Costa del Sol Property Blog

When real estate markets slows as is now the case, the amount of properties on the market increases and the number of buyers decrease. This makes it harder to sell properties, yet properties still sell. So, the question is, why do some properties get offers and others sit on the market? In quite a few cases this has less to do with the property (as many are priced to sell) and more to do with how the property is marketed. So below I am going to cover some of the good and the bad and work on the assumption that your Costa del Sol property is priced correctly.

Online presentation

There is an adage that many of you might know “A picture is worth a thousand words”. This is the idea that a complex story can be described with just a single still image, or that it can be more influential than a substantial amount of text. This is no different for a property. Property photos are there to entice buyers to want to see more. But bad photos will also cause buyers to dismiss you property from their search. So try not to publish photos that are:

Too dark with drapes / blinds closed
Of cluttered rooms
Un-cropped photos with unnecessary elements in the pictures
Photos of pets sleeping on the sofa
Only one unflattering photo of the front of the house. More photos tell more.
High resolution photos without adjusting pixels for the Internet

Withholding information from the description

When there are many properties on the market, simply specifying how many bedrooms and bedrooms and bathrooms the property has is not enough information for a property buyer. It does not tell buyers why they should enquire further. Good marketing tells a buyer why this particular home is better than the dozens of others on the market. Sellers should focus on:

What makes the property unique?
What made you want to buy the property in the first place?
How can what would be a negative factor for some be turned into a positive for others?

Limited access for viewings

If an agency cannot easily show your property, the agency is going to show another property listing instead. Do not give the agency a reason to pass up your property. Any of these can affect viewings:

Restricted hours to show
Needing 24-hour notice
By appointment only

Do not want the neighbours to know

You cannot keep the fact that your property is for sale a secret and still expect to sell it. Whether you or the agency  pay for advertising, you need to let everyone know it is for sale. The best way to do that is to advertise.

Advertise in local papers if relevant
Advertise on websites.
Take advantage of the agents shop front to promote your property

Which buyers to aim for?

Who is going to buy your property. Unlike many property markets, on the Costa del Sol there are many areas that appeal to only certain nationalities. So an extra demographic to worry about! Although nationality should have little affect on how you present your property, it will affect your choice of agencies. If it is a popular Spanish area, not much point going with an agency that caters only to the english for example.

Hope some of this helps

Regards

Andrew Bellés