How to sell without cutting the price three times

The seller's most expensive mistake is not asking too much: it is asking too much for too long. A burnt listing — six months on the portal, three visible reductions — tells buyers something is wrong with the house, even when nothing is. From then on the offers come in below what someone would have paid in the first month.

The first three weeks are most of it

When a house comes to market, everybody who has been searching that area for months sees it. It is the only time the house is new to all of them at once, and most of the serious viewings come from that group. If the price is 15% high, they discard it without visiting and they do not come back, even when the price drops later.

What actually moves the price

• Orientation. West-facing, in the south, is worth 10% to 15% more than east.
• What you see from the living room, not from the upstairs terrace.
• Vehicle access. A house with fifteen steps up from the car loses buyers over sixty, who are half the market.
• The habitation certificate and legalised works. An unpermitted extension is deducted in full from the price.

We will tell you what your house is worth even if you dislike the number. A seller with data argues with the market, not with me.

And one thing we do not do: sign a sole agency at a price we know will not be achieved, just so the house does not go to the agency next door. It is the most common practice in the trade and it is the one that burns listings.