If you’re planning to put your home on the market, then you’ll want to give yourself every advantage. No matter where you live in Australia, competition is fierce among buyers and sellers. Therefore, in order to get a quick sale for the price you want, follow these handy tips and guidelines.
#1 – List Your Home with an Agent
You could go it alone to save money on commissions, but you’re far better off having a professional real estate and property management team handling the sale for you. Advertising and negotiating residential homes for sale is their specialty and what they’re good at.
Chances are, what you pay in commission to an agent will pale in comparison when you sell your home for a much higher price than if you did it yourself online.
Real estate agents handle the entire process for you, and this also includes all the legal contracts. For real peace of mind, choose a reputable property agent.
#2 – Get Rid of the Clutter
You don’t want your home to look sterile when a prospective buyer comes to inspect it, but at the same time, you don’t want it to look cluttered.
‘Less is more’ when trying to attract a buyer. Keep the essentials within view, but get rid of anything that makes the place look congested. You want kitchen benches to be clean and free of anything other than appliances, and children’s bedrooms need to have all the toys put away out of sight.
#3 – Hide Personal Items
When someone comes to view your home, what they’re trying to do as they go from room to room is imagine themselves living there. Something that can put them off is seeing personal items such as family photos adorning every shelf space or wall in the house.
This is only a small thing, but it could make a big difference to the psyche of the potential buyer. Stash personal items like photos away in a cupboard or drawer before your home is inspected.
#4 – Do Repairs and Maintenance
Even little things like a leaking tap in the bathroom or a small dent in the wall in a prominent place can turn a buyer off. Why give them an excuse to say no?
It’s important that those small maintenance and repair tasks are taken care of before you place your home on the market. You want to present your home in the best possible light. You also don’t want to give the impression that you’ve neglected the home, as the buyer might assume they are going to have continual problems.
Foundation problems are the major problems that should not be ignored. For example – wall cracks are usually a sign of foundation movement but they don’t necessarily mean structural damage. If the wall crack was caused by structural damage, it’s not a DIY project. Cracks caused by structural damage to your foundation need to be inspected by an experienced foundation repair professional.
Most of the foundation problems are usually caused by too much water in the soil and around the foundation. Water seepage is commonly associated with basements. When the soil around the foundation gets saturated with water that cannot drain away, it creates a phenomenon known as hydrostatic pressure – which causes foundation cracks.
#5 – Don’t Forget Your Home’s Exterior
One mistake many homeowners make when preparing their residential homes for sale, is they focus almost all of their attention on the interior of the house and forget about the exterior.
What’s the very first thing a prospective buyer sees when they arrive to inspect your home?
That’s right. The outside of the house.
Lawns should be mowed regularly, trees and plants pruned and trimmed and all rubbish should either be taken away to the tip or at least hidden out of sight. Have those driveways and walkways cleaned with a high-pressure cleaner.
Don’t forget about the roof. If it looks grimy or is covered in mould or debris, have it cleaned too.
#6 – Have Your Home Professionally Photographed
These days everyone searches online. This is also true when it comes to home hunting.
Prospective buyers will browse the pages of real estate websites first before getting in touch with an agent and organizing a home inspection. Therefore, you’ll want top-quality photos of your home displayed on these web pages so it catches the eye of anyone browsing the site.
Professional real estate photography is only a tiny investment that could potentially pay off big time. It can be the difference between selling your home or nobody being interested in even taking a look at it.
For the cost of probably only a few hundred dollars, it could make or break the deal.
The Takeaway
This article has covered a few key points to be mindful of when selling your home. If you put some thought and effort into presenting your home in just the right way and enlist the help of an agent, there’s no reason why you can’t get a sale relatively quickly and for the price you want.
Author Bio:
Harcourts Carlingford, we are property management company In Carlingford, we cover all aspects of real estate from residential sales, auctions, property management and commercial leasing and have a proven track record of success.
