Be nice to your estate agent (and they might just sell your house)

It’s difficult for both you and your agent when the market is slow; they don’t have anything to tell you, so not only will they stop calling, they may even start avoiding your calls too. Meanwhile, you’re left feeling frustrated and powerless, wondering what on earth you can do when no one wants to view your home.

Communication between you and your agent at this tricky time becomes all the more important. Without communication, there can be no trust, and without trust, there is no worthwhile relationship. But when you’re in a locked loop of your agent not calling because there’s no interest, yet you need to know what you can do to improve the situation, it’s easy to become despondent.

Here are my top five communication tips when you’re trying to sell your home, to ensure the relationship doesn’t degenerate irretrievably:

1. Pre-empt any issues by agreeing a communication schedule before you launch your home to the market. This is over and above any calls to arrange viewings, or to give feedback afterwards; this plan outlines your expectations and so your agent has some chance of meeting them. For example, you could ask for a fortnightly call on a Friday, regardless of whether there had been any viewings in between. In this call you could ask them about market conditions and trends, recent sales, viewings on other comparable properties, and updates on any of your recent viewers. With a plan agreed in advance, there are clear expectations and if these are not met, you can refer your agent back to their original agreement. 

2. Keep your communication positive – if your agent feels that they are being told off, or held to account, for a lack of interest in your property, they will be increasingly reluctant to pick up the phone to you. If however, your tone is encouraging, friendly and supportive, they will look forward to speaking to you, and they will be only too happy to have a chat to you, even if there is nothing concrete to report.

3. If you’re in town, near your agent’s office, pop in. Take them cakes, or flowers out of your garden for the office. If they offer to make you a cup of tea, even better. Take the time to really get to know the staff in the office, and you and your house will be at the forefront of their mind when they next receive a suitable enquiry. Agents are just like me and you; they have favourite clients, so make sure you’re one of them.

4. Ask for advice: lots of vendors do this, but then they either don’t listen to any suggestions, or else they argue with it. If you genuinely listen and show that you value any input that might improve the level of interest in your property, you will find your agent much more confident about discussing the issues with you.

5. Share your plans with them: if your agent knows how important your move is, perhaps to be closer to a special relative, to give yourself more financial security, or to realise your long-held dream of living in the country, they will be able to genuinely identify with your aspirations. By taking them into your confidence, you are showing that you trust them, and the resulting enhanced relationship will allow them to do the best possible job of selling your home for you.

Don’t forget, your agent is just a person, like you or me. They like people who are nice to them and bring them cupcakes!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch

Do you follow us on Facebook? Join us today for great daily posts.

What to read next: 10 Quick Staging Tips for Summer

What to do next: Sign up to my Selling Secrets http://www.home-truths.co.uk/selling-secrets

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Be nice to your estate agent (and they might just sell your house)

It’s difficult for both you and your agent when the market is slow; they don’t have anything to tell you, so not only will they stop calling, they may even start avoiding your calls too. Meanwhile, you’re left feeling frustrated and powerless, wondering what on earth you can do when no one wants to view your home.

Communication between you and your agent at this tricky time becomes all the more important. Without communication, there can be no trust, and without trust, there is no worthwhile relationship. But when you’re in a locked loop of your agent not calling because there’s no interest, yet you need to know what you can do to improve the situation, it’s easy to become despondent.

Here are my top five communication tips when you’re trying to sell your home, to ensure the relationship doesn’t degenerate irretrievably:

1. Pre-empt any issues by agreeing a communication schedule before you launch your home to the market. This is over and above any calls to arrange viewings, or to give feedback afterwards; this plan outlines your expectations and so your agent has some chance of meeting them. For example, you could ask for a fortnightly call on a Friday, regardless of whether there had been any viewings in between. In this call you could ask them about market conditions and trends, recent sales, viewings on other comparable properties, and updates on any of your recent viewers. With a plan agreed in advance, there are clear expectations and if these are not met, you can refer your agent back to their original agreement. 

2. Keep your communication positive – if your agent feels that they are being told off, or held to account, for a lack of interest in your property, they will be increasingly reluctant to pick up the phone to you. If however, your tone is encouraging, friendly and supportive, they will look forward to speaking to you, and they will be only too happy to have a chat to you, even if there is nothing concrete to report.

