There’s lots of advice that always gets thrown around in the property market. While it’s always good to keep an open mind and take on all the information you can, there are some common pieces of advice that you might want to be wary of.
Sometimes real estate advice is given in generalisations while the truth may be more shades of grey than straight up black and white. There are five common pieces of real estate advice below that you’ve probably heard along the way that you might want to ignore.
1. You don’t need an inspection for a new home
It can be a dangerous assumption that just because a property you’re looking at buying is new it doesn’t need an inspection. Any new development, or indeed renovation, can have minor or major problems that might not be apparent to you unless you get in a professional property inspector.
It is usually in the buyer’s best interest to get a thorough inspection of a property whether it is old or new.
2. Wait until spring to sell
The difference between selling in winter or spring is questionable, so it’s probably best to focus on selling your property when it’s most convenient for you.
If you’re selling a good home and the right price with good marketing it should sell well whatever time of year it is.
3. Wait until holidays to buy
Often people say they think they will get a better bargain if they look to buy property in the holiday period because there’ll be less buyers acting in competition. Also, there’s a theory that sellers often list in the holidays because they have to. They may have a job relocation for example, and are more desperate to sell.
There may be at times some truth to this, but in reality, most often the sale price for a property is a product of market dynamics and supply and demand, not what time of year the property is for sale.
It could be much more worthwhile being patient and waiting for the right time to buy. It can be helpful looking into properties that have been on the market for a long time as they give the buyer an opportunity to negotiate the price down, and it won’t matter whether that’s in July or December.
4. A modern house in a good neighbourhood doesn’t need to be staged
Even the flashiest house in the best area is best off being photographed and staged by a professional.
The photos of your property are crucial when it comes to setting the price, how much attention it gets, how quickly it sells and whether it sells at all.
Real estate agents say that homes with professional listing photos sell quicker and for more money.
5. Set the price above what you want so there’s room to negotiate
Setting the sale price of your property is an art and a process. Your local real estate agent is the best person to give you a comparative market analysis so be sure to speak to them.
The price should be set based on recent sales of similar homes in the area. It’s important to get the price right the first time so you don’t have to drop the price later putting the seller in a disadvantaged position. Your property is going to get a lot more attention the first time it is listed, and the staler it gets from being listed for too long, the less attention it will receive.
