for sale Archives | Lawler & Co.

Should you decorate before you put your house on the market?

Opening the doors to strangers to come and judge your property. Scrutinising every inch of the property and deciding if they like it is a nerve-racking experience. We can feel defensive if someone doesn’t like our house, and it is vulnerable to let people come and look at our property, which is usually such a private space.

When selling a property, viewers will look at everything with a very critical eye. And as a nation of house-loving homeowners, it is understandable that many of us want to get our homes ship-shaped before launching them to the market.

But how far should you go? Should you fully redecorate your house? Fit a new kitchen? Landscape the gardens? Or is the best thing to do nothing more than a deep clean?

It is possible to get bogged down with the preparation that it becomes a form of procrastination, and sometimes you can end up with a snagging list as long as your arm, and you never launch the property to the market. The longer this process takes, the further you are from your new dream home, and your perfect buyer might be missed.

So what should you do instead?

Make a list – rather than randomly doing all those jobs you’ve been putting off, make a list. This way, you can tackle the jobs methodically and group similar tasks together to save time and possibly money.

Decide what to do – Look objectively at the list and decide what needs to be done and what is not necessary. There are often tasks that you want to do to the property, but they will not help you sell your home or, indeed, might not make any difference to a potential buyer.

Check with your estate agent – show your list to your agent and get advice from them about tasks necessary to make your home saleable and attractive to a buyer. After all, our team knows what a buyer is looking for and what they will absolutely not care about, so you can cross off any of those tasks that won’t make any difference and get the ball rolling with your launch to the market.

There needs to be a line drawn as, unless your property is all brand new, you could invest lots of money and time refurbishing the whole house, and you won’t benefit from it because you will have moved.

It is highly likely that the huge list of jobs you have made for yourself, overwhelming yourself in the process, might end up being only a few small items. And then, without delay, you can attend to these things and get your home on the market for sale, putting the wheels in motion for your sale and moving to your new dream home.

For more advice on preparing your home for sale, speak to our team of experts with absolutely no obligation.

www.lawlerandcompany.co.uk

Why being market ready is so important

Anyone that is looking at buying a selling a property at the moment knows that the housing market is the busiest that it has been for many years. Every house that comes to the market either won’t let you view unless you are in a position to proceed, already has a block viewing or “open house” going ahead which is fully booked or is sold before it even goes on-line. As a First Time Buyer or someone in rented accommodation, this is difficult enough of a position to be in; but what if you are trying to sell one and buy another? How you do work through trying to find a property and being in that ‘proceedable position’ whilst not feeling the pressure of a buyer who is desperate to move into your home and pushing for you to move out?

At Lawler & Co we understand the pressure that this brings. We understand the difficulties that sellers have in trying to find properties whilst selling their own and we understand how difficult it is to be in line for properties when they become available. We understand this from a personal perspective as we currently have a family member who is going through the process and is having the exact same issues.

Catch 22

Traditionally, when looking at buying and selling, there has been a “catch 22” scenario that always plays through a sellers mind – do you sell first and then try to find somewhere or do you find somewhere and then try to sell? An “All or Nothing” scenario. With the market conditions as they are, this has been somewhat taken out of sellers hands and they are almost ‘forced’ into selling first and being in the best position when a property does become available. However, sellers also know that most properties will sell quickly, with their own being no exception. Here at Lawler & Co, we have come up with an innovate solution that a number of our clients are taking advantage of at the moment.

Market Ready

This position we have called “Being Market Ready” or “Low Key Marketing”.

This is for those clients who have decided that Lawler & Co are the Estate Agent that they know will do the best for them, but you are slightly more cautious about putting their property fully live on the internet because they know it will sell quickly. For these clients we will position them in “Low Key Marketing”.

This means the client will sign contracts and will instruct Lawler & Co to be their Agent of choice. We will take all of the photographs, complete the 360⁰ virtual tour, we will complete the floorplan and write the description in readiness. We will ask you to approve it all and then we wait. If the client would like us to contact certain, specific buyers then we will; we won’t if they don’t. If the client would like to accept viewings from buyers in specific positions, then we will organise for them to be done; if they don’t, then we won’t. Then we will wait and we will help the client to find their next home.

Whilst a client is on “Low Key Marketing”, they are, absolutely, on the market.

