After working hard to prepare your home for sale, it can be a little bit daunting to find out that a neighbour is selling their property at the same time.
What does this mean for you? Upon making the realisation, many people immediately assume that they now must compete with their neighbour for buyers, or that their pricing must reflect (or even undercut) that of the other property.
In my opinion, vendors do not have to have these worries if they find themselves with neighbours selling concurrently.
In most streets, there are no two houses that are carbon copies of each other, and it is rare that buyers are looking for exactly the same property attributes. Sure, many people may have similar basic ideas about what they're looking for, but there are those little things that sway people one way or another.
You may find that buyers come into your property and instantly feel at home, whereas this feeling was not replicated for them in your neighbour's house. Alternatively it could go the other way, and the other property could instinctively feel like a better fit.
You would be facing the same situation regardless of whether or not your neighbour is selling; buyers will usually be considering more than one property – it doesn't matter if it is located next door, around the corner or in an entirely different suburb.
You may actually find that selling at the same time as a neighbour proves to be advantageous for you. For some time-poor buyers, instead of having to choose which open inspection to attend, it may be easy to come to both, as the locations are so close to each other. Or people who only came to see the neighbouring property may wind up popping in to see yours as well. This could mean a greater pool of potential buyers for your property.
In terms of your price, approach as you would with any other sale. Follow your real estate agent's advice and try to keep your expectations in line with market conditions. There should usually be no reason to undercut your neighbour's price to secure a sale.
In any case, I would be hesitant to say that sellers should be worried if they find themselves selling alongside a neighbour. We are experiencing a significant housing shortage in the real estate market at the moment so it's fairly safe to assume that your property will sell, so long as it is priced fairly.