| You can and should do more yourself. This is vital if | | | | that always come about for the first year. |
| you really want to push your property to the front | | | | 4. Is your hotel competitively priced with the current |
| of your estate agents queue. | | | | market conditions right now? |
| What can you do? Check to see if you or your | | | | As nice as your hotel is, 6 bedrooms will always have |
| estate agent has covered the basics as follows; | | | | a ceiling on what it can earn over a 12 bedroomed |
| 1. Pictures, Pictures, Pictures! | | | | alternative. |
| You need quality pictures that are taken in a | | | | 5. Interview your estate agent. |
| professional manner with the correct lens, lighting and | | | | Crazy to say, but estate agents roughly charge |
| a tidy non cluttered view. This is exactly the same | | | | 1.5-3% depending whether it is sole or multiagency. |
| when you are selling rooms on a daily or weekly basis | | | | Would you feel bad paying an estate agent £10,000 |
| for your trade. There are rarely enough quality | | | | if they have not covered the above and much more |
| pictures on a typical high street estate agent advert, | | | | and it takes 5-10 years to sell? |
| thus limiting the people from seeing your business | | | | 6. Look around the internet yourself on where to |
| fully. Would you buy a new car based on a postcard | | | | advertise. |
| picture and bit of text at the bottom of it? | | | | There are many more options than the local estate |
| Surprisingly many businesses are basically advertised | | | | agents which can catch a much wider audience than |
| in this manner. | | | | the local agencies. You could also save massive |
| 2. Accounts. | | | | commissions by doing this. |
| Are they in order and do you have a good trading | | | | This topic is huge and vitally important if serious |
| history? If not, explain properly why not. Buyers | | | | about selling. It is rarely researched enough by |
| looking to buy a hotel often have no experience and | | | | hoteliers who expect that by listing at the usual |
| as such may find it daunting to consider anything | | | | estate agents will supply enough prospective |
| without a long and successful history. | | | | purchasers with one buying. In this current climate, |
| 3. Will you help them when they move in? | | | | this is more and more unlikely. Really examine point 6, |
| This goodwill gesture can be a clinch point. It is | | | | and find some hotels listing outside of the usual |
| common for a handover to be one weekend, quickly | | | | channels. See what YOU would buy if you were in |
| rushing through the hotel. How about helping daily for | | | | the market for a hotel and see if they have some of |
| month helping until they are confident? Plus being | | | | the points listed above covered. |
| available for months after to answer those points | | | | |