What happens when you list your home for sale?

The potential sale of a property becomes very real the moment it’s officially listed by an agent.

While decades ago, listing your home involved simply putting a “for sale” sign in the front garden and the agent taking out an ad in the local newspaper, it’s now all about online advertising and a strategic sales strategy which accompanies it.

The key to listing your home for sale

Advertising and the sales strategy

The advertising side typically includes professional photography and a comprehensive media campaign, covering online and social and sometimes print media.

Nelson Alexander Ivanhoe partner and auctioneer James Labiris says campaigns usually include an internet listing, a sale board, letterbox drops and agency marketing via magazine and window display.

Then comes the actual sales strategy, which the agent drives. It covers the method of sale, staging suggestions, how many opens there will be and when, how negotiations will be managed, the roll-out and monitoring of advertising and lots more.

Be ready to sell

Labiris says a home should be picture-perfect the day the listing goes live.

“You only get one chance at a first impression, so you want to make it count,” he says. Labiris says a good agent will help the vendor understand the best way to present their property to maximise the sale price.

In the case of Adam Salemme and his wife Lisa, who recently appointed him to sell their renovated two-bed home in the Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg, Labiris suggested selling the home vacant and bringing in hire furniture.

“James gave us advice about how we could present the property in the best possible way, to show off its natural character, but also ensure it appealed to the different buyer types he identified,” Salemme says.

“As we’d already done extensive renovations, it was really just a case of getting the property neat and tidy. Also, we hadn’t really considered it, but he suggested getting hire furniture in, which has made just the biggest difference. It looks ready to be lived in,” he says.

Tweaking the strategy

While the sales strategy is designed to guide the sale process, it should be tweaked if needed, Labiris says. “If, for example, the property doesn’t travel well at its first open, you should you re-assess your approach,” he says.

“We are dealing in a market now where you will find out if the property is doing well in the first five days (of being listed). If you get 20 to 30 people through the inspection on day one, then it’s a good sign. If you get five people through, there is probably a need to re-strategise.”

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