This final component in getting your asking price right doesn’t really have anything to do with your property at all: where it is, what it is, how big it is, or how nice it is don’t really play a role in this vital part of the equation
Your pricing strategy is about something altogether different: it’s about using the way people search for their next home to your full advantage so you can achieve maximum interest from those who are most likely to buy your property.
Asking prices are a fine balancing act. As your agent we need to balance your comfort and trust with the best way to generate the correct interest, so an asking price is therefore a discussion between you and your agent to leave everyone confident in the course of action agreed.
We mentioned earlier that your asking price is not necessarily connected to your sale price: you might get a few percent less; you might exceed it; you might be exactly on the nose. The thing to remember is that your asking price is merely the strategy or number that optimises the way people react to your property
Most people start their search for a new home online and the first calling point is generally a portal like Rightmove or Zoopla. The portals split property searches into price bands and it’s important to pay attention to these to avoid falling foul of them.
Before the Internet, prices ending in 995 and 950 were employed to make a property look cheaper – £249,950 instead of £250,000; £499,995 instead of £500,000 – but those strategies don’t necessarily work today because they could delete one half of your audience.
An asking price of £249,995 would reach people with a maximum budget of £250,000, but would exclude anyone looking between £250-£275,000, potentially losing you a wealthier buyer. And a property with an asking price of £499,995 would be invisible to anyone searching between £500-550,000.
This means that one of the best ways to use the property portals to your advantage is to find an asking price that straddles two price bands to potentially double your pool of potential buyers.
Hopefully this article has given you an insight into the factors we use when working out exactly the right asking price for you. It’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all process, so if you’d like to talk about a pricing strategy for your property – or any other aspect of selling your home – please send us a message or give us a call.
