Struggling to sell your Phuket property? Need some advice?
Sell your phuket property
If this advice guarantees that your property will sell tomorrow, you are sorely mistaken, if it did, then I would be a very rich person and everyone would be very happy indeed. However it definitely increases the percentage of selling your property. It is just some advice/feedback from the hundreds of viewings we have done over the past 8 years.
Even though the property market is more active in recent months, the general consensus is that there are more properties on the market than there are buyers. If you are one of the owners that has had your property on the market for sometime, here are a few reasons why this is and maybe some helpful advice to get you to sell it:
- One of the most important things to remember is that buying in Phuket is a luxury and not a necessity. When buying a luxury product, it needs to match the picture you have in your head. If you walk into a Ferrari showroom to buy a car you would not expect it to be dirty, if you buy the new Ipad you would not expect to mend it first. Well this is the same as buying property in Phuket, you have to at least meet but generally exceed buyers expectations.
- When pricing your property most sellers will look in their development or surrounding area to see if there are any other properties for sale. Generally they will price the same as the next door neighbour and then add on a little more because everyone is house proud, well if the next door neighbour has had it on the market for 4 years with no buyers, it usually means it is over priced and certainly if you add on a little more as you have emotional value in the property. Be realistic.
- If a buyer comes along with a reasonable offer and you have only just put it on the market, seriously consider it as it could be a long time before another one comes around.
- Momentum is key to selling property in Phuket, if you do find a buyer, act fast and efficiently and try not to let your ego get in the way, the longer it takes the more likely boredom will set in and then it becomes almost impossible to sell. The longer you stir the porridge the harder it becomes. Don’t forget it is a luxury and not a necessity.
- When selling your house (yes everyone knows it but not many people do it), make sure it is clean and all the defects are fixed. If a buyer walks into the property and the door has a large scratch on it, I can guarantee that they will spend the rest of the viewing looking for more issues with the property.
- Putting it on the market for the world to see is not always a good idea. Sometimes a private sale goes a lot further.
- Don’t be greedy.
- The longer the property is on the market in Phuket, the less appealing it becomes to a buyer.
- When a buyer wants to come and visit a property, do not try and rearrange another time, do not cancel, do everything you can to accommodate this buyer. The reason the buyer wants to see the property now is because that is the focus, if that focus then goes he/she will buy another property or not bother coming back at all. There are very short windows of opportunity in Phuket.
- Tenants can easily turn into buyers.
- MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AMAZING IMAGES. IPhone photos do not do any property justice, they are only good for selfies.
- Reducing your price by 5% when you have not had a offer in 2 years is not going to make a great deal of difference. Either take it off the market for a substantial period of time and re-introduce with a new set of images or look at other options, long term rentals, short term rentals, reevaluate the price.
- Selling your property for the same price as you paid for it many years ago is not such a bad thing, get the money and move on, there might be opportunities elsewhere.
If you want to have a chat about buying or selling your property, to have a chat is a free service, we are happy to help.
chanapa@zestrealestate.com – +66 (0) 90 179 6635