Stellenbosch Magazine July 2021

BUYING OR SELLING YOUR HOME REQUIRES MORE THAN
GOOD LUCK… IT REQUIRES A STRATEGIC PLAN
Introduction
Have you ever thought of the buying or
selling of a property as a strategic process?
Do you understand what is going to happen
before you achieve your goal of satisfactorily
selling your property or purchasing exactly
the right home that satisfies both your needs
and wants? Have you thought strategically
at all or are you just going to try your luck
and see what happens?
Strategic Thinking
Purchasing or selling a property is WAY
too important an occurrence to just rely on
luck…You need to strategise in order to
accomplish your goals and reach your desired
outcomes!
Now just exactly how do we do that?
Strategic thinking presupposes that you
consider what you want to accomplish, why
you need to accomplish this as well as
how to and who is needed to accomplish
these outcomes. The ‘what’ and ‘why’ are
your personal preferences when it comes to
buying or selling a property, but the ‘how to’
and ‘who is needed’ make up your strategic
plan. Thinking strategically about these two
aspects ensures that you have a vision of
the methodology in order to achieve your
desired outcomes.
Your strategic plan in order to achieve these
outcomes requires control over the process,
i.e. what has to be done, by when and by
whom as well as constant feedback and
evaluation.
Strategic Thinking Skills
According to Ruth Mott, in her book Strategic
Thinking and how do I get it? she lists
skills that are required for effective strategic
thinking. Some pertinent to our needs are:
Ability to see the big picture
Ability to ask the right questions
Ability to outline the necessary steps to
achieve the goal
Ability to develop strategic alliances and
bring the right people together
Ability to change direction
When one studies these necessary skills it
is relatively easy to adapt them to make up
our own strategic plan for buying or selling
a property. It is also easy to see why such
a plan is an absolute necessity when embarking on
a goal as important as either of these…and in most
cases, the one (a sale) leads to the other (a
purchase), or a purchase can lead to a conditional
sale.
Seeing the bigger picture and asking the right
questions includes the ‘why’ do I need to buy/sell
my property now and the ‘what’ I need to buy/sell.
In order to answer the ‘how to’ and the ‘who is
needed’ requires a well thought-out and meticulously
prepared strategic plan.
The ability to change direction is also a critical
requirement, as it may become clear during the
execution of your plan that something that you
thought was going to cause the plan to succeed is
in actual fact frustrating the process, you need the
necessary flexibility to change direction…and fast.
Outlining the necessary steps to achieve your goal
and developing strategic alliances by bringing the
right people together are the next steps to your strategic
selling or purchasing plan.
Your Strategic Selling/Buying Plan
None of us can predict the future, but we can plan
for it as best we can.
1. Start by writing down the goals/outcomes (the
bigger picture) that you need to achieve by asking
the right questions:
Why are we selling/buying?
By when do I need to give/take transfer?
What am I prepared to sell for (remember a
property only has one price…the amount a willing,
able and informed buyer is prepared to pay a
serious seller) or how much can I afford to pay
for the correct property (things like an available
deposit, bond amount you qualify for, Transfer
Duty and other purchase costs to be considered)?
What are my family’s needs and wants in respect
of a sale/purchase?
2. Outline the steps that need to take place in
order to achieve your goal – meaning that you
need to make a list of the strategic thinking skills
in order to create your strategic plan:
Develop strategic alliances with companies and or
people that you need to participate in the process
to achieve your goal, like trustworthy estate
agencies that operate in the area, your attorney,
bank, mortgage originators if purchasing and
compliance professionals if selling, etc. In other
words, you have to line up the right people that
you are comfortable with. These must be the kind
BY PAM
feature by Pam Snyman
of companies/people that are competent
and that you can trust to assist you in
achieving this extremely important outcome.
Change direction if necessary in the
event that some part of your plan does
not meet your expectations.
Start at the end and work back
Begin at the end, that is, state your end
goal, e.g. selling my house in 6 months
for at least R…..
Work backwards and write down the
outcomes in order to create a timeline
List the tasks/expected progress in order
to ensure your end goal
Identify the people that need to perform
at each stage to accomplish the eventual
outcome
Establish how and when you will be
informed/updated by means of feedback
in order to track progress
Change direction if necessary
Now you can become part of the solution
towards selling your property at the right
price or purchasing exactly what you need
and want!
Don’t rely on luck…make a plan…devise
a strategy!
For Afrikaans click link below
https://stellenboschmag.com/om-n-eiendom-te-koop-of-teverkoop-veronderstel-meer-as-net-goeie-geluk-dit-verg-nstrategiese-plan/
| Stellenbosch Magazine | July Issue
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