Source: How to Present Your Home for Sale - Top Tips - realestate.com.au
When it comes to selling your home, first impressions can be everything.
The feeling that potential buyers get when they see your home for the first time can be the difference between them returning to inspect a second or third time, and making an offer when the time comes, or bypassing it and searching elsewhere.
And the better your property presents, the higher the price those buyers will pay.
Here are the top tips you can follow to ensure your home is presented with maximum appeal before selling.
Home presentation: Keep it neat
It almost goes without saying, but giving the property a big tidy-up, inside and out, will go a long way to wooing buyers.
You should fully clean the property, including the spots you’d normally ignore.
The house should be spring cleaned. The little bits of dust that you don’t notice when you’re living there every day, that’s what buyers do notice, on the skirting boards and things like that.
And given the garden is often quite literally the first thing people see – or the only thing they see, if they’re driving by – it should receive equal attention.
Fresh mulch, the lawn should always be mowed for open homes, making sure it’s all presented really neat and tidily.
Similarly, everything should be in good working order, so ensure all the lights are operating correctly and fix any obvious issues in and around the property.
Staging a house for sale: Decluttering
Ever been into a new home with no furniture in it? It’s amazing how large each room looks.
Similarly, removing unnecessary furniture and other general clutter will enhance the sense of space, as well as making the home more open and easy to walk through during the inspection process.
Decluttering the home, or even having it professionally styled, will significantly enhance its appeal, particularly as people’s tastes can differ greatly.
It depersonalizes it a little bit, so instead of someone feeling like they’ve invaded someone else’s home, it maximises the way someone is able to flow through the home.
It makes it feels more spacious and makes it more inviting for buyers.
How to present your house for sale: OPI
There are a few tips and tricks at open for inspections and auction days that can significantly enhance the impression your property leaves on potential buyers.
The big one is the temperature. On a really hot day, you want the cooling on for half an hour before the open starts, not from the moment it starts.
Make sure all the lights are switched on – you don’t want any dark corners. Keep all the blinds open. There’s no point trying to hide the fact that something’s next door. If it’s there, it’s there.
In addition to the way the property looks, it also pays to consider how it smells.
Some people will roast coffee beans or cashews and walk around the house, so there’s a nice aroma.
In winter a wood fire works really well. It makes it inviting inside and the smell of a wood fire is really appealing when people are coming from the street, smelling the smoke when they’re getting out of their car.
Selling tips to showing your home in the best light
Source: Top tips for sellers to show your home in the best light (realestate.com.au)
showing your home in the best possible light has never been more important.
You’d be amazed how often vendors neglect to take care of some basic housekeeping tasks that ensure a home is at its optimum as potential purchasers arrive to inspect it.
Here are some seller’s tips to ensure your home is presented in a way that gives you the best chance of luring more buyers, and encouraging them to
Declutter, declutter, declutter
When it comes to showing your home to prospective buyers, less is most definitely more.
Decluttering the property and removing anything that isn’t absolutely necessary allows the property to speak for itself, and gives buyers the chance to picture themselves and their future life inside it.
Clearing out personal effects and unnecessary clutter is the easiest and cheapest way to give your home a major shot in the arm.
You want to depersonalise the property, so take down any photos that might be on the walls that might be too personal, because buyers like to be able to visualise themselves in the property.
It’s probably one of those unwritten rules: when you think you’re finished decluttering, just take a little bit more away and then you’re finished.
Notes and magnets on the fridge, ornaments on your TV cabinet or mantle and other items that are being stored in plain sight and serve no useful purpose in the display of the property should all be removed. It all adds to the sense of space.
The little touches
Once you’ve decluttered, it’s often worth replacing old or tired accessories with new ones, to brighten the décor and give an older property a little more zing as buyers first enter a room.
And they don’t have to cost you the earth.
For the sake of going and getting an $8 pillow from Kmart, it just makes that bedroom or living space feel so much fresher.
In the same way, a dirty oven or stained benchtop will stick out like a sore thumb, and in a buyer’s market it could be enough to turn someone away. Take the time to scrub everything spotless, or have it done professionally if need be.
Boost the street appeal
First impressions last, and some buyers won’t even walk in the front door if they drive past and don’t like what they see at the front of the property.
A fresh coat of paint for your fence, as well as mending any broken pickets or bricks, trimming trees and bushes, mowing the lawn and throwing some fresh tanbark or stones on any barren areas are all easy ways to ensure your home catches the eye and draws people inside.
Paint the interior
In terms of bang for your buck, a fresh coat of paint is just about the best ‘renovation’ you can do.
Choose light, neutral colours, and a quick coat will give the entire property a lift, making it brighter, more spacious and almost certainly adding value.