What are the advantages to the client?

There are many advantages to the client that allow the buying and selling process to run a little more at their pace. These include:

· One of the first clients to be informed when a new property comes to the market that would meet their purchasing criteria

· Finding a middle ground between the “All or Nothing Catch 22” scenario that we discussed earlier

· Allowing the client to pick and choose who views the property and when, or not having anyone view in the first instance

· Putting the client into a strong position to view properties where agents won’t allow viewings from buyers who are not on the market

· Ensuring that when the client DOES find a property that they like, and DOES want to start fully marketing and DOES want to go live on the internet; then with the flick of a switch and the press of a button, all of that can happen within an instance and their home will be launched through the websites and onto property portals saving valuable time and putting them in the strongest position to purchase the house of their dreams.

It works!

“Low Key Marketing” or “Being Market Ready” has worked incredibly well for a number of our clients who we have been successful in selling their own home quickly and to the right buyers, finding them their dream home and taking out some of the pressure that comes with the whole buying and selling process.

For more information on how this process could work for you, please contact any of the Lawler & Co offices

Marple Office

36 Stockport Road
Marple
Stockport
SK6 6AB

Tel: 0161 914 7620
marple@lawlerandcompany.co.uk

Hazel Grove Office

128 London Road
Hazel Grove
Stockport
SK7 4DJ

Tel: 0161 300 7144
hazelgrove@lawlerandcompany.co.uk

Poynton Office

60 Park Lane
Poynton
Cheshire
SK12 1RE

Tel: 01625 448 001
poynton@lawlerandcompany.co.uk

Focus on Marple; What does Marple have to offer?

It’s been nearly 8 years since Lawler & Company opened their first office in the great location of Marple. During that time, we have sold properties to people of all ages who have happily settled into the wonderful community Marple has and enjoying the great amenities Marple and the surround areas have to offer :-

Marple Canal- A popular choice with families and walkers alike, you can find The flight of 16 locks which is one of the steepest flights of Britain, the amazing Marple Aqueduct and choose to walk and take in so many beautiful scenic routes.

Memorial park/ Skate Park and Bowling Green- The go to place for all ages- the views looking out over the countryside make it the perfect picnic spot!

Marple precinct- Boasts a range of amenities to accommodate all your needs. From popular high street names to small local businesses. Lovely places to eat or stop and have a coffee, the café culture here is certainly popular.

Marple Golf Club– One of the oldest clubs in the area, offering excellent facilities in a traditional and relaxed environment.

The Regent Cinema– A piece of Marple history, experiencing the new blockbuster movies in a traditional setting.

The Ridge- Quite simply views you will never tire of.

Marple Train Station- Have the best of both worlds, enjoy rural life whilst having easy connections to an abundance of major cities.

In our Marple office, we have a fantastic team led by Manager Claire Seaton and we asked them to give us a few of their favourite Marple hotspots.

“Marple canal is my go to place. Whether it’s taking a walk in my lunch break or walking my dog Elliott, it really is the most beautiful place come rain or shine.”

“My favourite place in Marple has to be the golf club. Having been a member for two years, I love nothing more than playing a few rounds after a busy week at work.”

“I really enjoy all the different restaurants and cafes Marple has to offer. Some of my favourite places include- The Bulls Head public house, Woodstock pizza and Kambuja”

Thinking of making Marple your place to call home, give our dedicated team a call today 0161 914 7620 to see what fantastic properties are on the market right now or click here to register online to be first in the know of any new homes coming on.

Market Update from Alan Cooper MARLA Hazel Grove Branch Manager

Is the housing market slowing down? Will demand for properties slow down with the increases in cost of living and the impending Interest Rate Rise?

These are questions that we, as Estate Agents, get asked all of the time. Whilst we cannot predict the future, at this current time the answer to both of these questions is quite simply there are no signs that the market is going to slow down or that the interest rate rises will have an impact on buyers demands for properties.

All that we can say is that now is an excellent time to sell. The market continues to be strong. We have had more properties come to the market this January than we did last January. Buyers continue to want to purchase properties and demand is such that this normally means that there are “block viewings” and “best and final offers”. This does ensure that we are able to achieve the very best possible price, from the very best buyer for you.

