Selling in this belt does not start with listing. The moment a property goes live, its most valuable week has been spent: the first ten days are when portals and search engines show it most, and a property that enters that window with incomplete photography and an uncertain price never recovers that attention, however carefully it is corrected later.
What to gather before listing
A copy of the title deed and a current land registry extract. The occupancy permit if it exists, or a clear statement of what stage it is at. The compulsory earthquake insurance policy. Written confirmation from the compound management that no service charges are outstanding. The energy performance certificate. The property tax receipt. Where freehold title has not been established, what remains outstanding for it to be.
All of it will be requested on completion day regardless. The difference: gathered early it is negotiating strength, gathered at the transfer table it is delay. A buyer does not price a seller with documents in hand the same way they price a seller without them.
How the price band is set
There are three sets of data and they do not agree: the asking prices of comparable properties, the achieved prices of comparable sales, and the bank's valuation. Asking prices sit highest, achieved sales lower, and the valuation is usually the most conservative of the three.
Pricing from asking prices is the most common mistake made in this belt, because an asking price is not a demand — it is a wish, and properties that have sat unsold for months are on that same list. The correct reference is completed transactions. Those are not public, and knowing them is precisely what a firm working this belt is for.
Listing high and reducing later takes longer and closes lower than listing correctly and waiting. A history of reductions tells a buyer that something is wrong with the property; usually the only thing wrong was the first number.
Why photography comes first
The first ten days carry most of the attention a property will ever receive. Entering that window with incomplete photography spends the most valuable visibility available. So the shoot happens before publication, not after.
What to do beforehand is simpler than people expect: clear surfaces, remove personal items, open the curtains fully, cut the grass, have the pool clean. Painting and renovation are not required; light and order are. In this belt the garden and the light sell the house — the furniture does not.
Timing
A correctly priced property with complete documents and good photography finds its buyer in a reasonable time here. A wrongly priced one sits for months and eventually sells at the correct price; the only thing lost in between is time. Which is why a firm that gives you a realistic band at the outset has served you better than one that quotes a high figure to win the instruction.
A precise timeframe needs the specific property: its location, type, budget bracket, and how many comparable properties are in that band at that moment.
Selling with a tenant in place
A tenanted property can be sold; the tenancy transfers to the new owner and the tenant's rights continue. If the buyer intends to live there, the process depends on the end date of the agreement and the statutory notice periods. This is a subject to settle before the sale — discovered later, it breaks the negotiation.
How we work
We see the property, review the documents with you, and give you a band based on completed transactions. If you do not like the band, we do not quote a higher figure to win the instruction — because that figure costs you time, not us.