Selling under time pressure costs money. If you are in a hurry, you negotiate from a position of weakness, and the buyer knows it.
A quick sale is always possible. Any home will be gone within a week if the price is low enough. Speed is not a feature of your home, it is a price agreement. So the question is not whether it can be done, but what it costs you and whether your deadline is really as firm as it feels.
There is a market of companies advertising an offer within 48 hours and money within a week. That is legitimate and it works. They take the risk, the lead time and the work of selling off your hands.
But they pay below market value, because that is how they make their money. That is not a criticism, it is their business model. The difference between what they offer and what your home is worth on the market is the price of your speed.
The only question is: do you know what that difference is? Most people who sign don't, because they never had anyone calculate what the home would normally have fetched.
What people call a quick sale is usually just the normal route, done well. A home that is sharply priced and looks good sells quickly in this market.
The time is not in finding a buyer. It is in the viewings, the negotiation and, above all, the period between signing and the transfer at the notary. You don't shorten that last period by dropping below the price.
So if someone tells you they can sell your home faster than anyone else, ask exactly where that speed comes from.
Most people who come to us in a hurry are in less of a hurry than they think.
Someone told us he had to be out within four weeks. When we asked what would happen then, it turned out his bridging loan still had five months to run. The four weeks came from a conversation with an estate agent who had pushed him to hurry.
Do the maths before you give up tens of thousands of euros for certainty you may not need.
Sometimes haste is not panic but arithmetic. Then the question is simple: what does a month of waiting cost compared with what a lower price costs?
In those cases we help you do the sums. Not to persuade you, but so that you know what you are choosing.
We earn nothing from your haste. If the conclusion is that you would be better off waiting three months, that is our advice, even if it means we earn nothing from you for the time being.
An estate agent who tells you to decide quickly is not selling you advice but his own agenda.
Any home sells within a week if the price is low enough. Speed is a price agreement, not a feature of your home. The question is what that speed costs you.
Often, yes. They do what they promise. But they pay below market value, because that is how they make their money. First have someone calculate what your home would normally fetch, so you know what you are giving up.
The difference between the quick offer and the market value. We can calculate that difference for you. It costs you nothing.
Sometimes, yes. Ask your lender before you lower the asking price. Many people do it the other way round.
When you face double housing costs you cannot carry, a looming forced sale at auction, a stalled divorce or an emigration with a fixed date. Then it is a calculation, not panic.
Finding a buyer is usually quick in this market. The time goes into viewings, negotiation and the period between signing and the transfer at the notary.
No. We charge a commission (courtage) agreed in advance on the sale price, and it does not go up because you are in a hurry. If waiting is better for you, that is our advice.
We are the estate agent of Helmond and we do things just a little differently. We take a look with you, run the numbers and tell you honestly what we would do. Even if that means you should hold off for now.
Your language. We speak English, German and French. Write to us in Polish by WhatsApp and we reply in Polish.
No surprises in the contract. The purchase agreement is in Dutch and comes with an English translation, so you understand every clause.
Selling from abroad. We guide the whole sale remotely and arrange the paperwork with the notary.
