How to Prepare your House For Sale Online like a Pro

Selling your home can be a major source of frustration. When you decide to sell, it is usually because you have something else planned, such as downsizing, upsizing or relocating for work. What you cannot afford is to put your life on hold indefinitely while you wait for a buyer.

Yet this is exactly what many sellers do. They treat the sale of their property as something outside their control, left to chance and market forces alone. By doing so, they assume they are powerless to influence whether or not their home sells. In reality, this could not be further from the truth.

You are far from powerless. At Emoov, we believe sellers should feel empowered, informed and proactive throughout the sales process. Rather than taking a passive approach, it is time to take control and adopt a more professional mindset when selling your most valuable asset.

If you’re planning your move around a sale, it helps to understand realistic timeframes. Our guide on how long it takes to sell a house explains what to expect from listing to completion.

How do you sell your home with a professional mindset?

Selling your home successfully requires the same standards you would apply to any serious business decision. This means viewing your property as a commodity rather than a personal space. Sentiment can often cloud judgement and lead to poor decisions, so adopting the right mindset is essential.

Even if you have never run a business before, you can still sell your home like a professional. It is simply a case of applying structure, preparation and objectivity to every stage of the process.

Why should you never settle when choosing an estate agent?

You wouldn’t ever employ someone just because theirs was the first application form you stumbled upon. Likewise you wouldn’t choose to do business with another individual or company without doing a significant amount of homework on them, either. When you choose an estate agent to facilitate the sale of your property you place a colossal amount of trust in them and it’s vital that you can demonstrate with near-certainty that they will earn that trust.

So many sellers choose an estate agent to sell their property based on whose office is closest to them or whose website looks the nicest. But no decision so important should be made so arbitrarily. Don’t be afraid to interview a multitude of different agencies and ask them tough questions about what they will do to facilitate the sale of your property that their competitors won’t.

Remember that in the digital age, you’re no longer beholden to the relatively tiny confines of high street estate agents. There’s a new breed of online estate agents out there who may well be better equipped to meet your needs.

Check out the services that we offer as standard at Emoov. We’re confident that you won’t find anyone who goes above and beyond like we do. Our Essential package includes;

• 12 month property listing on Zoopla, OntheMarket and Prime Location
• 1 month on Rightmove, before reverting to a subscription cancellable at any time
• Featured Listing on Rightmove
• The full support of our experienced team of property advisors
• A unique messaging service that provides complete control over viewings and offers
• Activity reports to monitor the level of interest in your property
• Your own dedicated account manager
• Memorandum of sale

Our Emoov Extra package also include 3 months on Rightmove, professional photography, a floorplan, premium listings on Rightmove, Zoopla and Onthemarket, unlimited photos and sales progression to ease stress and give you peace of mind. Our packages can also include extras from for sales boards, EPC's, and premium listings. If an estate agent cannot offer you all of the above, they aren’t fit to entrust with your property. If you like what you see above get in touch with us today to arrange a free valuation of your property!

At Emoov, one of the top online estate agents in the UK, we pride ourselves on our collaborative working relationship with clients. A good estate agent will want to work with you as well as for you, giving you creative input into everything from the photos taken to the language that goes into the property description. Still, don’t be afraid to keep in constant contact with them to ensure that they’re doing all that they can to help to sell your property. You’re the boss, after all!

How should you handle valuing your property?

An important rule of business is to know the value of any commodity you are selling. Over estimate that value and you could be stuck with something that you are unable to sell, under estimate it and you will inevitably lose out on a comfortable profit. When it comes to valuing your property, you have the final say and so you will need to walk that fine line.

The best way to ensure that you make an informed and educated decision is to invite as many estate agents as you are able round to evaluate the property. There is no upward limit on the amount of times you can do this but we would recommend at least 3. Unless you have 3 wildly different valuations (which is unlikely) selecting a median amount for your asking price is a good bet. Of course, there’s no such thing as too much knowledge, so it pays to educate yourself as to what influences an estate agent’s decision when valuing your property. Typically their decision is determined by;

• Supply and demand- Demand for property in the area and how many similar properties are already on the market.
• Property size and land attached
• Property type, style and age
• Planning permissions
• Method of production and building materials
• Ownership status; freehold / leasehold
• Energy performance as per EPC
• Environmental factors (e.g. proximity to a river which is vulnerable to flooding)

Why do property photos matter so much when selling?

