Both estate agents and homeowners need to understand that selling a property in your home country and selling a holiday home abroad is two very different things.
Today we will take a look into what you as a home owner trying to sell your holiday home abroad can do to attract more buyers, and ensure that those who actually visits and view your apartment will get the best impression of it.
One of the most important differences between buyers looking to buy in their home country, and buyers looking to invest in a holiday home abroad is that abroad your holiday home gets just one shot.
When buying an apartment or villa in their home country buyers often visit and revisits the units for their choice.
But when buying abroad buyers tend to visit the units of their interest just once, and immediately make up their mind whether the like the unit or not.
This is mainly due to the fact that when buying abroad, it time that buyers have available is limited, since they often just have one week of holiday to view units, decide on what they like, agree with seller, sign the contract and get all the practical details sorted out.
So knowing that you will have only one shot to convince the potential buyers to choose your unit, it is important to optimize everything that can work in your favor.
Because just getting your property listed will not get your property sold.
Also do not forget that the buyers are often feeling a bit insecure since they are not only investing a great deal of the money, sometimes even all they have, but they also do it in a foreign country where they most likely do not speak the local language or fully understand local laws, rules and requirements.
So it does not take much for a potential buyer to get scared away, just another reason for you as seller to keep an eye on every little detail and optimize everything possible.
Here is what you should do...
Does your holiday home appear tidy and clean?
And by tidy we mean absolutely 100 percent clean and tidy! No shampoo bottles in the corner of the shower, no slippers in the entrance, no visible jackets or other clothing hanging in the hall area.
No personal items visible at all. And we mean at all...
Get rid of toothbrushes, food in the fridge, tennis rackets, ironing boards, kitchen towels, old socks and other personal items. Lock it into a cupboard or a storage room.
The possible buyer should not get a sense of you and your family when entering your holiday home. He should get at sense of himself and his family moving into their new dream home.
Finally the unit must of course be clean, pay special attention to bathrooms and kitchen and always remember to keep the toilet cover closed.
Keep lights on
A dark apartment never appears appealing. Keep therefor all lights on and turn only the main switch off. Then your estate agent will be able to turn on all lights by just turning in the main power switch.
All paper work must be clear and transparent
Make sure that all paperwork is transparent and clear. In case your home needs for instance a habitation certificate, be sure that you have it.
Be sure that all bills related to water, electricity, property tax, owners union and so on is paid and settled.
If no other option: Use your least important room for storing
Sometimes you will need to store your balcony furniture inside of your holiday home.
Ideally the estate agent should move these out on the balcony before viewing with clients. But we do not always live in an ideal world, and often the estate agent will not be able to pre-visit your apartment before presenting it to clients.
So in case you need to keep for instance balcony furniture inside the apartment, keep them in the least important room. This would normally be the bedroom. In case your apartment has several bedrooms choose the least (smalles?) attractive bedroom and use it for storage.
Never use the entrance area, living room or kitchen area as storage area.
And of course first try to store all your items in cupboards, under the bed or other places that will not spoil the general impression of the apartment.
Make buyers want to sleep in you bed room
Making your bedroom look modern and appealing can make a big difference. Avoid old-fashioned bed sheets such as bed sheets with flowers or other that is normally being considered as old fashioned.
Keep it in a modern style, nice and simple and place a couple of nice pillows on top of the bed.
Carpets
Avoid too many carpets in the apartment since carpets are often considered old fashion.
This goes for both carpets in the living area as well as toilet carpets.
Most buyers do not like carpets, so unless the really fit the apartment they should be removed.
Damages = Forget about it
Forget about selling your holiday home if it has damages. This is fairly simple and straight forward.
If your holiday home has damages of any kind, get them fixed...
Arguing "yes, i promise to fix all damages if you buy" will not get you anywhere other than back to where you were: With an unsold holiday home.
So being a seller can seem like a pretty hard job, since there are many things you need to consider and pay attention too. On the other hand you will also have the chance to influence the chances of selling in a positive way.
We wish you all the best of luck trying to sell your holiday home...
This is mainly due to the fact that when buying abroad, it time that buyers have available is limited, since they often just have one week of holiday to view units, decide on what they like, agree with seller, sign the contract and get all the practical details sorted out.
So knowing that you will have only one shot to convince the potential buyers to choose your unit, it is important to optimize everything that can work in your favor.
Because just getting your property listed will not get your property sold.
Also do not forget that the buyers are often feeling a bit insecure since they are not only investing a great deal of the money, sometimes even all they have, but they also do it in a foreign country where they most likely do not speak the local language or fully understand local laws, rules and requirements.
So it does not take much for a potential buyer to get scared away, just another reason for you as seller to keep an eye on every little detail and optimize everything possible.
Here is what you should do...
Does your holiday home appear tidy and clean?
And by tidy we mean absolutely 100 percent clean and tidy! No shampoo bottles in the corner of the shower, no slippers in the entrance, no visible jackets or other clothing hanging in the hall area.
No personal items visible at all. And we mean at all...
Get rid of toothbrushes, food in the fridge, tennis rackets, ironing boards, kitchen towels, old socks and other personal items. Lock it into a cupboard or a storage room.
The possible buyer should not get a sense of you and your family when entering your holiday home. He should get at sense of himself and his family moving into their new dream home.
Finally the unit must of course be clean, pay special attention to bathrooms and kitchen and always remember to keep the toilet cover closed.
Keep lights on
A dark apartment never appears appealing. Keep therefor all lights on and turn only the main switch off. Then your estate agent will be able to turn on all lights by just turning in the main power switch.
All paper work must be clear and transparent
Make sure that all paperwork is transparent and clear. In case your home needs for instance a habitation certificate, be sure that you have it.
Be sure that all bills related to water, electricity, property tax, owners union and so on is paid and settled.
If no other option: Use your least important room for storing
Sometimes you will need to store your balcony furniture inside of your holiday home.
Ideally the estate agent should move these out on the balcony before viewing with clients. But we do not always live in an ideal world, and often the estate agent will not be able to pre-visit your apartment before presenting it to clients.
So in case you need to keep for instance balcony furniture inside the apartment, keep them in the least important room. This would normally be the bedroom. In case your apartment has several bedrooms choose the least (smalles?) attractive bedroom and use it for storage.
Never use the entrance area, living room or kitchen area as storage area.
And of course first try to store all your items in cupboards, under the bed or other places that will not spoil the general impression of the apartment.
Make buyers want to sleep in you bed room
Making your bedroom look modern and appealing can make a big difference. Avoid old-fashioned bed sheets such as bed sheets with flowers or other that is normally being considered as old fashioned.
Keep it in a modern style, nice and simple and place a couple of nice pillows on top of the bed.
Carpets
Avoid too many carpets in the apartment since carpets are often considered old fashion.
This goes for both carpets in the living area as well as toilet carpets.
Most buyers do not like carpets, so unless the really fit the apartment they should be removed.
Damages = Forget about it
Forget about selling your holiday home if it has damages. This is fairly simple and straight forward.
If your holiday home has damages of any kind, get them fixed...
Arguing "yes, i promise to fix all damages if you buy" will not get you anywhere other than back to where you were: With an unsold holiday home.
So being a seller can seem like a pretty hard job, since there are many things you need to consider and pay attention too. On the other hand you will also have the chance to influence the chances of selling in a positive way.
We wish you all the best of luck trying to sell your holiday home...
This blog-post is written by 2Base Estate Agency & My2Base Holiday Homes
Visit us online:
Holiday Homes for sale: www.2base.com
Letting & Services: www.my2base.com
Online Shop: www.my2baseshop.com
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