Bored of Boards? There are real reasons to take the stake

I know, I know… they’re everywhere. I do know they are not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea… but I do also know: they work.

They do sometimes work in the way you imagine we want them to work; sometimes, somebody does see a board outside a property for sale or a property to let, they like the look of it, they call us and they book to view it (and sometimes, they go on to buy or rent it). That is one way they work.

They also work as a locator – a flag that shouts ‘here I am!’ when potential buyers and tenants (buyers more so than tenants) head out, maybe on a Sunday, to do a ‘drive by’ of a property they have seen online. They find the street (‘it is definitely this street, right? Not the next one?’), they take a slow drive down it (‘It’s got a red front door, there’s a terracotta flower pot just to the left of it’), and then suddenly there it is – the board proudly proclaiming: ‘For Sale’.

Several things are happening when the potential buyer (or potential tenant) spots the board.

Firstly, they’ve found the property – that’s a good first tick in the box.

Secondly, they are being told the property is ‘For Sale’ (or in other words: ‘Go ahead, BUY ME’… or, better still, ‘If this place belonged to you, you’d be home right now!’ (I always liked that one)) – it is reassuring and it is confirmative. It is psychology at work.

Thirdly, if they like the look of it, they have our details to call or email straight away to get booked in (‘I’m standing outside your property on Acacia Avenue…’). No need to go home after finding it to then go back and find the right advert online. We have even had people find a property we have up for sale that looks like another property they have gone out looking for, calling us about ours instead of them about theirs. Well, if it works, it works.

If there is no board, they might not find it. They might question if they are on the right street (‘Turn round, it must the next street after all’). They might even get beset by a different psychology… ‘maybe it’s not got a red front door?’; or worse, ‘maybe it’s not for sale anymore?’; or even, ‘I know it’s this house that’s for sale (look - the flower pot…), but maybe they don’t really want to sell it?’.

So, there are practical and obvious reasons to have a board; there are also those more abstract, less tangible, psychological reasons to have a board – in fact, perhaps those are better reasons to have one.

There are also reasons not to have one. Sometimes there are legal reasons, in fact. Sometimes they will be in contravention of a lease or perhaps a community agreement, or sometimes there is a ban on boards in recently built developments for a period of time. Sometimes they may not comply with Town and Country Planning regulations.

Sometimes, though, you just might not want one – and you know what, that’s OK. Actually, we really don’t force our clients to display one. We understand that, sometimes, you may not want your neighbours to know. Sometimes, you may have security concerns about having a board – and maybe those concerns are rational and maybe they are not particularly rational, but irrational concerns are no less concerning to the individual, and we definitely are human enough to appreciate that.

But the truth is, unless a property sale is the most low key of low key events, with invisible marketing, your neighbours are going to find out. Even underdressed Estate Agents look like Estate Agents, especially when they are meeting people who have been hovering around outside, to then take them inside. And realistically, I don’t believe there are any statistics that show that having a board up leads to any increased risk of vandalism, burglaries or squatters (I have honestly tried to find out).

So we get it, we really do.

But, in order to maximise your chances of finding a buyer or tenant, we do recommend having one.

If you are deeply concerned, then genuinely, don’t have one; but if you are on the fence about the idea, then the advice definitely is: get all aboard for a board.

They work.