Common questions that sellers often ask us are:
“How do we prepare for sale”?
"What should we do and how much should we spend"?
“Will we get our money back if we spend it"?
Our advice – never list your property for sale without some pre-sale preparation and always make sure to seek expert advice from a professional agent who can provide you with up to date information on current market demand.
Seeking sound advice on where your property would be placed in the current market and what pre-sale works will benefit the sale price and what may not, is so important to your decision-making process and the sale outcome.
A handful of minor touch-ups and cost-effective changes can go a long way towards making a positive and lasting impression on your potential buyers — and perhaps even secure you that dream price. Remember that most people want the convenience of buying a “ready to move in home” rather than having to deal with tradespersons.
Over spending and overcapitalising on unnecessary changes can cause stress and headaches later on, leaving you wanting to recoup these costs and inevitably impacting the sales process.
As your trusted advisor and suitably experienced agent, it is our commitment and pleasure to help you plan and guide you through the best method of pre-sale preparation based on your individual home, time frame for sale, budget and the current market conditions.
Our initial consultation includes a thorough assessment of your home with a written list of recommendations and estimated pre-sale preparation costs.
It’s cliché but we always saying to clients “Put your buyer’s hat on and walk through your home from front to back, like it’s you’re first time seeing the home.”
This requires:
1. A notepad & pen.
2. A critical eye
3. A little Imagination
Starting at the front door, walk through your home taking notes on anything you notice. This may include blown light bulbs, faded varnish or flaking on the front door, scuff marks on the walls, stains on the carpet, mould/stains in the silicone or grout of the bathroom or kitchen...these sorts of things.
If you’re half handy then this should be the first chore on your list, otherwise we recommend you hire a handy person / maintenance professional who can assist you and make life a little easier.
Addressing these minor and easy to fix jobs will have a huge impact on presentation. Remember - buyers are looking for reasons to offer less...don't make it easy for them!
One of the simplest and fastest ways to improve your property’s appeal and prepare it for sale is to free it from the excess of everyday possessions that we all tend to have around our homes. Removing unnecessary personal items such as family photos, fridge stickers, keys, excess decorative items, Knick-knacks, and children’s toys and placing them out of sight can create the feeling of more space. Small things can make a big difference, such as banishing that pile of shoes at the front door and hiding the mountain of papers’ that have established themselves on the kitchen table.
Given that you have made the decision to move we recommend you start packing excess items from the declutter process straight into moving boxes and store them in the garage.
The next step is a deep clean of the home, paying special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms, to ensure the home feels fresh, clean and inviting. Vacuum, dust, polish - the whole nine yards. Windex and paper towel are a match made in heaven and ALDI have a mould killer that eliminates everything.
Cleaning the place thoroughly yourself is always a big task and it’s often recommended for the first clean to have a professional cleaner provide this service which can include a professional steam clean of the carpets, a thorough scrub the bathrooms and a top to bottom polish up of your entire home. Having this help can remove a massive burden off your shoulders.
This way you only need to focus on maintaining your already beautifully clean home throughout the sales campaign for inspections.
Boldly painted feature walls are often not 'market friendly' so repainting these walls in a more neutral or modern colour tone can brighten a room and visually make the room look larger. Simply sprucing up existing paint with a fresh coat, allows buyers to focus on the spaces themselves instead of the colour or condition of the walls.
Sticking to neutral colours such as whites, tans and greys are the safest options when it comes to adding value and attracting interest.
Repainting a tired front door is so important to making sure a potential buyer’s initial impression is positive.
Our Recommendation:
Cheap paint can appear grainy or watery when dry and often require more coats to achieve the same result as using a quality product - that’s time and money spent doing more work than you have to. Head down to Bunnings and pick yourself up a couple of cans of premium Dulux or something leaning towards quality. You won’t regret it.
Tip: If you can’t paint to save your life, a bad job can negatively impact your home – getting guidance from a friend that has some painting know how, or paying a professional may be a quicker and safer option for you.
Arguably one of the most important maintenance tasks on your list should be the front façade and what we call 'street appeal'.
Ask yourself ‘What does my home look like from the street’?
Most buyers will arrive well before the inspection time to view the property and will probably drive up and down the street a few times to check out the neighbouring houses and get a sense of the street and location.
Serious buyers seldom shortlist a home that appears unattractive and messy when viewed from the street. Kerb appeal is important and a messy home can attract bargain buyers that are less likely to make well-priced offers.
