Selling your property
Although many people think that buying an overseas property may be their last foray into the property market, this is not necessarily the case. You may find that another property comes onto the market that you want, or see an opportunity that you wouldn’t have from the UK. Whatever the reason may be, here are some tips for selling your property overseas.
Know your market
It sounds obvious, but if overlooked, you could have a property stuck on the market for months with no realistic chance of a sale. Go around local estate agents on a regular basis. Not only will this give you an idea of the best agents – those who sell properties quickly will change their ‘stock’ often and probably work harder to get a sale – it will give you an insight into the competition you have in the market. Pay attention to the prices of similar properties to make sure you are being realistic about your asking price, and look at what other people do to sell as you may pick up some good ideas.
Make sure you know your own property
Again, it sounds obvious, but it is essential that you are able to answer any questions about the property quickly and fully to give your potential buyers confidence. Go around and make sure you know what the major selling points of the property are, and pick out the best of them in your marketing. If the property is a family villa, make the most of the child-friendly pool; if it is more of a retirement haven, pick out the local golf courses, strong expat community or the availability of good healthcare facilities.
Marketing to your potential buyers
This is one of the major differences between selling a property in the UK and overseas. As buyers will not be able to just pop round to see your property overseas, it is essential to make sure you give them as much information as possible at an early stage. Take plenty of photos to send to interested parties, and try to make sure you have covered all of the main rooms. Exterior shots are always popular as well, and it is good to get pictures taken at different times of the day with different light conditions. Early morning or late afternoon are often the most flattering conditions.
You can also consider making a short home video of the property you can copy to DVD to send to interested parties, which should give you an advantage in getting people to see the best bits of the property in another way. Another good idea is to set up a very simple website in order to showcase the photos of your property. This allows potential buyers to look at the images in their own time.
Try to go the extra mile to make your property stand out from the competition
Suggest that someone who is interested rents the property for a week at a reduced rate to start to feel at home. Have a list of local surveyors, lawyers, builders and decorators to hand in case your potential buyers need to get hold of some other professional advice.
So long as you are realistic about the price and the amount of time in which you are looking to sell the property, if you can do as much as possible to make it easy for people to buy your property, you should be able to sell happily, and move on to your next overseas purchase!
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