Guide To Selling Alpine Real Estate

Guide To Selling Alpine Real Estate

Are you hoping to sell real estate in Zermatt, Verbier, Crans-Montana or any of the picturesque Alpine destinations that collectively make this region a crown jewel for second home buyers around the world? With the level of demand these exclusive mountainside retreats tend to generate, you’d be forgiven for assuming that landing a sale here would be a relatively straightforward process.

 

Indeed it can be, if you’re lucky: after all, the buyers’ market in such a globally sought-after resort hotspot as the Alps is a year-round hive of activity. Interest in available homes or development plots close to either of the two aforementioned resorts - along with any similarly coveted property for sale in Verbier and its equally stunning surroundings, of course - is seldom in short supply. On the one hand, that’s a huge bonus for anyone looking to make a sale; on the other, it means that opportunities for both seller and buyer alike can come and go extremely quickly here.

 

So how do you ensure you’re getting the best deal for yourself and your property when selling real estate in this spectacular part of the world? Well, there are dozens of handy tips you might like to bear in mind - but in our experience, the following few are particularly important:

Side with the right agent

Of course we would say this! In all honesty though, it really is difficult to overstate the importance of picking out the right company to help manage and oversee the process from start to finish. If you’ve got property for sale in Zermatt, for example, finding an agency with deep-rooted local knowledge, experience and presence in the immediate area can quickly gain you a colossal advantage.

 

Furthermore, listing your sale with a single dedicated company that you feel genuinely allied with and confident in - as opposed to scattering your listing around numerous agents in a ‘first seller wins’ scenario - can also be a very good plan. Although logically it might seem that spreading your bets is more likely to increase the chances of clinching a great deal, the real estate sales market doesn’t necessarily work that way.

 

For one thing, you’re unlikely to be getting the most you could out of a deal that’s been pushed through in a hurry, especially if the broker’s chief goal was simply to cross the finish line before everyone else. Often, you’d be better advised to stick with just one trusted partner company; you’ll then be assured that your agent’s full attention is focused on landing the best sale price they possibly can for your specific estate.

 

In short, choosing an agent carefully before setting your listing up as a potential win-win for both parties can be a very effective motivational tool. You’ll often find the company handling the sale is then much more deeply invested in your deal, channeling significant additional time and labour to securing you every cent of added value it can.

Make sure the price is right

This sounds very basic, but it’s worthy of some additional emphasis. Clearly the ultimate aim of any property sale will always be to achieve the highest price you can for any given estate - but, of course, this is inherently a question of balance.

 

Aim too high from the outset, and you’re unlikely to generate the level of interest you otherwise might. Then again, you shouldn’t feel obligated to enter a ‘race to the bottom’ in pricing terms, either: although the latter will often lead to a flurry of early interest, it’s unlikely to result in you achieving the best possible numbers on completion if you started the bidding too low.

 

In fact, finding the ideal middle ground involves launching your sale at a price that generates genuine competition between multiple interested parties. Over the years, we’ve found that one of the most effective ways by far to push your eventual sale price higher is to encourage two or more potential buyers to outbid one another over a specific estate. Achieving this is only really possible if the property has been expertly priced to encourage such activity, and the margin of error there can be surprisingly narrow.

 

That’s where agent expertise and in-depth local knowledge comes in again: by siding with the right company to help you oversee and manage the deal, you’ll be able to leverage their unique insight into recent or ongoing shifts in a specific market. This can be enormously helpful in pricing your property at the optimum level to spark maximum interest among the right sorts of bidders.

Rely on effective project management

It’s often tempting to plough a lot of money into renovation and general improvements before attempting to make a sale on Alpine property - particularly as the emphasis on quality, luxury and exclusivity around ‘lifestyle’ resorts such as Verbier and Zermatt continues to grow year on year. While this can certainly work to your advantage as a seller in some cases, there’s equally a compromise to be struck here between the amount worth spending, and the benefit you’re likely to notice upon completion.

 

Working with a real estate sales company that also offers a full suite of project management and property management services as part of its core model can be a huge bonus here. Having a range of expert advisors on board throughout - each bringing profound knowledge of local markets and key demographics to your sale process - will help make this delicate balancing act much easier, while ensuring any investment you do make is targeted specifically at the people most likely to see added value in it.