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Some tips for sellers
We live in our homes one way, we market them in another.
Just as builders recognise that a finished, clean and pleasantly decorated display home enables them to enhance the appeal of the homes they are building, "staging" your home to enhance its appeal will give you a competitive edge against all the other properties similar to yours that are currently on the market.
How much should you spend?
Preparing your property to achieve maximum selling price
How much should you spend?
When selling your home consider whether you will get back the money you are outlaying. For example, putting in a swimming pool may actually put some buyers off rather than increase the value of your home.
There is a big difference between making minor and inexpensive "touch-ups" to your house, such as putting new knobs on cabinets and a fresh coat of neutral paint in the living room, and doing extensive and costly renovations, like installing a new kitchen.
Spending up to $1500 in cleaning, painting and making minor repairs will pay you back much more in a higher sales price and result in a faster sale. Our Sales Team know which items are cost effective and pay you back many times over in buyer interest.
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Preparing your property to achieve maximum selling price
| Spring Clean | Tidy up, hold a garage sale and get rid of anything you don't need. |
| Light | Bright houses sell well, open curtains and turn on lights before inspections. |
| Fix Obvious Faults | Faults encourage buyers to look for more. |
| Pets | You love them, but maybe buyers won't. Keep them outside during open inspections. Many buyers are afraid of animals and some are even allergic to them. |
| Smell | Cooking, pets, dampness and smoking can all give your house a nasty smell. Have carpets and curtains cleaned and open windows before inspections. Fresh air smells best. |
| Kitchen and Bathroom | The most important rooms in the house. When squeaky clean they can help to make a sale. |
| First Impressions | Check that your house looks attractive from the street or your agent may find it difficult to get buyers in the front door. |
| Neighbours | Any unsightly problems in your street will detract from your home. So get together and clean up, ask them to remove their semi-trailer from the footpath. |
| Gardens | Overgrown gardens give the impression of being too difficult to look after. |
| Views | Prune trees and shrubs if they are blocking your best views. Clean windows and screens add to the view. |
| Outside | Spruce up the exterior by washing down or repainting. Clean guttering, brush away leaves and cobwebs. |
| Homely touches | Add to the feel of the home, by placing fresh flowers on the table, a bowl of fruit, or jars of cookies in the kitchen. Buying is an emotional decision. |
| Silence is Golden | Turn off the Television and any loud music. Soft light classical music is appropriate. |
| Little Things | Fix all those "little things", the loose doorknob, or the screen that won't close, or that leaky tap. |
| Cupboards | Clean out cupboards, the less they have in them, the bigger they look. Storage space is a definite selling feature. |
| Avoid Confusion | Remove or replace prior to marketing any item not included in the sale or ask our consultant for their special tags, marking the items as "not included in sale". |
| Temperature | Welcome buyers with a warm home in winter or a cool home in summer. |
| Key | Please make it one to the front door - your buyer is too important a visitor to bring in via the "tradesman's entrance". |
| You | Buyers are timid. Try not to be around during inspections, but if you are, try to be as inconspicuous as possible. Let our salesperson handle it all, they have lots of experience and that's what you are paying for. Also never apologise for your home. Tell people your home is for sale - (and who is handling it for you) The best way to do this is to use our distinctive signboard over 25% of buyers come from signs. |
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