However, this is also a great time to buy a property. The mortgage interest rates are still very low; house prices are continuing to increase which means equity being immediately accrued and the cost of borrowing is still less than the cost of renting. Being in the best possible position to purchase is really important. Having your mortgage approved and an Agreement in Principle available is essential to secure a property. Also being in a position to proceed is crucial. Being a First Time Buyer or in rented accommodation is always the beginning the process, but if you have a property to sell, then making sure that is under offer (SSTC) will ensure that the moment you find a property you can jump straight in and make an offer.

As you can see from the graphs below, taken directly from Rightmove, more people are choosing Lawler & Co as their preferred agent than any other local agent.

To find out why, book your valuation here.

The above data is derived purely from Righmove.co.uk’s internal statistics and advertisers on 01/02/2022. May be subject to specific geography or search criteria and is provided ‘as is’ for general interest only. Rightmove makes no warranty as to the data’s suitability for any purpose and accepts no liability for any action or inaction taken as a consequence of its use. For a full list of all competing agents contact marketing@rightmove.co.uk

Local or Online Estate Agent? Who do you choose?

Reasons why you should use a local agent to sell property

Ready to put your home on the market but choosing the right estate agent is getting too overwhelming. What about an online agent? Should you pay for an upfront fee?Or do you approach a high street agent with an established physical presence in their local community, years of experience and unparalleled sales knowledge?

We’ve put together some reasons why Lawler and Co think a local high street estate agent is best, and in many cases provides better value for money than other offerings.

Getting the best Price!

Ever heard the saying you get what you pay for? Well, when it comes to estate agents, the same principle applies. In fact, plumping for the cheapest upfront option might be a false economy because it may cost you money in the long run.

Why? With the right tools and unrivalled street-by-street knowledge of an area, nothing beats an established local agent. We don’t just sit back and let the sale take care of itself because we’ve already been paid, as is sometimes the case with DIY or very low-cost agents. We use our expertise and in depth local knowledge to achieve the highest possible sales amount for your property.

We have an up-to-date database of local buyers who are looking for specifics such as proximity to the local schools, transport links and leisure facilities. When a well-matched property is on our books, we’ll proactively approach people who we think would be interested in viewing it. Having access to this sort of local data can make all the difference when it comes to selling a property for the right price. Some one popping into one of our offices and having a chat can also offer this opportunity!

Viewings are a must!

Viewings are one of the most crucial aspects of selling a property and while some people are comfortable in showing would-be buyers around their home, others have neither the time nor the inclination. True, some online estate agents do offer accompanied viewings but you’ll typically have to pay extra for the privilege. With all things currently restricted due to Covid19, we are now happy to provide 360 virtual tours of properties.

Check that your online agent is prepared to negotiate on your behalf: many don’t and will leave it up to you. You’ll have to decide if you’re absolutely comfortable in squeezing your buyer for the asking price you want or handling any last-minute paperwork problems.

Think Local

Choosing to market your property through a local estate agent opens up a network of trusted community contacts and services – from builders and tradespeople to conveyancers and independent mortgage advisers, all of whom will be happy to meet you face-to-face. It also means you won’t have to hand over one of the most important decisions of your life to someone on the other side of a computer.

Those hidden extras

Upfront fees may seem tempting at first glance but check very carefully to see if there aren’t any hidden extras, all of which can soon mount up. Some agents charging extra for photography, ‘for sale’ boards and, as mentioned previously, viewings.

An unbeatable combination

It’s said that not having a physical shop front and operating purely online is the future of estate agency. With over 20 years of experience in selling homes in Hazel Grove, Marple, Poynton and surrounding areas we know that having an accessible office that’s bright, welcoming and modern attracts footfall. We’re happy to be a focal point in our local community and having a physical location where people can drop by, chat to the team and find out what’s new on our books is incredibly important.

That doesn’t mean that we neglect our online presence, however. We advertise on many online platforms and like to also use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The difference is that, unlike a purely online estate agent, we don’t solely rely on these property portals to achieve sales. We like to think we offer the best of all worlds.

Our local knowledge together with our professional, dedicated sales team and marketing expertise means that our clients can feel confident and assured, you have chosen the correct estate agent to give you detailed accurate market advise on preparing your property for sale or rent for the best price

If you would like to speak to a member of our team and find out what your home is worth, please contact one of the offices below