How to sell your park home
However much you may love your park home, there might inevitably come a time when you decide you need to sell it for one reason or another.
As is the case with the sale of almost any property or indeed individual possession, there are a number of things you can do to try and make the experience both a little bit smoother and perhaps more importantly, that bit faster.
Here are a few points to think about.
Initial appearances
People sometimes confuse this with the idea that someone is going to see your property for the first time when walking around it or during a casual drive past.
In fact, in this technological age, their first visual impression is going to probably be formed based upon photographs in your advertisement.
So, be prepared to put some time and effort into designing these and achieving the appropriate quality*.
A few specific points to consider:
- make your first photograph one of the outside of the property itself. This is what potential buyers want to see first and foremost – not photographs of shrubs in the garden or a nice fireplace in your living room;
- provide plenty of photographs all around the property and of the inside. Make sure they are relevant – once again, photos of a vase of flowers on a hall table will do nothing other than irritate potential purchasers;
- remember to try and include some views out of your principal windows – this gives people a sense of scale and perspective including that all-important setting.
Of course, make sure that your photographs are taken in good light and preferably sunshine. If any photo is of marginal quality, such as one that’s blurred, discard it immediately.
Overall external appearances
Whether through a photograph or from the initial viewing, little gets things off to a worse start than a property which looks tatty and unloved from the outside.
Buyers might just forgive that if they are looking at a very old property but in the case of a relatively modern park home, it will create an entirely wrong and prejudicial first impression.
So, make sure the garden, all external metal items, your windows, roof, drainpipes and walls, are all spotlessly clean and freshly decorated.
Create a positive impact with your internal decoration
Many people understandably rush around doing lots of cleaning and tidying prior to viewers arriving for a visit. In reality though, many potential buyers might not pay much if any attention to little untidiness or less than exemplary housework.
What might cause them much more concern are indications that the property internally has not been well maintained.
So, brighten up the paint work and refresh things such as wallpaper and curtains. Indications of structural faults should hopefully be extremely unlikely in a modern park home but if there are any issues of discoloration on walls or damp, the problem should have been remedied and all give-away indications put right.
Know your facts and figures
It’s highly likely that potential buyers will be keen to understand your views relating to things such as energy costs, pitch fees and all aspects of your relationship with the site owners. Outline what the specialist park home insurance** options are from providers such as Cover4caravans etc.
Any hesitation or uncertainty in this area will make you at best appear to be ill-informed and perhaps at worst to be hiding something unpleasant.
So, don’t be surprised at questions in this area – have all the facts and figures*** to hand and speak about them confidently.
Think about a potential buyers’ olfactory sense
This is really just a posh way of saying you should make sure that your property smells nice!
Joking apart, it is possible to go too far here and old tricks such as putting freshly brewed coffee on the stove are all now rather obvious and passé.
However, it still important to make sure that there are no unpleasant owners hanging around your property during a visit.
Examples might include wet clothes drying on the radiator, last night’s cooking smells or recently-used WCs.
Ensure that your property has been well-aired before a visit and the use of some subtle odours, such as some strategically placed fresh flowers, might make a very positive psychological impact.
On a related subject, your property should be comfortably warm but not stiflingly hot. You’re trying to make visitors feel very comfortable overall.
Leave potential buyers alone when they are visiting
While it makes sense to give potential buyers a quick initial tour of your property, it is often good psychology to let them go around again and at their own pace without you hovering in attendance.
Of course, you should make certain that any of your valuables or other items that can be easily stolen are safely locked away and you should never let anyone wander around your property unaccompanied unless you have verified their identity in advance.
However, legitimate potential buyers often don’t like to feel pressurised or inhibited when talking about aspects of the property they are looking at. So, where it’s possible and safe to do so, leave them alone.
Don’t look desperate to sell
Even if there are critical imperatives that mean you are hoping for the fastest possible sale, don’t share that with potential purchasers.
If they sense you are desperate or have had trouble in getting offers for your property, they might assume something is wrong which they can’t see and simply walk away or use it to reduce any offer price they might be inclined to make.
Stress the community spirit and local environs
Many people purchasing a park home are also buying into a lifestyle concept.
That typically includes ideas about having a local like-minded community around them and some excellent local amenities and countryside. So, important as it is to show them the power sockets in each room (etc.) it’s much more important to make sure that you also talk-up the surrounding area and your neighbours.
At the risk of stating the obvious, do not dwell on any negatives about your property, the site or the local area. It is not your responsibility to protect the interests of potential buyers and while you should avoid any form of direct deception, you should not feel obliged to present an even-handed and totally objective review of the pros and cons of your property or the site!
*http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/5170769/list/Take-Great-Home-Photos-the-Easy-Way—–5-Tips-From-a-Pro
**http://www.cover4caravans.co.uk/caravan-insurance/park-home-insurance
***https://www.gov.uk/park-mobile-homes/selling-or-giving-away-a-park-home
***
Richard Burgess is Director of cover4caravans (http://www.cover4caravans.co.uk) a dedicated UK caravan insurance broker. Their easy to use site and friendly staff will get you multiple quotes from specialist insurers for static caravan insurance at a competitive price. Why not connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.
