Putsman says overpricing is a self-defeating tactic because today’s buyers have access to information via the internet and elsewhere, and are in most cases ‘savvy’ about market values. They do their homework thoroughly and understand what prices are realistic.
This is according to Clare Putsman, director of the 25-year-old Atlantic Seaboard agency, Cape Waterfront Estates, who says if you are serious about selling and not just ‘testing the waters’, it will not pay you to overprice.
She says in nine out of ten cases this leads to the property sticking on the market, which in turn results in suspicions that some undisclosed factor is making it unsalable.
Putsman says sellers too often rely on dinner table gossip and other unqualified sources of information to establish a value for their properties. However, a professionally-structured valuation is the only way to establish an accurate market value.
“Reputable agencies with many years of experience behind them are very seldom wrong in their value estimates. Like most good agencies, we use a comprehensive Comparative Market Analysis System. This takes into account such factors as the prices achieved on similar homes sold recently in the area and the prices being asked for similar homes now up for sale,” says Putsman.
“We also take into account the replacement value of the home, and the resulting estimated value is, with very few exceptions, accurate, but there will always be a small minority of sellers who will not accept it.”
Putsman says overpricing is a self-defeating tactic because today’s buyers have access to information via the internet and elsewhere, and are in most cases ‘savvy’ about market values. They do their homework thoroughly and understand what prices are realistic.
Although winter traditionally results in a slowdown in Atlantic Seaboard property sales, Putsman says this year the level of enquiries has been “very satisfactory” and enquiries always pick up markedly in spring. From October onwards, overseas buyers, mainly British and German, are much in evidence, and Llandudno is very attractive to many Gautengers.
Putsman says Llandudno prices continue to escalate at 10% per annum for four main reasons: it has an incomparably beautiful setting, the architectural standard of most of the homes is high, it is exceptionally secure with only one entrance and exit, and with no new land available for building, existing properties become more valuable each year.