Marketing your property
Having decided on the asking price for your property, you are now ready to consider how you will go about marketing it to potential customers. You could choose to use an estate agent to market the property on your behalf or attempt to sell it privately, possibly by using the growing number of online property portals to promote your home.
A picture is worth a thousand words and displaying photographs is an essential part of marketing your home. Regardless of how you choose to sell your property you will need to prepare your home for these photographs. Although you love your property just the way it is, grooming and decorating a home to properly showcase its features, makes it more attractive to potential buyers.
Make sure the property is clean and clutter-free, tidy the bedrooms and make the beds, hang decorative hand towels in the bathrooms, set the dining room table and set out some fresh flowers. Research has shown that although a photo of the front of the house is the most important, buyers also want to see the interior, garden and any special features. Typically, each extra photo displayed doubles the response rate.
Using an Estate Agent
By far the most common way of putting your property on the market is to use an estate agent. Most agencies operate on a commission basis, charging a percentage of the sale price payable on completion of a sale, therefore earning nothing if they fail to sell the property. Some agencies may charge you for extra advertising – be sure to get a complete breakdown of this cost and find out where the agency intends to advertise your property outside of their regular advertising channels.
Employing an estate agent to sell your property will without doubt save you time and stress. Good estate agents will actively promote your property using sales boards and window displays; they will use traditional printed advertising campaigns and give internet exposure to your property; they may organise open house viewings for their network of collaborating agents and send out newsletters to their database of prospective buyers. They will further take care of the property viewings, deal with would-be buyers and act as a go-between during possibly tense negotiations.
There are various options when dealing with an estate agent:
- Sole Agency Agreement: this type of agreement gives one agent the exclusive right to sell your property for an agreed period. A variation on this agreement is the Joint Sole Agency Agreement, in which two agencies share the exclusive right to sell your property. The commission is split between the agencies regardless of who sells the property. Although these options are usually cheaper as you can negotiate a lower commission percentage with the agent(s), a drawback can be that, if you sell your property privately, you may still have to pay the agent's commission. Be sure to check your contract at the time of entering into this type of agreement.
- Multiple Agency Agreement: in this agreement you are free to list and market your property details through as many agents as you want. Whichever agent sells your property gets the commission on the sale. This tends to be a slightly more expensive option as you have less room to negotiate the sales commission with the agency. The upside is that your property is likely to receive more exposure than through a Sole Agency Agreement.
- MLS (Multiple Listing Service) Agency Agreement: MLS agencies form part of a network of agencies that share their property databases, increasing the exposure of your property to prospective buyers even further. This agreement is similar to the Multiple Agency Agreement in that you are free to list your property with several agents, although there is obviously little sense in using agencies that belong to the same MLS.
Estate agencies are not a regulated profession in Spain, however any person negotiating a property sale on behalf of a third party does need to comply with Royal Decree 218/2005. This decree states that an accurate information sheet has to be maintained at all times by the agency. This information sheet needs to be further backed up by copies of the Nota Simple (Registry Office extract), First Occupancy Licence and the IBI receipt (Property Tax). Your chosen agency should ask you for this documentation at the time of listing your property.
Once you have an agreement with one agent or multiple agencies, get your (main) agent to put up a sales board by your property: this always results in enquiries. Insist on receiving a copy of the property information sheet that will be handed out to prospective buyers and check that your property is visible on the agency’s website and any other online property portals that the agency uses.
Facilitate viewings on as short a notice as possible, this is especially important if you are not living in the property. The first properties agents tend to show are the ones they have the keys to or that they can get easy access to through a concierge or neighbour. Prospective buyers often want to arrange viewings there and then and as a result, properties that need appointments set up will generally be shown less.
Finally, stay in regular contact with the agent that has listed your property. Be sure they are getting prospective buyers in and be firm about receiving regular reports on sales and marketing activity, including viewing statistics and the feedback that the agency has received when visiting the property with prospective buyers.
Selling your property privately
An alternative to using estate agents is to sell the property yourself, avoiding the expense of a commission payment because you are doing all the work – including advertising and dealing with would-be buyers directly. The financial saving can be considerable: on average the commission rates on the Costa del Sol range between 4% and 7%, depending on the agreement you have come to. The flipside of the coin is that you will have to spend a considerable amount of time and effort on finding potential buyers for your property.
If you decide to use this route, you will have to take on the marketing of your property yourself. You will need to compile an information pack for prospective buyers, which includes details like room dimensions and photographs of your property. This information then needs to be promoted in order to reach interested buyers.
As an owner selling your property privately, you are unlikely to have access to a wide enough network of people that are looking to purchase a property. In order to reach these potential clients you will need to advertise. Placing a For Sale board outside your property will attract purchasers as will advertising in the local newspaper. You could also use any of a number of specialist websites which will advertise your property for a one off fee. This is basically private selling with more information and tips, and the important target audience.
Remember if you sell your place yourself, you will have to ensure you have plenty of time available for showing potential buyers around your home. You will also have to negotiate the sales price directly, which at times can be a harrowing experience.
Selling your own property successfully is not unfeasible, but keep in mind that it will probably take you longer to achieve it. Think carefully if you have the time available that is necessary to promote your property and how much money that time is worth to you. You may end up deciding that the money you save on the commission is simply not enough.
Determining the value of your property
Marketing your property
Preparing your property for viewings
Receiving and negotiating an offer