If you’re looking to sell your property in the Riviera Maya, you need to understand what your competition is and know how things work to help ensure success. The Riviera Maya is an area under development and has a constant supply of new inventory. Newer properties have more modern and unique the amenities. Developers and some private sellers pay high commissions to real estate agents to get them to steer their clients to their properties. There is no MLS here, so what the agents promote to their clients is what is most likely going to sell first. The traditional way of selling real estate here is not getting the job done anymore.
Here is a formula for success that has worked for me to help combat these obstacles.
Make it easy to show
If you’re renting it out you need to set the expectations for renters that the property is one the market and they need to be cooperative or find another property to rent. You might even consider staging it and taking it off the rental market. Sometimes you need to make a short term sacrifice in order to make a long term gain. If a property is difficult to show, agents won’t want to show it, the property will get stale on the market, and then you’ll end up losing way more money than you gain in keeping it rented out. If the property is rented, offer incentives to the renter and property manager to make viewings possible.
Get Good Photos and Video
Professional or like professional photos and video will make the property pop and you’ll get more interested buyers wanting to see your property. It’s totally worth the investment. You spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a property. What’s a few hundred dollars for good photos and video?
Do an Exclusive Listing
All you need is one good agent that is going to be dedicated to putting the time and effort into selling your property. If you do an open listing, no one has the incentive to do the extra work necessary to get it sold. The listing will just end up on a website and the agent or agency will just wait for buyers to appear. An open listing is basically a pocket listing. This is a passive approach and results in properties staying on the market forever.
One might think having multiple agents will give the property more exposure, but it doesn’t work that way. A good agent won’t invest time and resources into a property that someone else might be able to sell before them. They don’t want to risk working for free. Most agents would rather just help buyers buy brand new developer direct properties that pay a 6% commission. There are only a select number of really good listing agents that work down here. Find one that’s going to work hard to help you.
Have Realistic Expectations
This is a cash market where financing options aren’t great. Vacation homes are a luxury item not a necessity, so people can get very picky with what they want. There’s a lot of competition and many agents steer clients towards brand new developments because it’s an easier sale and they get paid a double commission. You need to have a solid plan to overcome these obstacles. Work with us and we will help you get the job done.
Price Competitively
Set the price lower than the lowest comparable property that is on the market. If you have 5 alike properties ranging from $200,000 to $250,000, set yours at $195,000. Make sure you get a capital gains calculation so you know how much money you will get. If the lower price doesn’t make financial sense, don’t sell it. Keep renting it out and wait. If you really need the money, then prepare yourself mentally for taking a potential loss. We don’t always win on investments, some are good and some are bad. Just ask yourself what could the money you have in your property be doing for you if you had it invested in something else? How long will it take for you to recoup your losses with the new investment? Pricing too high will cause your property to stay on the market too long and go stale. You could go through a series of price reductions that could wear you down. Eventually, you get desperate and you end up selling for a lot less than what you could have sold for if you had just priced the property correctly from the beginning.
Consider paying a Higher Commission
Paying a buyer’s agent bonus of 2 to 3% will get other agents to promote your property instead of steering clients towards new developments. Of course, there are situations when it’s not necessary and it’s not mandatory, but it always helps to get more exposure. Without an MLS, your property will be like a needle in a haystack for people to find. If all the best agents in the area, who get the best leads are motivated to promote your property, you will have a much better chance of getting your property sold in less time. At the end of the day, what matters is you get the property sold and you get the amount of money you want. You can just increase the price slightly to cover the bonus.
Invest in improvements
Spruce the property up if it’s not presentable. You can’t give a buyer any reasons not to buy. Focus on easy, inexpensive things first. For example, buy new ceiling fans and lamps improve the lighting to make the property brighter. Use warm or soft white bulbs, not the dreary cool light bulbs. Get new bedding and curtains. Get some new light fixtures for the bathroom and new shower curtains. You can do all these minor improvements at a very low cost and it will make your property more attractive and help you sell it faster and at a higher price. Your goal is to have someone walk in and fall in love not see a bunch a big project. Fixer uppers aren’t really that popular here because people don’t have the time to spend on projects when they live far away.
Make it easy to show
If you’re renting it out you need to set the expectations for renters that the property is one the market and they need to be cooperative or find another property to rent. You might even consider staging it and taking it off the rental market. Sometimes you need to make a short term sacrifice in order to make a long term gain. If a property is difficult to show, agents won’t want to show it, the property will get stale on the market, and then you’ll end up losing way more money than you gain in keeping it rented out. If the property is rented, offer incentives to the renter and property manager to make viewings possible.
Get Good Photos and Video
Professional or like professional photos and video will make the property pop and you’ll get more interested buyers wanting to see your property. It’s totally worth the investment. You spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a property. What’s a few hundred dollars for good photos and video?
Do an Exclusive Listing
All you need is one good agent that is going to be dedicated to putting the time and effort into selling your property. If you do an open listing, no one has the incentive to do the extra work necessary to get it sold. The listing will just end up on a website and the agent or agency will just wait for buyers to appear. An open listing is basically a pocket listing. This is a passive approach and results in properties staying on the market forever.
One might think having multiple agents will give the property more exposure, but it doesn’t work that way. A good agent won’t invest time and resources into a property that someone else might be able to sell before them. They don’t want to risk working for free. Most agents would rather just help buyers buy brand new developer direct properties that pay a 6% commission. There are only a select number of really good listing agents that work down here. Find one that’s going to work hard to help you.
Have Realistic Expectations
This is a cash market where financing options aren’t great. Vacation homes are a luxury item not a necessity, so people can get very picky with what they want. There’s a lot of competition and many agents steer clients towards brand new developments because it’s an easier sale and they get paid a double commission. You need to have a solid plan to overcome these obstacles. Work with us and we will help you get the job done.
