Listing your home on the market can be a hectic time, but a little planning and research can go a long way to a successful sale.
You want to create competition for your home and ultimately achieve a higher sales price. While you may love your property as it is, you need to make sure that it's properly prepared to attract the right buyer.
Be ready to roll up the sleeves and get it looking in tip-top shape. Take time to research the market and align yourself with experts who can provide the right professional advice. At the end of the day, it is important to feel confident knowing you did the best job possible in achieving the sale. To help make the process as smooth as possible, we put together 5 tips for selling your home.
1. Make a great first impression
Curb appeal is essential when selling your home. It is worthwhile investing time creating a welcoming entry to entice potential buyers from their car and through the front door at inspections. Remember you are unlikely to get a second chance, so it worthwhile putting in the extra effort.
Making a great first impression doesn’t have to mean spending a huge amount of money, but it will definitely help you achieve a quick sale.
There are lot of simple and inexpensive ways that you can spruce up your front garden to make it look more attractive. Refresh driveways and paving with a high-pressure hose, add some new shrubs and update the letterbox. A new front door mat and some pot plants around the front door can do wonders for your entrance.
All those little jobs we tend to forget need to be done when you are preparing your home for sale. This includes removing cobwebs from ceilings, sweeping behind doors and cleaning windows.
Pull out the feather duster and get to work inside too. You can use a professional cleaner or save money by doing it yourself. Open up the blinds and curtains and flood the interior with natural light.
Once you are finished cleaning, put yourself in the shoes of a prospective buyer and take a tour of your own home – does it live up to expectations?
A fresh coat of paint inside and a new carpet can impress those looking for a move-in-ready property. Be sure to fix anything broken and complete any half-finished projects. Buyers will feel reassured by making an offer on a property that is not only well-presented but also meticulously maintained.
2. Stage Your Home
Staging your home for sale allows prospective purchasers to see the property at its very best and can even result in a quicker sale.
Professional staging companies hire furniture and artwork to transform your home to appeal to the majority of house hunters. And while it may not be to your taste, the idea is to make potential buyers fall in love as soon as they step foot inside your home.
Staging is an added expense, but one worth considering and likely to be recommended by your agent. Packages range in price and often depend on how many rooms need to be styled. You might opt to reuse some of your pieces or completely replace everything. Listen to the advice of your agent who will be able to recommend a stylist for your property.
The furniture is hired for the length of the sales campaign. Ideally, staging needs to be done before any marketing photography.
Styling your home for sale allows buyers to better visualise the layout by creating a purpose for each room. Sometimes it is the little touches that can help sell a story. For instance, a cheese board on the kitchen island or dinner plates set out on a table. Adding a desk in a spare bedroom shows how the space could be used as a home office. If you live in an area popular with families, setting a room up as a nursery might be attractive to young families.
3. Invest in marketing
You shouldn't overlook the power of marketing when it comes to selling a house quickly. A good marketing campaign will also help you achieve the highest selling price.
With the average person spending at 47 hours per week online, it is little wonder digital marketing has evolved to be a fabulous tool when selling your home. It not only reaches active buyers but casts a wider audience too. Links can be shared with friends or family and with just one click, a prospective house-hunter can get in touch with an agent.
It may even tempt someone who didn’t know they were in the market to turn up at an open inspection. This group, known as ‘passive buyers’ often don’t act until they see the right property.
Digital marketing is more than just listing your home on a portal such as realestate.com.au or Domain, it also includes e-mailed newsletters, websites, online brochures and social media. It allows people to watch videos, and look at photos and floorplans with ease. Technology has become so sophisticated, that people don’t have to be in the same State or country to inspect a property. It is possible to bid on a property online from the comfort of their lounge room leading some people to buy without stepping foot on the property.
It is worth checking if your agent plans on using Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. If your suburb is popular with overseas buyers, WeChat may also be a useful marketing strategy.
Great photography is an important part of marketing. It often comes back to how the property is staged for sale.
Print real estate sections are still popular weekend reads and may be advisable depending on your location and price range. Agents may also do a letterbox drop in your area to advise neighbours of the upcoming sale in case they are looking to upgrade or downsize.
4. Don’t get too emotional
Once you have decided to sell your house, it’s also time to mentally prepare to let go. This isn’t always easy, especially if your home is filled with happy memories.
Decluttering is not only an important part of getting your home ready for sale; it is also the first step in detaching. You want prospective buyers to imagine their own life in the space – and not take a sticky beak at your family holiday snapshots. Start by packing up your belongings. Tone down features walls to a more neutral colour and remove anything that personalises the space. Remember, you want to appeal to a broader buyer market. This doesn’t mean blank walls, but maybe not a Metallica poster.
You will be spending a lot of time reminiscing as you fill packing boxes but remind yourself of the exciting new chapter ahead. Bit by bit you should start to see your property as a house and not just your home – even though it will always have a special place in your heart. This process will allow you to make decisions that help and do not hinder the sale. Packing up your home can be exhausting – so also make sure to stick to a schedule, recruit friends and family to help out, eat well and get plenty of rest. And most importantly, allow enough time to get the job done properly.
5. Use a real estate agent
Don’t be tempted to sell your house by yourself to save money; it is not as easy as you may think. Real estate agents are market experts, and their knowledge and guidance will prove to be invaluable. They are in constant contact with buyers, know how to negotiate and also understand the legal requirements of selling property.
Most importantly, buyers are familiar with real estate agents and know the process.
It is likely many agents are working in your local suburb, so how do you find one? Look at recent sales in your neighbourhood and create a shortlist. You could even pop into an open house inspection and see how the agent interacts with buyers.
Property appraisals are another great way to decide on which real estate agent to hire. An agent will inspect your home and provide a valuation of your property – this can be provided whether you are ready to go to market or just considering it. Agents will also discuss marketing strategies and their pay structure – some may ask for a flat fee or operate off a tiered commission. This will be agreed upon before any contracts are signed.
The agent will be able to provide you with detailed comparable sales in your suburb. If you own a single-level three-bedroom fixer-upper, then there is no point looking at how much a double-storey five-bedroom renovated home is fetching. The number of days on market is a good indicator of whether it is a sellers’ market or more favourable to the vendor.
Working with a real estate agent can help the process of selling your home and make it as smooth and easy as possible. So book you free property appraisal with your local LJ Hooker agent today.
DISCLAIMER - The information provided is for guidance and informational purposes only and does not replace independent business, legal and financial advice which we strongly recommend. Whilst the information is considered true and correct at the date of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact the accuracy of the information provided. LJ Hooker will not accept responsibility or liability for any reliance on the blog information, including but not limited to, the accuracy, currency or completeness of any information or links.
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