The buyer makes a great offer and you accept it. But don't bring out the champagne just yet. New research from Zoopla reveals good reasons to stay focused.
According to a recent report from Zoopla, buyer satisfaction can decrease after an offer is accepted, depending on how long the exchange takes. We'll look at what that means for selling your property and what you can do to satisfy the buyer.
Moving the timeline
A satisfied buyer is important. Everyone needs to work together to maintain momentum from offer to exchange and avoid changing minds or being “cold.” The longer a trade takes, the more likely something will happen and it will go wrong. So it's no surprise that the longer the process takes, the lower the satisfaction level. According to Zoopla's report: 
Respondents who rated their satisfaction as “good/very good” took an average of 56 days to exchange. Respondents who labeled their satisfaction level as “fair” took an average of 91 days to exchange. Respondents who labeled their satisfaction as “poor” took an average of 136 days to replace.
Interestingly, Zoopla's report also found that 'older households' took the longest time on average to search for a property. This is probably because they are more likely to have experience buying a home. When selling to elderly households, transparency can be key. “Family” took the least time at all stages of search, acceptance of offer and exchange. Therefore, if you are selling to a family, you may want to pay especially close attention to the following sections.
please get ready
This is a common refrain, but perhaps the best thing you can do for a real estate sale is to be prepared. If you have a proactive agent, all documents are prepared and uploaded, further processes are initiated, financial advisors are notified, and instructions are received from your attorney, you have a much better chance of closing the sale quickly. You can stand in a good position.
Our partner Conveyan can send you sales-ready packs. This will help you properly prepare all paperwork and supporting information. So we can ship your contract the same day your offer is accepted.
You may also consider conducting a survey first before finding a buyer. That way, the buyer knows about potential problems ahead of time, rather than requesting an inspection and waiting for something to be found. By fixing issues or factoring them into your asking price, you can build trust with buyers and move the process along more quickly.
keep in touch
Zoopla's research also found that effective communication is important for buyers. “More than 85% of buyers were willing to use technology to streamline the (purchase) process, such as online portals that track and monitor purchase progress end-to-end.”
This is also what we saw when setting up My Foxtons accounts for buyers and vendors. In your account, you can sign documents, see buyer comments from viewings, chat with valuers and see how many times your property has been viewed online on Foxtons and Zoopla. You can. You can also accept offers here.
What more to learn
More tips to sell your property quickly in 10 easy steps. Or check out our overview of the sale process.
