What is a Buyer’s Market?

A buyer’s market is when there is more supply of properties for sale than the number of buyers shopping for them. This then provides buyers with more negotiating power as many listings are competing with each other to get the attention of the relatively smaller pool of buyers. 

Tips: if you are planning to sell your current property and buy your next house at approximately the same time, you should wait until after your current house sold. In a buyer’s market, buying is much easier than selling.

Guides on selling your property fast in a buyer’s market  

1. Engage an experienced and trusted real estate agent

Your selling experience will be much easier with an experienced and trusted real estate agent by your side. Ask your potential agent for their track records and marketing strategies. We strongly recommend engaging a real estate agent that provides the following:

• Professional Photos

Pictures speak a thousand words. Most buyers said that viewing professional photos of the property is very important in deciding whether they should visit the property. Ensure your agent is able to capture property photos professionally or willing to invest in hiring a professional photographer specializing in photographing property photos. 

• 3D Virtual Tour

3D Virtual Tour is a new cutting-edge technology beginning to gain traction during the Covid-19 pandemic. 3D Virtual Tour allows property-seekers to do their own walkthrough of the property from anywhere, and anytime at the comfort of their smartphone or laptop, generating higher engagement and interest. 95% of property-seekers are more likely to enquire listings that have 3D Virtual Tour. It then attracts qualified prospects that are genuinely interested in the property and filter out unqualified prospects, save your and your agent’s time and risk exposure to Covid-19 on unnecessary viewings. 

• Home Walkthrough Video or Home Tour Video

Video engages. Ensure your agents provide Home Walkthrough Video or Home Tour Video to showcase the best parts of your property to tug on heartstrings of potential buyers. 

• Home Staging

Home Staging is only required on certain conditions such as when the existing furniture is less appealing, or the property is vacant with no furniture. Ensure that in such situation, your agent is willing to invest in hiring home staging company to stage your property. Benefits of home staging includes:

a) It provides the condition for great professional photos that impress property-seekers

b) It connects with the visiting buyers on an emotional level and imagine themselves living in it. If you ever visit a show flat, it is designed for that purpose.

c) It highlights the best features of the property and helps to “hide” the shortcomings such as odd-shape layout

• Advertise on Major Property Portals 

Just like shoppers going into supermarkets with plenty of option to choose from, almost all property-seekers visit property portals when shopping for properties. Ask your real estate agent whether they advertise on major property portals such as propertyguru.com.sg, 99.co, srx.com.sg, iproperty.com.sg, and if they ensure your property appears on the first page in search results at all time.

• Digital Marketing

Digital marketing has been increasingly more popular. There are approximately 4.45 million and 2.11 million active users of Facebook and Instagram respectively in Singapore. With 4.30 million active watchers, YouTube is also a great social platform to reach out to various target audience groups. Ensure your real estate agent has an effective and efficient digital marketing strategy to position your property to only pull the most potential leads.

2. Inspect, make repairs, and upgrades to increase value of your property

What most homeowners don’t realize is that increasing their home value is easier than they think and often worth the effort. The cost of upgrading usually outweighs the return they can get. Buyers are likely to pay more than your cost of upgrading, and your house is likely to be sold faster reducing the number of viewings required. Following are 5 tips to increase value of your property:

• Upgrade the Kitchen

It’s often been said that the kitchen sells a home. A modern kitchen is what everyone wants. The good news is that you don’t have to tear out your kitchen and start anew; a smaller investment can have a serious impact. Add in new energy-efficient appliances, as well as new countertop. You may overlay the flooring without the need to hack. These simple and fairly inexpensive additions will result in a fresh, coordinated look. 

• Make the Bathroom Sparkle

Bathroom updates are always a smart move, however large overhauls aren’t often budget friendly. You can overlay the flooring, replace outdated wallpaper with a textured finish, replace old lighting fixtures, cabinet knobs and faucets, and a neat paint will help you add some shine to your property. 

• Paint the Walls

One of the simplest, most cost-effective improvement is, of course, paint! Freshly painted rooms look clean, updated, and instantly attract value. Note that neutral colors appeal to the greatest number of people, helping to make your home more desirable. What’s more, paint is incredibly affordable and is a quick fix for most homes. 

• Polish the Floorings

First impression counts. Floors are the very first element of the house that buyers will engage with. Polishing your marble, or parquet floorings will give impression that the house has recently been renovated, or it is well maintained.

• Remove Unwanted Items

A house with too many furniture, electrical appliances, unsightly items may give the impression that the house is small in size, and not well-maintained. Perhaps it is now the time that you remove unwanted items, declutter your house, and tidy up and keep the unsightly items.

3. Competitive Pricing

In a buyer’s market, you have to price your property more competitively to attract buyers. Price it a little too high and there is no enquiry or viewing. Price it a little too low limits the potential price you could get from your property. 

Begin with researching the recent transacted units that are similar in size, and features, and built year. Search for prices of recently sold HDB flats in your estate from the official HDB website or the HDB map service.  The Urban and Redevelopment Authority (URA) website provides free information on the private property market. HDB does not display the flat unit numbers for privacy. Likewise, URA also does not display the house numbers of landed houses and unit numbers of strata-titled units. Your real estate agent should have a more complete data with house or unit numbers.

In addition to checking the recent transacted units or houses, also ask your real estate agent to enquire indicative value of your property from at least 5 banks. This is free-of-charge services provided by most banks. In the meantime, you can use Pinnacle property valuation service and receive a formal report on the indicative value of your property from a team of licensed valuers. The service is free of charge.

You should aim to price your property 2 – 3 % above the market value and negotiable to allow for room of negotiation to finally achieve the market price, or slightly below the market price.

All the best in selling your property.

At Pinnacle Estate Agency, we strongly believe in sharing our real estate knowledge to the public.⁠ For more content like this article, check out our Singapore Property Guides.