If you’re interested in selling property you own in Central America, you may find the listing process confusing – especially if you are used to a MLS-type system.   Selling in Central America requires a different mindset and if you understand how the system works, you’ll find it easier to get results.

This post is the first in a series designed to help sellers get the best results when selling a property they own overseas.  Here we tackle the question of listing your property with the main real estate agencies operating in your market.

Yes, we’ve used the plural.  In fact, if you can, list your property with every real estate agent in town.  Why?  Well let’s start with a bit of background.

In the absence of an MLS, ’open listings’ are the norm in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and many other parts of Central America.  You’ll find a considerable overlap between the listings held by different real estate agencies and the best way of getting exposure for your property is to make sure that as many agencies as possible know it’s for sale.

At a minimum make sure you list with the major players.  They should be easy to find.  Let’s say your property is in Nicaragua.  Type ‘Nicaragua real estate’ into Google and make sure your property is listed with all the brokers appearing in the top 5. Good brokers will also have a prominent office location in the area where you’re selling (or close to it) and a smattering of property signs (unless of course they’re trying to ‘hide’ a particular listing from competing brokers).

Your goal is to keep your property front of mind so that it is presented to all possible prospects.  Remember that in the absence of a MLS your broker is trying to ‘list’ as many properties as possible – taking a volume approach – in the hope that one or two will sell.  They are unlikely to be particularly vested in your listing and any time and expense spent on marketing your property can easily go un-rewarded if a competing broker sells the property first.

So it makes sense to make the listing process as easy as possible.  You don’t want your property withering away in a “to-do” pile. So expect to take on some of the leg work yourself. 

Write a compelling description of your property (we’ll go into what makes a compelling listing in later posts), set out the viewing instructions, gather your paperwork and collect together some good photos. Then send the information to each agency and follow up on a regular basis.   Some sellers even take the extra step to prepare a set of electronic and printed flyers for each agency.  (If you do this, remember not to put your own contact details on the materials as brokers will be reluctant to pass this out.)

You may think that you can shortcut this process of multiple listings by offering one agency an exclusive living.  But, unless you own the last beachfront property on a hugely popular beach, or broker collaboration is the norm in the area, singing an exclusive listing may not be in your best interest.  In the absence of an MLS, there is no guarantee that the agent will share the listing with other agencies.  And even if they do, all agencies with the exception of the listing agency will view the exclusive listing as one that does not pay a ‘full’ commission, as the listing agency will expect a commission share.  So check how things work in your region before you decide to sign an exclusive agreement.

Part of getting the listing right is, of course, getting the price right.  In later posts in this series on selling property written for international real estate owners, we’ll look at how to find the pricing sweet spot for your property, how to make your listing convert like crazy, catching buyers on the web, structuring the deal to be attractive and issues to look out for in sales contracts. Our goal: To help you sell property quickly. Stay tuned.

If you have experience - good or bad - of selling foreign property that you own, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us with your story or sound off in the comments.

Related posts:

1. 5 ways to make your overseas property listing convert like crazy

Tags: Selling a property