3. If you’re in town, near your agent’s office, pop in. Take them cakes, or flowers out of your garden for the office. If they offer to make you a cup of tea, even better. Take the time to really get to know the staff in the office, and you and your house will be at the forefront of their mind when they next receive a suitable enquiry. Agents are just like me and you; they have favourite clients, so make sure you’re one of them.

4. Ask for advice: lots of vendors do this, but then they either don’t listen to any suggestions, or else they argue with it. If you genuinely listen and show that you value any input that might improve the level of interest in your property, you will find your agent much more confident about discussing the issues with you.

5. Share your plans with them: if your agent knows how important your move is, perhaps to be closer to a special relative, to give yourself more financial security, or to realise your long-held dream of living in the country, they will be able to genuinely identify with your aspirations. By taking them into your confidence, you are showing that you trust them, and the resulting enhanced relationship will allow them to do the best possible job of selling your home for you.

Don’t forget, your agent is just a person, like you or me. They like people who are nice to them and bring them cupcakes!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch

Do you follow us on Facebook? Join us today for great daily posts.

What to read next: 10 Quick Staging Tips for Summer

What to do next: Sign up to my Selling Secrets http://www.home-truths.co.uk/selling-secrets

The post Be nice to your estate agent (and they might just sell your house) appeared first on Home Truths.

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Can my ex-partner get a mortgage deal so she can stay in our house? https://t.co/YFatPGzOhQ Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM

Can my ex-partner get a mortgage deal so she can stay in our house? https://t.co/YFatPGzOhQ Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1044174674903662592)

Can my ex-partner get a mortgage deal so she can stay in our house?

She doesn’t have funds to buy me out and couldn’t afford to pay the whole mortgage

Q My partner and I bought a house together as tenants in common with a four-year fixed-rate mortgage. The house was £370,000 and the deposit was £150,000 which I had inherited on my dad’s death, and which we agreed would be ringfenced as mine. My partner and I split up less than two years later, and I left and currently live with my brother. My ex-partner would like to stay in the house but cannot afford to buy me out. I am willing to negotiate but have no idea what is possible. Would she be able to remortgage releasing some – but not necessarily all – of my deposit? An added complication is that we will both be on smaller salaries from this year, and although our mortgage that we currently split 50:50 is perfectly affordable, for her to pay the total, or more than the current total, would not be feasible. Would the lender consider dropping to an interest-free mortgage when the current fixed-rate term expires next January? Are there any other options we could consider (other than sale)?
SP

A I think you asked your penultimate question more in hope than in expectation as I’m sure that deep down you know that the answer is no, your lender will not “consider dropping to an interest-free mortgage when the current fixed-rate term expires”. The most any lender will do to give its mortgage customers a break is to grant a payment holiday where you are let off paying your mortgage for a couple of months or so because you find yourself in financial difficulty. But it’s not interest free as any interest not paid is added to the mortgage loan which makes taking a payment holiday expensive. Taking a payment holiday also wouldn’t help solve your problem.

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Why your pet might be stopping you sell! (Maybe they like it there)

If you have a dog or cat, or any other pet, they are probably a very important member of your family. (My lovely collie, Georgie, kind of rules our house…. )  However, even though it’s sometimes difficult for pet lovers to imagine, there is in fact a large proportion of the population that just doesn’t like animals in the house.  In fact, if they see any evidence of pets at all in the photos, they just won’t even book a viewing!

 

So what do you do with Rover and Moggy (or Georgie) when you have a viewing arranged?

You need to make sure you don’t alienate your viewers and put them off your home from the moment they step through the door, so get rid of all traces of your pets if you can.  If your agent accompanies viewers, then take the dog out for a walk; if you conduct the viewings yourself, and the weather allows it, let your dog have a sleep in the car, or leave it with a neighbour.

Also, don’t forget to hide all pet paraphernalia: litter trays, pet food, dog beds, cat toys, etc.  Close the cat flap, and ask a friend to look after the budgie and the tortoise.. and the snake…..

