Tips for selling your property
Maximise your sale price by taking the advice of market guru Karin Derkley. These are her 10 tips for selling your home;
As soon as you make the decision to sell your home, you need to look at your asset in a different way. No longer just the place where you and your family live, your home is now a product that you need to market and present to your potential buyers. Showcasing your home is all about highlighting the possibilities. The more people who see your home as desirable, the higher the price you’re likely to sell it for. Here are 10 tips to help you put yourself in the shoes of your buyers and ensure you get the best possible price for your home.
1. Understand your buyers
Different kinds of properties suit different kinds of buyers. A good real estate agent can give you insight into likely buyers based on his or her experience of the local market.
2. Remove personal clutter
Your first step in preparing your home for sale is to pare down your furniture and belongings. Start by clearing your property of anything that isn’t absolutely essential to the functioning or the aesthetic attraction of a room. Clean out and tidy storage cupboards. Cull pictures, knick- knacks and junk.
3. Add value with cosmetic changes
A coat of paint can freshen up both the interior and exterior of a home — and is likely to add probably twice its cost to the value of the home. Lift worn carpets or lino to reveal floorboards that you can polish to create a clean, modern feel. Replace tired cabinet doors and door handles in the kitchen and bathroom for an inexpensive and worthwhile lift. Leave larger-scale structural improvements to the new owners.
4. Build more storage
One of the biggest complaints of home owners is lack of storage. Make more space for storage: Rooms, Linen cupboard, Roof space and Shed.
5. Find an enthusiastic real estate agent
Make sure the agent you choose understands your property’s good points and has the skills and commitment to market them with enthusiasm. Think about whether an agent is the type of person who can communicate well to the kinds of people you’ve determined are likely to be interested in your home.
6. Target your marketing
Big glossy advertisements don’t necessarily result in bigger prices. More important may be listing your property on a major real estate website, along with a well- designed and worded signboard outside your property that attracts and informs drive-by home-seekers. Skilful use of photographs and descriptive text can highlight your property’s best points, particularly those not obvious from the street. Sing the praises of your location as well as of the property itself.
7. Price your home properly
List your home at a price that is likely to target the right buyers. Too high and you’re narrowing your potential buyer pool, too low and you’re only going to get the opportunistic bargain hunters.
8. Dress to impress on inspection days
On inspection day, make sure your home is fresh and welcoming. Sweep the front step, polish the doorknocker, fill the entrance with light and put fresh flowers in strategic spots around the property. Get rid of the kids and the pets — and all evidence of them, including toys, animal hair and smells. Clear the sink and kitchen bench, and put fresh towels in the bathrooms. Burn vanilla or peppermint essential oils no less than an hour beforehand. Have soft tasteful music playing in the background, and make yourself scarce.
9. Be prepared to negotiate
Be prepared to drop around five per cent from your hoped-for price — but take guidance from your real estate agent about the demand from buyers thus far.
10. Ensure a smooth transaction from contract to settlement
Have your solicitor/conveyancer on call to be able to get moving on the conveyancing, to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible.