estate agents in spain holidays in spain property in spain selling a spanish property spanish properties staging a property in spain Here´s the scenario.
You have a lovely home in Britain (or wherever) and you have a holiday home in Spain which you tend to use a few times a year. But now we have a recession on our hands, you are losing interest in the Spanish property and really could actually do without it.
So, you put the Spanish property on the market at what you consider to be an attractive price to sell, but despite plenty of interest and viewings, it´s still unsold. The recession seems to be biting even harder, and you can barely afford to keep your own home, never mind the second home in Spain that you really should never have even bothered about!
Are you tearing your hair out yet?
Look – here is the deal. And this comes from somebody who sees hundreds of Spanish properties per year.
The properties that are selling in the current economic climate are the ones that are well priced (of course), but there are so many supposed bargains out there, that clients are faced with quite a bit of well-priced stock at the moment.
The differentiator for a lot of potential buyers is how the apartment looks and how it is staged. Every time, without fail in my experience, buyers go for the property that is well decorated, nicely furnished, is neat and tidy, and has been properly prepared by a vendor or an estate agent. So many vendors think they know how best to furnish and decorate a Spanish property for sale. The reality unfortunately is that most haven´t got a clue. That´s why we are not all interior designers or decorators.
Also, make sure your agent is making the effort to do his part of the staging process prior to any viewings. It doesn´t take a lot of time or effort. Most good agents will arrive at the property 10 minutes prior to a viewing, they will sweep the floor, switch on the lights, set up any terrace furniture, turn the air con on, put a little background music on, spray a room fragrance etc etc - just to make the place feel like home.
I guarantee that it makes a huge difference to a potential buyer.
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seansaid
Tomsaid
I would like to point out, as an agent here on the Costa del Sol, that most owners ARE lazy and misinformed and have unrealistic expectations. I can personally vouch for the ammount of work that goes on “behind the scenes” these days in actually getting clients. Any agent on the coast can sit in his cozy little office and wait for someone to walk in but that breed of client is a rare find in todays market. We actually go out and find the clients, either from doing exhibitions, telemarketing, partner companies or direct marketing. Either way, the cost of acquiring a client in todays market is considerably higher than 2 or 3 years ago when they were almost falling off trees!
So dont be surprised when the more “active” agents are demanding 5-10% to sell your property, agents demanding this level of commission are far more likely to actually sell your property than someone who puts a “card in the window” or uploads the details to some half-hearted website. Any decent agent worth his salt will of course arrive at your property prior to the viewing to ensure the property is shown in the best light. But remember, its your property and if you are really serious about selling your property, invest some money in presenting the property for sale. Some of you may remember the TV series “House Doctor”, well the age-old advice of Ann Maurice still holds true today. DE-CLUTTER, DE-PERSONALISE and never forget the value of great photography.
Most real estate agents us run of the mill digital cameras. A professional photographer will have all sorts of fancy gadgets and gizmos´like “fish eye” lenses that can really open a room up. This is what the developers use when they take photographs for their brochures and websites, and we all love the pics they whet our appetites with dont we?
There are specialist companies who will come and “stage” your home for and take professional photography.
Check out http://www.bloominghouse.eu as an example of some great real estate photography. Investing a few hundred euros in decent photography can really make a difference to the number of enquiries you or your agent receive for your property.
Anyway thats my two penny worth. Good luck selling in the current market.
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