Are you struggling to sell your home because the housing market is in a recession? If so, don't feel overwhelmed if your house has been on the market for several months with no buyers. There are many people across Spain facing the same problems.

One problem that sellers have come up against is that their local agents are no longer there! With the recent credit crunch and issues with sterling falling against other currencies, many agents have simply shut up shop, leaving their vendors ‘lost’ for what to do.

So, what can you do? Well, first let’s look at some statistics. The latest index of property prices in Spain shows that they have plummeted over the last 12 months with those on the Costas falling at almost double the national average.

Prices on the Spanish Mediterranean coast fell by 8.3% over 12 months to the end of August, according to figures just released by Tinsa, one of Spain's leading appraisal companies.

This compares with an average drop of 4.6% for the whole of Spain. The figures cover both newly built and resale property prices, but do not take into account consumer price inflation. So making an adjustment to include consumer price inflation, which was 4.9% in August, in real terms coastal property prices have fallen by 13.2% over 12 months and those for the whole of Spain by 9.5%.

So, with that knowledge what can you do to improve your chances of selling?

One thing is very clear; with the current low exchange rate looking unlikely to change in the near future, the days of simply opting to put your property on the market and expecting a quick sale are gone.

In this current climate, and in years to come, UK buyers looking for overseas property will be relying on the Internet more and more to evaluate potential properties before they come out to view. They will want to know and see so much more about a property before any viewing takes place, and with thousands of properties for sale you will need to be one step ahead of the rest if you are going to get a sale, so you need to look for alternative ways that will help your property to sell.

Properties are still being sold, and will always continue to be sold. But today’s purchasers are going to require greater and more detailed information in order to be persuaded to come out and buy. A short description on a website along with a few photos is no longer going to be enough. Vendors will need to offer not only a complete package, with information covering not just the property, but also an outline of the surrounding area, infrastructure and attractions, thus giving a flavour of the purchasers’ prospective new lifestyle. In order to be able to offer all of this, you will need a web presence, which means having your own property web page providing all the information they need to encourage them to come and view your property.

What will you need on your web page?

You will need to provide not only a complete description of your property, but also great photos or even a video. Information regarding the area where you live, with photos, plus any information that will help them to decide they need to view your property. Having your own web page will allow you to include far more information that you would be able to include from agents’ details. Buyers are going to have to be wooed; getting this right will make your chances of making a sale possible.

Consider your asking price, if you are currently using an agent their commission of between 3 and 14% will be added to your asking price. When marketing your property yourself, without an agent’s commission you can realistically lower the price to a more favourable one that suits you and any potential buyers.

Buyers are looking for a bargain. State on your web page the property has been reduced, from ‘this’ to ‘that’.

Offer ways to get the buyers to your property. Offer to collect them from the airport, offer to find accommodation, offer your property part or fully furnished, offer to leave the fridge, washing machine etc… anything to get the attention of a buyer.

Don’t be frightened to promote your own property, even if you have it with an agent. The more you can do to market your property the better your chances of a sale. If creating a web page is difficult for you, then check out the information at the end of this article.

So, you now have your own web page, fine, but you still need to do more. Buyers will be ‘searching’ the Internet. So you will also need to have your property listed on the best online property agents’ websites. When you add your property to these websites you will be limited on how much content you can include, but the key is to provide a link back to your web page so the buyer can see your full information. At the end of the description, be sure to add a sentence like ‘For more information regarding the property and contact details go to (your web page address)’. Buyers can then click on the link and be directed to your web page.

List your property on as many websites as possible, always adding your web page link.

Don’t be too downhearted, properties are selling and will continue to do so. Yours can be one of them. Just improve your chances by changing to the modern marketing method. We all know that it only takes the ‘right person’ at the ‘right time’ to get your property sold. Start to think ‘outside the box’ and you will have a much better chance of selling.