Whether you’re selling your property yourself or entrusting the sale to an estate agent a picture is worth a thousand words. The photos you post online of your home will make all the difference between a potential buyer contacting you or your estate agent for more information and them scrolling by to view the next property.

If you’re unsure how to prepare or upload photos, our guide on your listing photography explains how to manage images through the Emoov dashboard.

Any entrepreneur knows that great product photography is essential to ensure that their product stands out in a highly competitive market... And with the disparity between buyers and sellers on the current market this most certainly applies to you! In order to make your property look as appealing as possible in photographs, ensure that photos taken are of high resolution using a camera that’s no less than 5 megapixels.

When photographing rooms, the rule of thumb is, the brighter the better. Make sure that your photos capitalise on as much natural light as the space can get. Try to arrange for photography on a bright and cheerful day. Dark, gloomy and rainy days can add a veneer of dullness and gloom to your images.

Try to take photos from the point of view of what buyers will want to see rather than the affectations of which you’re personally proud. Try to focus the image on the property itself rather than the contents. The images should encourage the viewer to imagine their own belongings in there and the potential your property has for them to make it their own.

When photographing a property, shots tend to look better when taken from the doorway looking directly into the room. Shots from an angle work better than shots taken directly from the front which can make an image look flat and make a room look smaller than it actually is.

By all means tweak your images slightly in post production but ensure that any tweaks or changes you do make are subtle and do not result in an image that looks “fake”.

You will also need to include a floor plan that paints a more detailed picture of the property and capitalises on the interest and attention captured by the images.

How should you market your property effectively?

While marketing your property is the responsibility of your estate agent, it still behoves you to have some creative input over the marketing of your property. One area in which you can exercise some creative ownership is the property description.

By rule of thumb, in a property description the best way to write is with brevity. Users will likely only skim the text and will want as much information as possible from the description with a minimum of effort. So, keep your sentences short and concise but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use some emotive language. Stick to old faithful descriptors like “beautiful”, “spacious”, “luxurious” or even “elegant”. Try to keep your language as neutral as possible and avoid pigeon-holing the reader e.g. “this property is perfect for children”.

Try to sign off on a note that implies scarcity and urgency. Encourage readers not to miss out on this once in a lifetime investment opportunity and be sure to sign off with a compelling call to action.

How do you transform your home into a market-ready property?

Remember what we said about adopting a professional mindset? This is essential in making your property more marketable to buyers. You will need to remove the idiosyncratic stamp you’ve made on the property and make it more neutral in appearance.
Thus, cleaning away clutter should be your number one priority. Where possible, you should ensure that your walls are light and neutral in tone. Bold colours and statement wall paper may be your idea of domestic bliss but they can be surprisingly off-putting to some buyers.

When conducting viewings you will need to ensure that your home is neutral so that they can impose their vision upon it while still being welcoming and inviting. Ensure that the ambient temperature is pleasant and that there is a cosy atmosphere. Some choose to use this as the perfect opportunity to bake something, others to put on a pot of coffee. Or you could simply light some scented candles, it’s a matter of personal preference. Treat your property as a showroom and do what you can to ensure that your product shines!

Adopt a professional mindset and keep one hand on the steering wheel at all times, and you’ll find it far easier to take control of your property’s sales process and facilitate a closure that benefits you, the buyer and your estate agent!

Why use Emoov?

Emoov helps sellers take control of the sales process by combining national online exposure with expert support. By listing your property on major portals and giving you visibility over enquiries, viewings and offers, Emoov makes it easier to sell with confidence.

With transparent pricing, professional marketing tools and a dedicated team on hand, Emoov supports you at every stage – from valuation through to completion.

Summary

Selling your home doesn’t have to feel out of your control. By adopting a professional mindset, choosing the right estate agent, pricing accurately, presenting your property well and taking an active role in marketing, you can significantly improve your chances of achieving a quicker sale and a stronger price. Treat your home like the valuable asset it is and take charge of the process from start to finish.

Useful links

• How to Sell Your House Online
• How Long Does It Take to Sell a House?
• How to Increase Property Value
• Sell Your Property with Emoov