Getting the Best Price
We’re sure that most sellers would like to get paid for what their home is really worth, and they’d be delighted if they achieved a bit more.
There is a way to achieve just that, which is outside the scope of most traditional methods, and in this article we'll share that secret with you.
So, if you’re a person who’s considering selling an older home with ‘potential’, whether it be for development or renovation, here’s something that warrants your serious consideration.
Provide Relevant Factual Information
Property sales pages on the internet only tell so much - certainly not everything! They are there to sell the property for the owner. They often include disclaimers warning the buyer to make their own investigations and not to rely on what is being presented.
Why is that?
It's a question you should ask should ask!
By providing relevant factual information it enables faster and more confident decision making from prospective buyers resulting in less "subject to" offers, resulting in a smoother sale process.
Food for Thought
Yesterday we were contacted by a prospective purchaser of an old home that was advertised for sale as having potential for further development and/or renovation including moving the existing house within the site. The asking price sought offers in excess of $1.6 million.
To enable due diligence his advisors told him that he definitely needs a Site Plan survey. This prospective buyer is expected to perform the full due diligence and pay for the site plan and wait 2 weeks for us to rush it through. This is something that most prospective buyers would baulk at doing.
Get a Faster Sale
Meanwhile, the sellers are waiting and wondering. They’re at the mercy of a market where interest rates are increasing and selling prices are at best moving sideways or falling. In this climate buyers are fewer and more nervous.
The Answer
The answer to getting the best price and a faster sale to boot is to get a Site Plan and now we'll explain the reasons why that's so.
Had the sellers purchased a Site plan survey (approx. $2,200) the plan would have been available to all prospective buyers to be able to identify the true potential of the property, for a large or small development, major renovation or moving the house within the site. In this way it would highlight all potential opportunities, some of which may not at first have been apparent.
Expose Your Property to a Wider Audience
Additionally, the sellers would have exposed their property to a wider market. By providing factual information more widely it enables more confident decision making by more people resulting in more competition, faster decisions and less "subject to" offers.
People buy for all sorts of reasons and come from far & wide, not just around the corner these days. A very large percentage of buyers here in southeast Queensland come from interstate. Some buyers are clever, but many are not and they rely on advice from others such as architects, engineers, builders, and town planners.
It's a Tool Understood by All
These professionals cannot give accurate professional advice by just working off a few photos and an address, especially if they are based a long distance from the property. By providing them with a site plan you give them everything they need. What's more, they'll all be working off the same page – a site plan speaks their common language. No need for time consuming and expensive site visits.
Don’t Put Up Barriers
The lack of a suitable plan for this property is a real barrier to a quick and successful sale. The uncertainty brings additional risk, causes delays, and limits genuine interest in the property.
Prospects who are unsure what they are able to do with the property and will spend many hours asking the agent for clarification. The agent is likely unable or unwilling to provide specific advice, usually telling the prospect to seek professional advice.
Questions then arise. Do the vendors have something to hide by not providing the information? Do they really expect a potential purchaser to pay for the additional risk of uncertainty?
In the 2 weeks it takes us to provide this plan to 1 prospective purchaser, the property remains unsold. Had the plan been prepared in advance it could have been seen by maybe 15 million prospective customers around Australia and indeed around the world, just like the photos were.
Is a Picture Really Worth a Thousand Words?
Yes, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, whereas really, pretty pictures only tell part of the story, but a Site plan survey provides the facts. Unlike some photos, Site plans don't tell lies - they are precise, comprehensive, and factual. They present reliable facts to all stakeholders resulting in more committed decisions, less 'due diligence' and 'subject to' offers and crashed contracts because of things discovered after a contract was signed.
Rather than spend money sprucing up your older property for sale, as it’s highly likely that the prospective buyers will have different ideas and tastes to yours so don’t waste your money. Instead, consider investing in a Site Plan Survey.