How Best to Market Your Home When You’re Competing with Hundreds of Houses for Sale in Barnsley
There are many houses for sale in Barnsley at any given moment, so you can’t afford to take things for granted when trying to sell a property in the town. This guide to the local Barnsley property market will help you to make the right decisions during the house selling process – allowing you to find a house buyer in Barnsley as quickly as possible.
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House price growth for houses for sale in Barnsley has been relatively weak during the last year or two, which means selling a house quickly and for a good price is not a foregone conclusion. If your top priority is to sell a house fast at the best possible price, then it might be worth looking for alternatives to the traditional method of house selling in the UK. Whatever you decide to do, it’s worth remembering to get an approximate value of your home, before contacting any house buyers or estate agents in Barnsley, then you’ll have a better idea as to your property’s worth. You can get an idea as to the value of your property by using Flying Homes free online home valuation tool which gives you something similar to a rightmove property valuation.
Why you need a competitive asking price when selling houses in Barnsley
While some house price growth for houses for sale in Barnsley has been recorded recently, it has been significantly weaker than the national average. Indeed, according to an article on the Telegraph website, Barnsley was one of the worst-performing towns for house price growth in 2014. According to the report, the average price of a home in the town during December 2014 was just £123,499 – significantly lower than both the regional and national average. This represented a modest 1.9 percent increase, which was the fourth worst performance of any UK town or city that year. There is no doubt that the Barnsley property market is a particularly price-sensitive one. In order to attract sufficient numbers of buyers to property viewings, you will need to be realistic with your initial asking price.
The asking price you set will determine the initial interest shown in your property – it doesn’t necessarily reflect the market value of your home. Research into sold house prices is essential if you want to set a competitive asking price that reflects real value to buyers in the area. You can just leave this important research in the hands of your estate agent like most people do, or you can get involved and do your own research into sold house prices in Barnsley. There is a wealth of property transaction data for Barnsley available on the Rightmove website, and you can access official government statistics on house sales via The Land Registry web portal. The Zoopla website allows you to access property transaction statistics for your area of Barnsley simply by entering your postcode.
Devise a detailed marketing strategy when selling a house in Barnsley
When house prices and demand for property have been rising in many parts of the UK, the picture has been somewhat mixed for houses for sale in Barnsley. According to the Home website, the average detached home spent 249 days on the market during August 2014 before a buyer was found. However, fast forward to August 2015, and detached houses were spending an average of 281 days on the market. While the demand for terraced homes in Barnsley also fell during this period, semi-detached houses went from spending 258 days on the market in August 2014 to just 211 days in August 2015. The outlook for future house price growth and demand is less than certain, which is why you can’t leave anything to chance when it comes to marketing.
You have the option of hiring an estate agent in Barnsley or going it alone and selling a house privately. You might think that selling a property without an estate agent is an easy way to save yourself some cash. However, unless you have a great deal of spare time, local knowledge and marketing contacts, you run the risk of achieving an inferior sale price by selling without expert help – particularly in such a volatile housing market. Estate agents bring knowledge, negotiating skills and marketing contacts to the table, and these attributes are well worth paying for if they mean you can maximise your sale price on the open market.
Not even the most talented and experienced estate agent in Barnsley can deliver on any guarantees made in relation to sale price or timescale when dealing on the open market. If you need to sell a house quick in Barnsley, avoiding the open property market completely could be your best option. We can help you do this by purchasing your home directly from you without the fuss. Whatever condition your home is in, we can make a fair offer based on current house prices of houses for sale in Barnsley, or in your local area. We can often complete transactions within seven days, and pay up to 100 percent of market value in the process.
Is it worth waiting for a more profitable time of year when house selling in Barnsley?
The vast majority of property professionals will tell you to sell your house at the time that suits your circumstances – unless there is a confirmed development or regeneration plan for the area in the near future. There is very little evidence to support the assertion that house prices are in any way related to the time of year. The number of buyers on the market can fluctuate significantly between the different seasons, but forecasting when demand for houses in Barnsley will be at its highest is an incredibly difficult task. The Home website revealed that May 2014 to May 2015 was the busiest month of the year for house sales in Barnsley. But you can’t bank on this statistic being repeated in the future. If you want to use the prevailing season to your house selling advantage, consider making changes to the colour schemes, layout and amenities in your home in accordance with the seasonal priorities of buyers.
House prices in Barnsley
Before you become too disillusioned with your chances of securing a quick and profitable house sale in Barnsley, make sure you have researched recent sold house prices in your street. There is a chance that house price growth in your specific part of town has exceeded the average rate for Barnsley. There might be several issues currently affecting the price potential of your home, and including them in your marketing strategy could be the key to unlocking hidden value. For example, target buyers with children if you live in an area that has excellent schools nearby. Lower than average crime rates might also secure a premium for your property. Barnsley house price growth in the future could be influenced by issues such as fracking in the area and the regeneration of Goldthorpe.
Buying a property in Barnsley
If you want to buy a property in Barnsley then check our property feeds page here.
About the town of Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, located along the banks of the River Dearne. The town is surrounded by several villages and rural hamlets, which together with the town itself form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley. According to the census of 2011, the population of the town was 71,599. However, the population of the wider Borough of Barnsley is well over 231,000.
Barnsley was once a highly industrialised town that grew up around the glassmaking and coal mining industries. Unfortunately, many of the traditional industries that initially fuelled the growth of Barnsley have left, and the local economy is dominated by the services sector.
When the last of the coal mines closed in Barnsley, the area was blighted by unemployment and a lack of investment. All but one of the many glassmaking plants that littered the local landscape have closed. Thankfully, unemployment has been falling in the town for several years now, although it is still a little higher than the national average. There has been a concerted effort to breathe new life into Barnsley town centre recently, culminating in the ‘Rethinking Barnsley’ initiative – aimed at regenerating the town and attracting investment.
There is a very strong retail industry in Barnsley. Many of the UK’s leading retailers are based in the town centre and the Alhambra Shopping Centre. Recent developments that have breathed new life into the town include the Barnsley Interchange, Gateway Plaza at Town End and Experience Barnsley.
Things to do in Barnsley
Barnsley is located in a beautiful area of South Yorkshire, so there are plenty of things to do and see both in the town and in the surrounding areas. Make sure you take a close look at the stunning Barnsley Town Hall building. You can peruse a large selection of contemporary artworks at Cooper Gallery or catch a live performance or exhibition at Barnsley Civic. Spend a few hours shopping at the charming Barnsley Market, which is open every day except Monday and Thursday. Spend the afternoon strolling around the beautiful Locke Park and then take a step back in time with a visit to Monk Bretton Priory. Just a few miles away are two fascinating museums: the Victoria Jubilee Museum and the Royal Hussars & Light Dragoons Museum. Make sure you take the time to explore the magnificent gardens and parkland at Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park too.
