Before you list: five decisions that set the price

By the time a property has been live for a month, most of its outcome has already been decided. Not by the market — by five choices made in the week before the listing appeared.

One: the price, argued from evidence

A price set from what the neighbour is asking is a price set from an opinion. Ask for the completed transactions in your own building or your own row, and ask which adjustments were made and why. If the number you want and the number the evidence supports are different, that is the conversation to have now rather than after two silent months and a public reduction.

Two: the photography

On a portal the first photograph is the whole first impression. A dark phone snapshot of a living room removes a property from consideration before the price is read. Professional stills and video are not decoration; they are the difference between being shortlisted and being scrolled past.

Three: who you are actually selling to

A lagoon-front townhouse and a tower apartment are sold to different people through different channels. The marketing plan should name the buyer before it names the portal.

Four: how viewings will run

Accompanied or unaccompanied, weekday or weekend, block-scheduled or one at a time — decide it before the first enquiry rather than improvising around your calendar. Feedback after every viewing is the part most owners never get and the part that tells you whether the plan is working.

Five: how often you will hear from us

Confidence in a sale is usually lost in the quiet weeks, not in the market. Agree the rhythm at the start, including what gets reported when there is nothing good to say.