But you protest “I want to sell my home to a pet lover just like me!” I hear you, and even sympathise, but we’re talking about selling your home here for the most money possible!  Don’t limit your market, instead if you appeal to everyone, you have the best possible chance of a successful sale.  If you only want to sell to someone who has rabbits, rats and an iguana, you may be waiting a while….

Give your buyers the chance to fall in love with your house and your beloved pets will soon have a new home to move to.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch

Do you follow us on Facebook? Join us today for great daily posts.

What to read next: Are You in the Right Mindset to Sell Your Home?

What to do next:  Sign up to my Selling Secrets http://www.home-truths.co.uk/selling-secrets

 

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Why your pet might be stopping you sell! (Maybe they like it there)

If you have a dog or cat, or any other pet, they are probably a very important member of your family. (My lovely collie, Georgie, kind of rules our house…. )  However, even though it’s sometimes difficult for pet lovers to imagine, there is in fact a large proportion of the population that just doesn’t like animals in the house.  In fact, if they see any evidence of pets at all in the photos, they just won’t even book a viewing!

 

So what do you do with Rover and Moggy (or Georgie) when you have a viewing arranged?

You need to make sure you don’t alienate your viewers and put them off your home from the moment they step through the door, so get rid of all traces of your pets if you can.  If your agent accompanies viewers, then take the dog out for a walk; if you conduct the viewings yourself, and the weather allows it, let your dog have a sleep in the car, or leave it with a neighbour.

Also, don’t forget to hide all pet paraphernalia: litter trays, pet food, dog beds, cat toys, etc.  Close the cat flap, and ask a friend to look after the budgie and the tortoise.. and the snake…..

But you protest “I want to sell my home to a pet lover just like me!” I hear you, and even sympathise, but we’re talking about selling your home here for the most money possible!  Don’t limit your market, instead if you appeal to everyone, you have the best possible chance of a successful sale.  If you only want to sell to someone who has rabbits, rats and an iguana, you may be waiting a while….

Give your buyers the chance to fall in love with your house and your beloved pets will soon have a new home to move to.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch

Do you follow us on Facebook? Join us today for great daily posts.

What to read next: Are You in the Right Mindset to Sell Your Home?

What to do next:  Sign up to my Selling Secrets http://www.home-truths.co.uk/selling-secrets

 

The post Why your pet might be stopping you sell! (Maybe they like it there) appeared first on Home Truths.

from Home Truths https://ift.tt/2OMaCAR
via IFTTT

Why your pet might be stopping you sell! (Maybe they like it there)

If you have a dog or cat, or any other pet, they are probably a very important member of your family. (My lovely collie, Georgie, kind of rules our house…. )  However, even though it’s sometimes difficult for pet lovers to imagine, there is in fact a large proportion of the population that just doesn’t like animals in the house.  In fact, if they see any evidence of pets at all in the photos, they just won’t even book a viewing!

 

So what do you do with Rover and Moggy (or Georgie) when you have a viewing arranged?

You need to make sure you don’t alienate your viewers and put them off your home from the moment they step through the door, so get rid of all traces of your pets if you can.  If your agent accompanies viewers, then take the dog out for a walk; if you conduct the viewings yourself, and the weather allows it, let your dog have a sleep in the car, or leave it with a neighbour.

Also, don’t forget to hide all pet paraphernalia: litter trays, pet food, dog beds, cat toys, etc.  Close the cat flap, and ask a friend to look after the budgie and the tortoise.. and the snake…..

But you protest “I want to sell my home to a pet lover just like me!” I hear you, and even sympathise, but we’re talking about selling your home here for the most money possible!  Don’t limit your market, instead if you appeal to everyone, you have the best possible chance of a successful sale.  If you only want to sell to someone who has rabbits, rats and an iguana, you may be waiting a while….

Give your buyers the chance to fall in love with your house and your beloved pets will soon have a new home to move to.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch

Do you follow us on Facebook? Join us today for great daily posts.

What to read next: Are You in the Right Mindset to Sell Your Home?

What to do next:  Sign up to my Selling Secrets http://www.home-truths.co.uk/selling-secrets

 

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