How to sell for more than your neighbor? 3 strategic steps that deliver results

Anyone can post an ad on a real estate portal. That is not an art. The art is selling an apartment at a time when the market is full of people waiting - and doing it at a price that makes the neighbors jealous.

5 years and hundreds of transactions have made one truth clear to me. A real estate transaction is likely the biggest business decision of your life - so treat it accordingly.

Here is my strategic view of how we at Ellix achieve results that are not just average.

The biggest mistake I see is this: the owner looks at the portal to see what price the neighbor is offering, adds 10% on top (the kitchen furniture is nicer after all) and waits. Three months later, the ad is still up on the portal and the price is 8% lower. Because the offering price on the portal and the transaction price at the notary are two completely different worlds.

My job is to look at the numbers at which actual transactions are closed. If I say your home's value is 185,000, but you want to try with 205,000, I will tell you straight - we are wasting time. The right price is a magnet that attracts multiple buyers at once. Last month, as a result of exactly this situation, I sold an apartment in 18 days and at 4% over the initial price because competition arose. That was not luck, but a conscious decision on how to set the price.

When it comes to marketing, many brokers talk about "the story of the home". I talk about who the buyer is and where they are. In the case of an investment apartment, I emphasize the yield and location. In the case of a family home, I sell a sense of security and logistics - distance to school, parking, neighborhood. Professional photo and video are our minimum, not a bonus. In addition, we target social media ads precisely at those whose income and lifestyle match the property. And often the buyer is already on my contact list before the ad goes public.

Regarding pre-sale preparation, I sometimes tell clients things they don't want to hear. If a home is full of personal items and cat scratch marks, you are selling a "used apartment". If we do staging and cleaning, we are selling a "new lifestyle". People buy with their eyes and make a decision within the first 30 seconds. A prepared property sells on average 15% faster - that is math, not emotion.

Recently, I had a client who tried to sell by themselves for half a year. The result: zero interested parties. I took over the property, changed the visual presentation, adjusted the price, and we found a buyer in 12 days. The owner paid the commission, but ended up in a bigger surplus overall than they would have by paying empty utility bills themselves.

If you want to know what your real estate is actually worth today - even if it's not the sum you hoped to hear - write to me.

Get in touch and let's get it done:

Mariella Limbach | Co-founder and Partner of Ellix Estate | mariella.limbach@ellix.ee | +372 502 7998