s not impossible. In fact it’s very easy and very simple.

It’s a statisitical fact that when you put your property on sale, the more hits your property gets online, the more people will call the agent up and request a viewing. And it’s basic economics that the more buyers that come and view your property the higher the demand and the higher the selling price. So when you come to sell you need an agent that will get you the most online hits and the most viewing requests.

According to rightmove statistics Elizabeth Davenport are regularly top of the tree for hits on our properties. Our properties consistently get the highest “click-through rate”. This translates into a higher number of viewings for each property and therefore a higher selling price. In fact many of our properties sell for the full asking price because they are in such high demand.

So to add instant value to your property, give us a call today and request your free valuation.

The New Year has already been a record breaking one and 2014 is set to be a very healthy year for the property market in Coventry and the surrounding areas.

We are seeing lots of new properties come to market and have buyers queueing up for them in their droves. One new property that came to market in the last week at our branch had an offer of the full asking price within 24 hours. This was before the buyers had even visited the property!

The much increased availability of finance is the driving factor with much smaller deposits now required from many of the big lenders. This means that first time buyers have returned to the market place in large numbers and it’s these guys that prop up the housing market.

So if you’re considering making the move this year, call our office on 02476 010105 and arrange for a free, no obligation valuation and appraisal of your home. According to Rightmove statistics we are the fastest selling agent in the Coventry area so pick up the phone today and get moving.

…..3………..2………..1………..LIFT-OFF!!

Again our speed of sale has put us in the number 1 spot in Coventry with a current average of just 7 weeks from promotion to sale!

After agreeing a sale on a large four bedroom Semi Detached house on Baginton Road, the owner, already very happy with the volume of offers received, was understandably delighted. This led me to value another property on Baginton Road and in doing so my research drew me to review asking prices and actual sale prices in  the surrounding areas as well.

Armorial Road, where a recent sale of ours became one of the highest sold on the road in many years provided the Smoking Gun I needed. Since 2010 there have been 8 sales on the road with a mean average price of almost £375,000. In the same period the mean average asking price has been £420,000. At present there are properties for sale for £475,000 and £465,000. Not since October 2006 has a house sold on the road for over £450,000 and in the last three years sales have ranged between £280,000 and £440,000. The property we sold had been on the market with other agents for over 6 months at an asking price that was nowhere near correct. It was poorly marketed and overpriced. That is why it didn’t sell. The asking price was simply too high.

As purchasers you have the same access to property records on www.landregistry.gov.uk , www.rightmove.co.uk and www.nethouseprices.com as we do. Possibly more importantly, so do mortgage lenders! So when an agents wow’s you with a price that is above your expectations do a little research yourself too. You’d be amazed how may agents have a punt figure just to make you say yes. You’d also be amazed how many agents can earn commission’s without even selling your house and just listing them. It’s a bad trait and one that gives the industry a poor reputation. It will also lead to your house sitting on the market without interest whilst others may sell around you. Our website www.elizabethdavenport.co.uk carries google + reviews and www.allagents.co.uk also features really positive feedback form our venders and purchasers. We’d be delighted if you have the time to read a few!

A common dilemma when moving home is juggling things into the correct order.

Should you find somewhere to move to first or find a buyer for your own place beforehand? Many homeowners call our office and say that they are scared to put their own property on sale until they have somewhere to move to. This is an understandable concern but trying to find somewhere to buy before you have sold is putting the cart before the horse. It simply won’t work and will lead to disappointment and frustration.

Firstly many estate agents simply won’t book you in to view any of their properties unless you have already agreed a sale. And even if they do, if you find something that you like then you will not be in a proceedable position and will miss out. After all, how can you possibly make an offer on your next property when you don’t know what your current one is going to sell for?

So the first thing to do is to get your own place on sale with a good estate agent that gets results fast. Look for an agent that has a high proportion of “Sold” stock (around 60% is excellent). Elizabeth Davenport currently have 66% of our stock Sold STC compared to other local agents that have as little as 10%.

Once we find you a buyer and accept an offer, you can begin your search in earnest. And don’t forget, ultimately if you can’t find anywhere to go to then you are not legally obliged to move until contracts are exchanged.

“When you want to sell the most valuable and emotional possession you own, you want the sale to be handled by professionals that you both trust and rely on. Every business has a “capacity” before it’s standards are compromised. Every business whether it sells children’s clothes, sandwiches or motor cars will reach a point where the standards to which they originally aspired,  (and hopefully attained!) will be compromised. Unless the stock they have is sold or they employ more staff to facilitate the sale and management of it the employee’s cannot manage the portfolio of property they have promised to sell. At Elizabeth Davenport our sales statistics (please contact the office for the finer details!) show that 84% of our stock sells within 7 weeks with just over 50% sold within 4. This means our “stock” of property is a manageable one. It means we do not have property sitting redundant on the “shelf”.  It means that we are always aware of what property we have for sale, at what price it is marketed and we have the knowledge of which potential buyers we have waiting. The ability to sell and market the property successfully is only possible if you have the correct volume of staff and facilities to do so. Is an agent with 200 properties for sale and 4  full time office staff  more efficient than one with 30 for sale and 3 full time staff? This is where Size Does Count! Possibly not though in the way you might of thought it did!”    By Mark Walmsley.

Nowadays, most Estate Agents have “Premier”, “Fine”, “Premium” or “Prestige” versions of their products for their best customers and their best properties.

This immediately begs the question – where does this leave the bulk of their “normal” paying customers. Because where premier assumes the very best, the opposite by default must be worst or poorest. So if you market your property with an agent and don’t qualify for their “Premier” version then by default you and your property have been ranked as second rate.

If your property doesn’t qualify for the “Fine & Happy” or the “Premier & Dandy” treatment then perhaps the implication is that it belongs to the  “Dull & Dreary”, the “Cheap & Shoddy” or perhaps the “Coarse and Cr**py” collection??

At Elizabeth Davenport all of our customers and all of our properties are in the Premier Division. We don’t believe that any of our clients deserve a second rate service and all of our properties are marketed to their full potential. This means they all get the best photography, the best quality brochures, floorplans and marketing that they deserve. This means that not only do all of our clients receive a gold service but it also means that their properties sell quicker and for more money.

So does your property deserve the Elizabeth Davenport experience or is it in the second division? The answer I can assure you is yes, you deserve the ED experience. Because no property deserves to be in the second division.

There’s only two weeks left of our amazing £100 cash offer. We’ ve been overwhelmed by your response so far! Lots of homeowners have been clever enough to take up this great deal by switching estate agent to Elizabeth Davenport.

In case you’ve been visiting Mars for the last few weeks the offer is this: you switch agent and we give you £100 cash up front. Yes, that’s one hundred pounds straight into your pocket.

And the best part of the deal is, we guarantee to sell your property. So that means at the end of the 12 week agency period if we haven’t found you a buyer you can simply walk away with your £100. Its’ the least we can do.

Call our office today on 02476 010105 and arrange for your free appraisal with absolutely no obligation. Our experienced valuer will visit your property and give you honest, professional advice on where your sale is currently going wrong and explain what we can do to help. If you’re happy to go ahead then we give you £100 cash up front and then we  market your property on a sole agency basis for 12 weeks.

But rest assured, we’re confident we’ll arrange a sale long before the end of the 12 weeks. Our average sale time is 7 weeks but over half of the properties we sell go in less than 4 weeks. So don’t miss out and pick up the phone today!