When you market your property, you will naturally want to achieve the highest price today’s market will pay. But how do you know what this is? Sadly, there is no almanac of “correct” prices relating to an address and a date, and online price “calculators” can be wildly inaccurate, so most people will take the advice of their chosen estate agent to guide them towards the right decision.
The statistical data to which we as agents have access can be of tremendous assistance in assessing the correct asking price for a property when combined with up-to-the-minute local market awareness. This information can also be of great help when weighing up the relative merits of an offer from a prospective purchaser.
Whilst buyers do of course make offers, what an individual purchaser is willing to pay may also reflect the maximum likely selling price in a given market if it is to be worthy of consideration.
This is where the stats come in. For example, if you receive an offer of say 97% of your asking price, you might be more inclined to regard this as a good offer if the recorded national or local figures suggest that on average, most properties are selling at just 96% of their asking price (nb: our average is 98%, with 8% going OVER the asking price). Of course, if the offer is just 92% then it might be better to reject the offer as too low.
Likewise, if your property has been on the market for say six months, but the collated data across thousands of other sales suggests that most properties sell in three months, then you know your property is possibly in danger of going stale on the market and it might be worth accepting a lower offer before it’s too late.
Naturally, your buyer’s ability to purchase will also be a prime consideration, and this is where your agent’s skill in assessing their situation, financing options, and linked transactions will be of particular value. Please do let us know if we can help you in this – it’s what we do best!
