Chicken and egg
In our second monthly column for local daily paper, the Shropshire Star, our Co-Director Russell Griffin, discusses the number one question he is asked by people as an estate agent.
"It's whether they should put their house on the market first or wait until they find something to move to.
In the current situation we find ourselves in, the market is so frantic, but there are actually less houses being put on the market.
So, it’s never been more important to know how to handle things.
It’s an age-old dilemma, but my advice to my clients is to take what I call, a ‘low profile’ approach at first.
What I mean by that, is that we meet our clients and do all the prep. This means pictures, floor plans, EPCs, all the due diligence and compliance that you need to get ‘market ready’.
And then we wait. When the client has found a house they want to move to, we bring their property to market.
This is where the property portals come in that so many people now peruse – whether they are serious house buyers, dreamers, or researching their own house building project.
As an experienced agent, we know how these portals work and it’s important for clients to be aware that house sites such as Rightmove, OnTheMarket, and the latest addition to the fold, Boomin, work.
Some of the portals show homes 24-48 hours before others and by the time it appears on one it could have already sold on another.
In March, a new property site was born, pitching itself as ‘the next generation of property portals.’
You may have seen the TV adverts emerging for Boomin. Like OnTheMarket, Zoopla and Rightmove, Boomin is a portal which shows you the houses on offer in your area.
But this one goes a step further, promising to show you ‘secret properties,’ - ones which haven’t yet made it live onto the other sites.
It’s a challenger to the portals already out there and has been created from the fact that sites like Rightmove receive 8million visitors a day, but only 1million of those are actually buying a house – the other 7million are entertaining themselves, having a nose, looking at their neighbours’ house for sale, dreaming or picking up ideas for their own renovation, and it has features for all of those scenarios.
But its also boasts the MatchMaker feature, acting like an old-fashioned estate agency whereby you enter the details of what you are looking for and in what area and it matches you to the ‘perfect property’.
MatchMaker is described by the portal this way: “It’s a unique service that helps buyers connect with homeowners who aren’t on the market.
“Simply place an advert pinpointing your dream locations and potential sellers can ask to be introduced, with the support of a professional local estate agent.”
The market is so busy now and we want house buyers and sellers to be ahead of the game.
So, the answer to the conundrum, we think, is to get your house on the books, even if it’s not on the market.
By the time it is scheduled to go live, you’ll be ready to move on to your own dream home."