Board or no board? That is the question.

In the days before the internet, one of the best ways to sell a home was to advertise the fact with a for sale board. In this new age of the internet and technology, should we be questioning whether a board is as effective as in previous years? From an Estate Agents point of view, there is a cost implication in having the board erected, sign changed to sold and then board removed along with the cost to produce, save some get damaged, is it time to do away with the boards and look to more modern day techniques. Many buyers have smart phones and can download property portal apps like Rightmove and Zoopla which can show a map of the area using the GPS mapping system to show which properties are on the market and will give more details then what a board can achieve.

There is no denying that a sale board will help the vendor to sell their home. Many times have I sold a property just because we had erected a sale board. Sometimes buyers aren’t looking to move, see their dream home and this gets the ball rolling, other times potential buyers drive around areas looking for boards to see what is for sale in their chosen districts. One disadvantage is that the vendor can get pestered by other agents or by buyers looking to view the property without the agent knowing. There is nothing to suggest that this wouldn’t happen if there were no sale board.

Local Councils are charged with the task of policing sale boards under the Town and County Planning Act with indifferent results. Many councils are introducing more conservation areas within their boundaries rending the use of sale boards redundant and flat owners are fed up with seeing a collection of boards positioned within their grounds which gives the impression that there are problems within the block and many are trying to move away from the block.

Everything being equal, my view is that boards will be around for a while yet, who knows what will happen in the future I guess it is a case of watch this space.