Annie Newell

The Secrets To Making A Smart Offer

Video version of this post available here

One of the hardest decisions a buyer faces is how much to offer on a home. You desperately want your offer to be successful, but are equally terrified of paying too much for it.

With the glut of information on the internet, buyers can get bogged down with percentages and complicated sums to determine a price, only to miss out on the day and be left wondering what went wrong.

Here a shortist list I made of how to make a smart offer -

Check comparable sales

Have a good look at comparable sales in the area, and think about how they compare to the property you are looking at. You should be able to get these from various websites and hopefully the selling agent as well.

One thing you must do before selling your home

Video version of this post available here

I have written few guides over the years with a lot of advice to do with preparation and presentation and all the things that we know will be make your property look its best, and attract the biggest number of buyers.

We all know that we need to declutter, and clean, and do the gardens and maximize street appeal, and the ‘to-do’ list can get quite long.

But in the excitement and flurry of all this preparation, there is one thing that often gets missed, that can seem quite minor and a bit dull and yet can cause major headaches and even stall the sale completely if discovered too late, or worse, once your marketing has begun.

So, before you start the decluttering and all the other jobs, I urge you to check this one thing.

Getting your DUCKS IN A ROW before Selling

Video version of this post available here

Preparation is essential before taking your property to the market. And it’s always nice if you have a bit of extra time up your sleeve to do everything. So, if you are planning on taking your property to the market sometime in the future, like coming into spring or summer and you are wondering what you could be doing today to do to get yourself organised, here is a brief checklist to help. My Top Ten Tips covers a lot of this but here are a few things to think about.

Maintenance

Look around your home with fresh eyes. It’s easy when you are living in a property to miss things and you get used to how things look. What you are trying to achieve is a property where buyers are seeing ...

Getting your DUCKS IN A ROW for BUYERS

Video version of this post available here

There is a lot of things that buyers need to think about before buying a property and it can feel quite overwhelming. So, here’s a few ideas of things you can be doing, so that when you find the home that you really want to buy, you feel ready and prepared to put an offer in.

Go to lots of open homes

Look in all areas that you are hoping to buy in, and even some that you are not, so that you can become familiar with what homes are out there and what they eventually sell for. This will help give you a really good sense of where you can afford to buy and what houses are selling for in comparison. I am always happy to send you sales results for any area you are looking at!

Selling Your Home Is A Very Special Occasion

We all make a big effort for special occasions like a wedding. We get our hair done, buy a new outfit, polish the shoes, and take a bit more time and care with how we look. We don’t necessarily look like that every day but we intrinsically understand the importance of making that special effort and the impression we will make when we do – and even more what people will think if we don’t.

This is exactly the same when it comes time to selling a property. You only get one chance to make the first impression on a potential purchaser, one which could make all the difference. A property can be dressed up just like we can. When we ask someone to part with hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase your home, it makes sense that it is presented in the best possible way to them. I don't mean hiding or disguising anything, but simply making sure that it is seen at its best.

Losing Money By Saving Money

As the property market in Wellington heats up and properties sell faster, there are more frustrated buyers desperately searching for a home, causing them to approach home owners directly, hoping to avoid being placed in competition with other buyers - yet again - and secure a purchase at a price that they are happy with. But is that the best option for the home owner – or the buyer?

It is easy to understand the attraction of selling to someone who has approached privately – no need to do all the jobs to get the house ready for sale, no marketing costs, no opens homes or buyers constantly wanting to view - and, most importantly no agent commission to pay.

So the house is sold nice and easy and money is saved - or is it? What if the sale price is markedly lower that it might have been if the property had had been marketed fully and buyers had competed to secure it?

How Much Above RV's Are Properties Selling For?

This has got to be the most common question asked at the moment – and the short answer is – it depends - on so many different factors. And even in the most bouyant market, not all homes sell over their RV. Why?

So lets start with what an RV is?

Thankfully it is no longer called a GV (Government Valuation) because this implied and reinforced the myth that it was in fact a valuation. It is called an RV (Rateable Value) because it is there to give the local council a Value upon which to charge Rates.

How is it calculated?

The Council undertakes a mass appraisal valuation exercise comparing recent sales in an area to the property being valued.