Should I or Shouldn’t I?

One of the most common questions I get asked by a vendor when going on a valuation is whether they should put their property on the market before finding somewhere suitable to buy.

My answer is always yes.

In a buoyant market such as the one we find ourselves currently in you need to be in the very strongest position to buy. If you find a suitable property the vendor of that property is not going to take you seriously unless at the very least you have your property on the market.

In an ideal world you should have your property under offer as if you need to sell your property in order to buy there is no weight to your offer unless yours is under offer. If you can’t sell you can’t buy.

The main concern I get from vendors is that they will find a buyer before they find a property. Whilst this very well may be the case ultimately once a sale has been agreed the process is not instantaneous and secondly it’s our job as your Estate Agent to make it clear to any prospective purchaser that you need to find somewhere to buy before you can move. It’s then the buyer’s decision whether they wish to wait or not. If they’re not then simply your property is not the property for them.

In the majority of cases vendors and buyers alike are just happy that they have secured a sale and don’t need to worry about showing people around or equally traipsing round on a Saturday afternoon looking at properties.

If you choose not to put your property on the market before going out there looking the chances are you will fall in love with somewhere and lose out to someone in a stronger position.

I’ll continue on this theme next time.

Until then….

Edward, Director of Squires Estates