Selling takes off in the Fall | The Post

Though it’s still a difficult market, some houses are selling. But how do you sell your home this autumn in the middle of the downturn?

Sale Agreed and Sold signs. We didn’t think anything of them in the boom years, but they’ve been a rare sight across the country in recent times. Home owners today are greatly relieved when, after months, or even years, a neighbour’s weather-beaten For Sale sign is adorned with the word ‘Sold’ in bold capitals.

It means properties on their road are in demand after all. A drive through Dublin’s suburbs suggests a number of properties have indeed changed hands over the summer.

Is this a sign of some much needed movement in the housing market? Perhaps the success of the Allsop/Space auctions of distressed properties earlier this year has stimulated the market. More than €30 million worth of property was sold under the hammer in the first two auctions.

Sellers have their fingers crossed that there is a rise in sales and that buyers are becoming more willing to sign on the dotted line, but all the indicators show property prices are still falling. A decline of about 10 per cent is expected this year. This is likely to continue to deter many potential purchasers.

Estate agents canvassed last week however, said the summer months were surprisingly busy, given that traditionally, the strongest selling seasons are spring and autumn. They said buyers no longer care what month it is when they are genuinely interested in a property.

‘‘Properties are selling," said Robert Finnegan of Dublin-based Vincent Finnegan Auctioneers last week. ‘‘We’re finding plenty of buyers, mainly first-time buyers. It’s all about the price being right - a property has to be competitively priced to find a buyer," he said. ‘‘I can only tell you today that there’s healthy demand for second homes and all that can be is positive."

Many of the agents are hoping, however, that the old norms will apply and homeowners will decide to put their home on the market this autumn, when the children go back to school and the summer holidays are over, as is traditionally the case. They are searching desperately for some new stock to sell. Many of the agencies have been running ads and dropping speculative leaf let s in homeowners letterboxes in the last fortnight offering private consultations and a free valuations.

If want to sell your home this autumn, or unfortunately you have to sell in the next couple of months, how should you go about it? Firstly, you should get valuations from a number of estate agencies before you choose one. But prepare yourself for disappointment - the valuation may not be to your liking.

‘‘If you want to sell your home it’s a no-brainer. It’s all about price,’’ said Felicity Fox of the Dublin city centre agency that bears her name. ‘‘It’s about value for money for the buyers."

She said sales were happening at the lower end of the market and that those sales were happening across Dublin city and county.

‘‘There is no particular area, or areas that are selling better than others . But only those who are willing to sell their home at open market value should attempt to this autumn. They have to be willing to sell it at what it’s worth today,’’ Fox said. Sales at the higher end of the market remain difficult to complete.

When setting the asking price many homeowners want to inflate it to allow room for negotiation with would-be buyers But Robert Finnigan maintains that this is entirely the wrong way to go about it.

‘‘If a vendor puts a house up at €510,000 they think potential buyers will read between the lines and realise they’ll accept less, but that’s not how it works.

‘‘If potential buyers have an email alert set up with an upper limit of €500,000 then they won’t get notified that the property has come up for sale. They won’t see the listing for the property, never mind consider it. A lot of people rely on technology now. It’s hugely important to selling your home."

Finnegan maintains using technology to your advantage is of the utmost importance in a downturn. Using professional photographs is vital to securing a sale.

Poorly taken photographs uploaded online really irritate househunters.

Not including photographs of the interiors also raises suspicions among savvy potential buyers. They immediately jump to the conclusion that the property is in need of complete refurbishment. ‘‘It’s all about price and presentation. If a property isn’t smartly presented it’s not going to sell as quickly as one that is. People make a decision usually on first impressions. They are creatures of habit," Finnegan said.

If a property doesn’t look smart in the photos they’re not going to view it’’, he said. ‘‘People buy on emotion a lot of the time, so vendors need to do their utmost to ensure their home is neat and tidy."

Darren Chambers, Lisney’s branch manager in Drumcondra, north Dublin, said the average 20 per cent drop in asking prices in the last 12 months has fuelled sales in recent months. ‘‘It’s a massive drop in a year and we’re finding there is an appetite to buy."

He warned vendors not to price the property too high. ‘‘You want a property to sell in the first six to eight weeks. For a successful sale it’s critical that you’ve got offers in the first few weeks. Price reductions tend not to be enough to sell properties. By the time vendors actually agree to reduce the asking price, too much time has passed and they should be reducing it again," he said.

The agents said there was no rhyme or reason as to why some properties were selling compared to others, except for the discrepancy in asking prices.

Gunne Residential’s managing director Declan Cassidy said if the price was right over the summer, properties were selling. ‘‘Some properties have sold within two to three weeks if they’re priced right," he said.

Cassidy, who runs the firm’s Fairview office, said they had sold a mix of properties in the areas of Fairview, Marino, Drumcondra, Killester and Clontarf.

In Marino and Fairview, he said first-time buyers were purchasing three-bedroom terraced houses within walking distance of East Point Business Park and the city centre for less than €200,000.

He said little had changed since the start of the year in the buyer demographic. ‘‘At least 50 per cent of all the properties sold or sale agreed on their books in recent months were first-time purchasers," he said. Trader-uppers are the second largest segment of the market.

The reported improvement in sales is not just a Dublin phenomenon. Catherine McAuliffe, director of Savills in Cork, said there was ‘‘huge activity’’ in the last couple of weeks. ‘‘We’ve had an awful lot of offers, there’s a definite appetite from purchasers who have been looking at the market," she said. ‘‘There’s a realisation that things are not going to change."

The only difference between Dublin and Cork, McAuliffe said was that the capital had begun getting offers earlier in the summer than Savills’ Cork office, and that a lot of their sales were agreed.

‘‘We’re slightly behind. We’re getting the bids now," she said, but added that it was a challenging market and that it was still difficult to get sales over the line. ‘‘There are so many obstacles now from the banks, engineers, surveyors, and solicitors; it takes much longer to finalise."

Depending on your circumstances, selling at auction rather than by private treaty may be a worthwhile option. A feature of the market now compared to the boom time is that cash is king. All of the agents agreed that the market is being driven largely by cash buyers.

Felicity Fox said more cash buyers had been viewing properties and making bids in the last fortnight to three week s than at any other time since the start of the year.

‘‘They’d rather have the bricks and mortar than leave it in the bank. There’s uncertainty there with the banks," said Felicity Fox.

The majority of the buyers at the Allsop/Space auctions were cash buyers and the same is expected at their next auction on September 23 when 74 lots, a mix of residential and commercial properties, will go under the hammer.

Auctions can also be a better option for those requiring a quick sale.

Executor sales and sales by investors can be finalised in much quicker period than by private treaty in most circumstances.

The day before the Allsop/ Space mass auction, Gunne will hold a small auction of two properties, one in Ballsbridge, and the other in Sutton.

Declan Cassidy said that in many cases properties are auctioned because the owners are ‘‘fed up and want them sold’’ or the properties were ‘‘sale agreed a couple of times and fell through’’.

Selling at auction is also an indication that the owners are serious about selling.

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