Given the way the real estate market in Nicaragua operates on the ground, there are certain actions that sellers should take in order to increase their chances of selling their property quickly, and for more money. We start with a short list here, but will be providing more suggestions in later articles.
1) Of course it’s vital to price the property competitively against similar options for sale. In Nicaragua there are no official market statistics, so sellers should spend the time to research other offerings manually before deciding on a price.
2) Get a list of the top agents operating in your market. Run a Google search and determine which firms have the highest ranking websites. While in the country work out which firms have the best office presence and which are investing in for sale signs, magazine adverts and so on.
3) As real estate agents in Nicaragua act more like buyer agents than listing agent it makes sense to collect together photos of your property and write up a listing description yourself. Take this round to the most active firms that you have identified and follow up with them to ensure that your property listed on their website. As you have provided photos and a description, this should be a quick matter of copying and pasting.
4) Make sure the real estate agents you have listed with know how to get to the property. Provide detailed maps, an access key, etc. – whatever it takes to make this process as simple as possible.
4) For reasons explained in our article on the implications of not having an MLS, you’ll probably be better off giving an open listing to all active agents rather than an exclusive listing agreement to one agent. You’ll benefit from the marketing power of many agents rather than just the one.
5) As it is difficult for buyers to obtain financing from local financial institutions in Nicaragua, its a great idea to offer seller financing.
6) If you are selling property in a development, motivate the developer (and agents) to sell your property by offering a high commission percentage. Remember also that you will be competing against developer-direct sales so you want to price yourself below these.
Hi Reviewr,
Neat Post, Is it my imagination, or did I hear somebody out there complaining about real estate commissions?
Wishes
Hey Gerry, Quite the contrary I would advise sellers to be very generous with real estate commissions – perhaps even offering more than the market norm to encourage agents to show their property to prospects. I’d also suggest not only relying on agents but getting exposure by as many other means as necessary including FSBO listings, social media marketing (need a URL to point to first) and engaging the informal real estate actors in Nicaragua. I’ll be writing more on all three areas (and some others) in future posts.