Overgrown plants or lawn, debris filled gutters, rubbish, spider webs, dirty windows, damaged fly wire screens, old and dated paint on the outside walls and roof, damaged roof tiles, water staining...the list can get pretty long.
All these might get overlooked, especially when work and family life can leave you with little time to spend on home and garden maintenance. For a buyer these repairs and maintenance works detract from the appeal of your home and lead to lower priced offers.
Slip on the gardening gloves yourself or pay a professional if you don't have the time, but it's an important part of your preparations.
Open up all the windows to let in natural light and add floor or table lamps to areas that are dim. A bright, sun-soaked room looks bigger and much more inviting. This, along with that new coat of paint, will do wonders for the feeling of warmth in your home.
Keep the décor simple.
To help buyers imagine themselves in your space, store away any art or decorative items that might not be everyone’s cup of tea. A classic landscape or coastal theme painting is a safe option, but your leopard skin rug maybe a little loud for some buyers.
Reduce or remove bulky furniture. Your furniture should fit the scale of the room and extra or oversized items can make your space look smaller than it really is. This often includes cabinets and bookshelves that aren’t needed or being used. Having furniture in a room, because there isn’t anywhere else to put it, will quickly turn a large room into a cramped space.
Bring nature inside
Potted plants or a few pretty buds in a vase can help to bring energy into a space, fill empty corners and even draw attention to features you want buyers to notice. Just make sure to water them.
Turn your bathroom into a day spa
Create the feel of a relaxing, luxurious spa retreat with a $40 trip to Kmart. Buy bathmats and towels in coordinating tones for your homes theme. An example maybe be coastal blue's and greens for your beach style look. Stack a few nice washcloths tied with ribbon, add some candles and fake plants and make sure to hide your everyday use items.
Give each room a defined purpose
That spare room you’ve been using as an office / guest room / dumping ground won’t help to sell your home unless you show buyers how they can use it themselves. Ensure that you pick a use, (office, guest room, gym room) and clearly stage this space to showcase its purpose to your prospective buyers.
Yes, people willing to take on copious amounts of debt or spend their hard-earned savings are going to look through your wardrobe. This is totally normal. You must definitely plan for this!
Storage space is a big selling point and you must focus on the strengths of your space. If you have ample space, find a way to make it look tidy but accommodating to a large family. Same goes for your wardrobe - if there's space then show it off neatly. If it’s more compact, then keep it seasonal.
If your closets are stuffed with clothes, buyers will think the property doesn’t have enough storage space Invest in some boxes, dividers and other solutions to help keep storage areas organised, and remove extra items you don’t currently need to wear or use. You can store them away until you move.
Candles and diffusers are a cheap and effective way to freshen up your home for inspections.
Another important factor to consider on those days when your property will be open for showings or inspection is minimising cooking odours.
Cooking fish close to an inspection time, or frying up some bacon Saturday morning might be a tasty weekend treat, but can leave unwanted smells lingering in the kitchen. Remember – the aim is to have your property looking and feeling fresh and inviting.
1. Appoint a Conveyancer or Solicitor
Conveyancing is the process of transferring the ownership of a legal title of land to the new owner, whether it be from a person or entity.
As you can imagine, passing a property to a new owner means a lot of work and a conveyancing transaction generally consists of three stages:
· sale contract preparation
· pre exchange of contract review
· post-completion / settlement summary
Typically, a conveyancer will do everything necessary to ensure you are well prepared for the critical dates and actions during the process.
For the buyer, a conveyancer will:
· Review the sale contract and provide legal advice
· Research the property and its certificate of title – check for easements, type of title and any other information that needs addressing.
· Calculate the adjustment of rates and taxes
· Settle the property – act on your behalf, advise when the property is settled, contact your bank or financial institution when final payments are being made
· Represent your interest with a vendor or their agent
For the seller, a conveyancer will:
· Provide and complete legal documents such as contracts of sale, bank and council documentation.
· Represent you in dealings with the buyer – e.g. request to extend dates, ask title questions etc.
Your conveyancer will require you to:
· Select your real estate agent, ensuring they understand your needs as a seller.
· Provide them specific instruction to prepare a contract for sale of your property. By law, a residential property cannot be offered for sale unless the real estate agent holds a proposed contract for sale on file.
· Notify your lender once you have sold your property and provide them with a signed discharge authority
For more info see this link conveyancing behind the scenes
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about the selling process.
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