Put advert of my property for sale in letter boxes?

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kellyr4

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I like many in this climate am struggling to sell my property. The 2 bed apartment is on the market since May 07. The EA selling it is one of the largest EA company's in the country.

I have gradually dropped € 30 k off the initial asking price since it went on the market but am not getting anybody to bite.

I am growing increasingly frustrated with the EA. He always has an excuse and then tells me about the other properties that he has sold each week. When the property went on the market i got "people are waiting for news on stamp duty", then "market goes quiet during the summer it will pick up in the Autumn" and now im getting "people are holding off till after xmas and the budget"

[ Please don't give details of your property as it could be misinterpreted as advertising. Brendan ]
Anyway I am trying to be proactive in selling this property. I have thought about printing a few 100 or even a few 1000 copies of the advertisement and distributing them into peoples letter boxes. I would delete all of the EA's logos and contact details and put my own name on them.

Is this a good or bad idea? Could it further de-value my property? The way I look at it, the more people that know about the better. All I need is one person to make me a decent offer.
 
I can't see how it could be a 'bad' idea. A member of my own family bought a house this way i.e. they leaflet dropped in the area they were interested in.
Word of caution though - if you were successful in selling you would want to be certain that the estate agent cannot pursue you for fees.
 
I don't see the logic in it. People resent junk mail and in general treat it with contempt, unless it offers something spectacular. Unless you do tens of thousands of leaflet drops its impossible to cover anything but a tiny fraction of your target market. Still, if you're desperate...
 
ubiquitous said:
Unless you do tens of thousands of leaflet drops its impossible to cover anything but a tiny fraction of your target market. Still, if you're desperate...
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Tend to agree with the above.

Those people who make up your target market, those looking to purchase a property, will be checking myhome.ie and daft.ie on a near daily basis.

The real issues to deal with are the current market (many potential buyers holding off due to uncertainty in the future of the market), the price (are similiar properties in the area selling... are they lower priced... etc.), the property itself (any steps which can be taken to improve its value or desirability). I don't see the problem being the properties exposure to a wider market.

If you do feel you need exposure to more potential buyers, should you look at switching/getting another EA on board.
 
I know it would be a huge task to cover a significant section of the population of Dublin but I just want to increase awareness of the property for sale. It has been on myhome.ie and the EA's website for 6 months now. Ive had approx 10 viewings but not one offer.

Im trying to think of other ways to increase its chance of selling. Current asking price is € 340,000 (originally € 370,000) and id be willing to accept offers over € 320,000. Cosmetically there is nothing I can do to make the property look better. Its only 2 years old and spotless.

Any ideas would be welcome
 
Lower the price until you get an offer? Your appt. probably looks as good as it is ever going to and you are even throwing in the furniture. As was mentioned above, anyone who is looking for a similar property has probably already viewed your place online. The market has slowed and buyers find themselves faced with a lot of supply - the only to differentiate your property would be via the asking price.
 
kellyr4 said:
I know it would be a huge task to cover a significant section of the population of Dublin but I just want to increase awareness of the property for sale.
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Personally, I don't believe the leaflet drop would catch enough potential buyers to make it worth the time/cost/effort (not to mention the spam etc comments already raised), but that is down to a personal decision.

As for what you can do.

TBH, the biggest problem at the moment is simply a lack of confidence in the market. Why would people buy now if they think they might get it cheaper in six months time? There isn't much you can do to change that.

The current listing on myhome/EA websites....
Does it have lots of pictures? Do the pics do it justice? (Have they been taken to show the apartment in the best possible light e.g. fine sunny day, apartment immaculatly clean etc.) Does the description portray the property in the best light possible to attract possible buyers?

Apart from a few of these asthetic things, the only other factor you have to attract buyers is the price. How flexible you're willing to go may be the deciding factor on whether it sells or not.
 
Be careful about using the EA brochure and just hiding his logo etc..it is still their brochure
 
kellyr4 said:
It has been on myhome.ie and the EA's website for 6 months now.
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Put it on daft.ie and see (check my2leftfeet comment about fees).

Why do you think the EA is responsible for the fact that it does not sell? or how a new EA would help? are they not stuck trying to sell at the price you have instructed him/her to sell?

In simple term, price is the issue IMO....(almost) everything sells at the right price.
 
Would it be worth it instead putting an advert on a website?

For example, a banner on boards.ie or something like that.
 
I am cringing at my naievety in that post last April just before I put the property on the market. I was just being hypothetical and assuming that I would get offered the original asking price, what I was going to do with the money.

Unfortunately the reality is that the property has been on the market for 6 months without an offer....................those dreams of moving to the sunshine are a distant memory
 
How much did you buy the property for?

EDIT: I have just seen you bought it for €250k.

Instead of being so greedy (i.e. originally wanting a profit of 120k after two years, and now only wanting a profit of 90k) why don't you significantly drop your asking price?

The problem really is that you are trying to make as much money as possible.
 
if you bought it for 250 would you not put it up at 280 and try generate interest that way, you'd still walk away with 30 grand, maybe looking for 320 (making 70 grand) is not what its worth? What are other apartments going for around you?
 
I dont think its about greed, its about being able to afford to trade up to a house.

Other apartments in the development are for sale for between 360 and 380 k. So I am undercutting them all.

There is a new phase to the development currently being built which may turn people off my "old phase" property. The new 2 beds are going for 380+
 
hi kellyr4 sorry wasn't trying to imply greed just that if you really want to shift it there may be a lower price someone will be willing to pay. In relation to trading up people selling will be in the same boat as you and the value will be less. Went through this last year we settled for 50 grand less than we thought we'd sell our house for (it was hard to do at the time) but we ended up buying our ideal house for at least 50 grand less than we felt it was worth so it balanced out.
 
Price, price, price. That is all that matters when you are selling what is in effect a reasonably standardised product.
 
Best and hardest advice I can give you would be to try and sell if for what you can get and walk away with some profit. I say that given the location of your property and the fact that it is an apartment.
 
kellyr4 said:
I dont think its about greed, its about being able to afford to trade up to a house.

Other apartments in the development are for sale for between 360 and 380 k. So I am undercutting them all.

There is a new phase to the development currently being built which may turn people off my "old phase" property. The new 2 beds are going for 380+
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Without wanting to sound harsh, this is the problem. Everyone putting their property up for sale is looking at what the neighbours are hoping to get, or what was achieved 6 months or a year ago, and refusing to budge much below what the general asking prices in the locale are. Hence most of the properties will remain on the market as no-one wants to budge downwards, even if it means they are still getting a profit, albeit a lesser one than originally anticipated. Buyers are unwilling to budge as they sense if they hold off a bit, they may get a property cheaper than was being asked 6 months or a year ago, once people start getting desperate to sell. Standoff ensues. Remember it's not about what what you WANT to get, ie the asking price, but what the property will actually sell for, ie what people are willing (or able) to offer.

If there are a number of other properties for sale in your development, the only way you will sell when you are in direct competition with all of them is to drop the price to make your property more attractive to buyers than all the others.

Remember prices are dropping anyway, so you may still be able to trade up to a house which is falling in price, and even a profit of 30k after two years is nothing to be sneezed at, it's only been the past few years that houses were seen as a quick way to make an absolute killing due to the rising market, rather than the bricks and mortar they are.

I'd avoid going down the leafletting route as most people will see it as junk mail or spam and may be turned off your property, and it would be a lot of work for such a small chance that it might generate some interest.
 
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