Selling next Spring? Get your Photos this Summer!

Introducing our ‘Advance Photographs’ Solution

Spring is a time of year when many people think of moving.

With so many potential viewers around, it can be a great time to market your property for sale.

You may have your house prepared and immaculate and your chosen estate agent ready to leap in to action on your behalf but you will want to have good photographs to attract potential buyers to your property; to see it’s full potential as their dream home. In the early months of the year, particularly if we have an extended winter, spring may be slow to arrive and the leaves on the trees slower still. Your garden may not be looking at its best.

The garden and the location are often factors that either inspire or discourage viewers to fall in love with a property so you will be keen to make a good first impression by having particulars that show your property at its best. This is particularly important if location and lifestyle are key selling points as tends to be the case with houses in the country or with a great garden. It is effective marketing to have particulars featuring shots with trees in leaf and gardens bursting with colour even if there still happens to be snow on the ground when you put your property on the market.

What is the ‘Advance Photographs’ Solution?

Smart sellers plan ahead so they are ready to market when the time is right for them.

A winter or early spring sale can be helped with a little forethought and forward planning so don’t be bashful about contacting Hastings for a free valuation and marketing appraisal even if you are not planning to sell until next year. We will advise you on how to get the most out of your sale and put you in touch with our professional photographer to have photographs taken when your garden and the location are looking at their best. If you change your plans and decide to stay put we won’t charge and you will only pay the photographer (although the photographs could only be used if you market with Hastings and the photographer retains copyright). At just under £200 in most cases this is a small price to pay when you consider the potential benefits of achieving a best possible sold price.

It makes sense to have external pictures that show your property at its peak as well as having great internal photographs.

We advise clients to prepare and at the initial pre-marketing assessment we can make helpful suggestions for how to present your property. Our professional photographer will show the prime features to their best advantage. We can also arrange for aerial photographs and drone videos to be taken where the location warrants.

With photographs that are taken at the optimum time when the garden is in bloom you can really make your home stand out from the crowd in our property windows, on the hastingslegal website and the various property portals your property will be uploaded to.

A CASE STUDY

Hastings ‘Advance Photographs’ Solution

This is a good example of how our Advance Photographs Solution can work:

In the summer of 2017 we were asked to advise on marketing a country property in a stunning location where the sellers were preparing to sell the following spring. Location was key so we arranged the photographs in advance in good Summer conditions making the most of the situation with views of the hills and over the nearby loch. When the owners marketed in April, as we already had the photographs, (even although the snow was only just clearing from the Cheviots), they were able to sell in record time. The property was sold in a matter of days having gone live on the Friday, viewed by several people that weekend and sale agreed on the Monday at a good price above valuation. As the successful buyer had cash to pay and was satisfied with the home report and sellers survey the offer that was made was unconditional. The missives were concluded (contracts exchanged) the following day.

This is surely as good as it gets when selling your home but it does show that it pays to prepare and the early bird gets the worm.

“It you’re a bird, be an early bird. If you’re a worm, sleep late.”Shel Silverstein