Thinking of selling your property?
Make your plans
It is important to ensure that you understand how the sale of your property can impact your cashflow.
Sales proceeds are generally dependent on 3 factors: 1) Outstanding Loan, 2) CPF utilised and 3) CPF accrued interest.
Determine the selling price that you can possibly achieve given the current market situation
Deduct off the outstanding loan amount, your CPF utilised and accrued interest to work out the cash proceeds.
Remember you need to also include other fees such as agent fees, legal fees etc.
Should you sell the property within a certain timeframe, you will also need to include the Seller Stamp Duty amount payable to IRAS. Refer to our page on Private Residential Property to read up more on Stamp Duties applicable.
CPF
Depending on your age profile and CPF balances, you may also need to set aside the relevant Retirement Sums before any proceeds can be disbursed to you.
It is advised that you engage an agent to advise you further so that you know exactly what needs to be taken note of. Contact us for a free calculation assessment.
Timeline
Through your sale and purchase of properties, there might be periods where you will need a temporary place to stay it. You will need to plan out the timelines related to each of the transactions such that it minimises inconveniences and costs and also to arrange and secure for temporary accommodation if needed.
Prep your property
First impression counts.
Generally not many properties will need staging to impress upon buyers but a clean and neat home will greatly help.
Touch up
Give your property a good clean up and do minor touch ups (eg patching up holes, paint work touch up) to easily enhance the outlook of your property.
Declutter
Declutter your home. Put away things that you don’t commonly use away in the store room or give them away.
With lesser things in sight, it helps reduce the noise to your buyers and help them appreciate the space your property has.
Staging
This is optional but sometimes small additions to a property can help. For instance, a pop of colours to an otherwise neutral colour palette or dinning ware can enhance the overall look and feel of the property.
Sometimes, virtual staging is also used to convey how a space can be transformed without heavy investments in renovation and actual staging. This can be done by collaborating with interior designer.
Marketing your property
Depending on the market demand, various methods can be used to reach out to the target audience.
Listing your property on a reputable portal
Most buyers search though property listings via reputable property portals such as Propertyguru or 99.co. Hence it is essential to make your property available at those platforms.
Not only that, the listing needs to highlight (via both photos and the writeup) on what your property is able to offer given its targeted audience so that it can stand out amongst thousands of other listings.
Video Marketing
Youtube and other social media have become powerful platforms to convey message and engage your audience. Marketing a property is no exception to this trend.
A high quality video featuring your property and the best it can offer, can serve to attract the most interested buyers to your property.
See some of our videos at xprop’s Youtube channel.
Internal Marketing
Aside from publicly marketing your property, it is also essential to market your property internally to all co-broking agent who might bring suitable buyers to your property.
Making the deal
Offers will start to come after your property is up in the market for some time.
If your calculations and analyses, is done right early on, it will be a matter of confirming your existing plans and checking if market conditions have changed.
You will need to assess the offers and make a firm decision on whether to decline or counteroffer. There may also be special conditions that come with each offers that needs to be carefully considered (Eg. option period, completion date, extension of stay etc.).
The last thing you want is a deal that crops up unexpected giving you plenty of headaches in the transaction. It is therefore necessary to understand the buyer’s situation and ensure that a proper purchase is being carried out.
It is best to leave it to a trustworthy agent to conduct the price negotiations and due diligence checks for you. The responsible agent will need to convey all offers transparently and assist you such that your interests are being protected.
