REAL ESTATE MINUTE With Cyril Nii Ayitey Tetteh
So, you finally have been able to shed that sentimental feeling or attachment to your house, one that carries years of memories, and you are ready to put that property on the market. With the decision made, the natural next step will be a strategy to sell off. Experience has shown that it takes about an average of 3 months to close a sale and depending on your marketing mix, it could be earlier or go a bit longer. For the average Joe out there who doesn’t know where to begin, here is a quick guide.
- Get the property valued
Now, this may seem like a matter of course; like to fix a price you will need to know the market value right? Well, it usually isn’t that straightforward as property sellers, especially those in the residential bracket are a bit reluctant to engage the services of a professional valuer when they consider that they may need to part with a few hundreds or thousands of Cedis. They rather go with emotional or social valuation as heard in their social circles. What this usually does is that they end up either under-pricing or more than often overpricing the property, which then ends up affecting the length of time it stays on the market, usually longer. So, instead of seeing professional valuation as an expense, see it as an investment that will save you a few months or even years of your property staying overly long on the property market.
- Get professional pictures and videos
The saying ‘a picture is worth more than a thousand words’ holds truer than ever. Indeed we can even add that a video is worth more than a thousand pictures. In these days when we all juggling for time at work, family and other societal commitments, pictures and videos, professional produced, can be a great source of lead creation when shared to the right network and target. What these pictures and videos does is also to sieve leads so you deal with those that are really interested and not be jumping into the car every other day to conduct a physical viewing. The picture and videos also serve as source material for marketing through other channels as shared below.
- Find a real estate agent
So I am sure the first thing that comes to mind when you hear ‘agent’ is the one who by trade finds a buyer or seller for real estate, right? Well they are the core group but additionally, you can leverage on the people in your social and business network who can indirectly be agents or ambassadors for that property sale; your pastor for instance is a go to person for members with varying requests and issues, of which property sale or purchase could factor. When you do engage the services of a professional agent, do your due diligence by asking for references as well as checking if he belongs to a recognized body like GREPA in Ghana for instance.
- List the property
On your own, you can also invest in free listings on some property portals. I would however advise you invest in the paid listings which have a bit more visibility. One of the useful property portals is meqasa.com. You can also list in your local newspaper like the Daily Graphic. Beyond regular listings, you can also promote through paid ads on social media.
- Organise an open house
Of all the tips, this one is my favourite. COVID protocols permitting, you can target a particular group who will have the purchasing power and interest in your property and invite to an open house. Touch up your house, show it some love with a little paint here, a little plant or flower there and set aside a day where you open up your house to your invitees to have a first-hand look and feel. In addition to sprucing up the house, target the sense of smell of these invitees by baking or cooking Jollof or grill some meat in the yard as it has been scientifically proven that this makes home hunters more relaxed and have a homely feel which positively affects their purchase decision.
There you have it folks, selling your house shouldn’t be that big of a task if you follow the tips provided above. Do get in touch if you need a bit more guidance and we will take the journey together. Happy Selling!
The writer is the Executive director of Yecham Property Consult
& Founder of Ghana Green Building Summit.
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: Cyril Nii Ayitey Tetteh
