Selling Tips

Staging Your Home

Preparing and staging your property makes a positive first impression among prospective buyers, from the time they look at the listing photos, to the moment they walk in the door. Reasons to stage:

  • Makes a home more marketable
  • Sell your home for the most possible money in shortest amount of time
  • Gives your home a more competitive edge in the market
  • Allows people to imagine themselves living in your home.

Tip: complete these steps before photos. A significant percentage of home searches are started on the internet. If the property looks good in the photos, it helps to attract people to see the real thing.

  • The first step:
    • Remove excess furniture and clutter to make rooms feel larger and to help people visualize the space. Leave some furniture, so that people can picture where their own furniture will go.  
    • Take down personal photos and effects, so people can imagine themselves living there. Embellish with accessories, artwork, mirrors, bedding and towels to make rooms look inviting.
    • Limit children’s toys to one area, and to a few containers. Keep toys out of yard, off paths and away from front porch
    • Hide away cleaning products, laundry baskets, dish drainers – let the prospect think the house cleans itself.
    • If kitchen cabinets, pantries and drawers look jammed packed, it suggests there is not enough room in your kitchen. Have as much empty space as possible.
    • Get everything off the counters, even the toaster. Doing so will make your kitchen look larger and more spacious, Find a place in cabinets and drawers for everything.
    • people always peek inside built-in robes and the more free space you create, the larger they will appear.
    • Remove rugs that hide carpet and hardwood floors – it helps to open the floor plan up and allows people to see the floors.
    • Leave the garage free from storage. If people see you do not have enough storage and must use the garage, they will begin to wonder if the same thing will happen to them.
    • Ensure bright bulbs are installed in light fittings, to assist with lighting at showings.
    • Set up rooms for their intended use - if you have a third bedroom set up as an office people may see your house as a two-bedroom house and not be able to picture the third bedroom as what it is for.
    • Drive up appeal – ensure you trim trees and shrubs, sweep front porch, and put down a plush door mat for wiping feet.
  • Willing to go the extra mile?
    • Be willing to change paint colours. Although labour intensive, painting can give your home a fresh and clean look.
    • New window treatments can make a world of difference and add value and style to your home.
    • Remove dated wallpaper and replace outdated light fixtures.
    • Install new appliances – but avoid expensive appliances in a modest home.
    • Have a tradesperson visit to do small jobs like grouting, fix dripping taps, replacing cracked glass or laying carpet in new rooms where it’s needed.

Tip: if you really want to maximise the price and think there is an area that lets the place down, it may be worth renovating. However, the aim is not necessarily to get the figure back, but to make the home more appealing – and hopefully create more competition for the place that will result in a price rise.

Preparing for a Showing

On the day of a property showing, there are several things that can be done to ensure the home is presented at its best:

  • Sweep the entrance and outside areas, weed the garden, mow the lawn and shake out door mats
  • Water all plants inside and out
  • Turn on all lights and lamps inside and out
  • Angle shutters to let in the most light or open curtains and blinds
  • If it’s cool, turn on your heaters or light a fire; if it’s warm, switch on your air conditioning
  • Change the water in all vases of flowers
  • Flip over the reeds in aromatic diffusers to refresh the fragrance
  • Empty the bins
  • Scatter some cushions on your couch and cast a throw over any worn patches
  • Dress up beds with textured throws, cushions and fresh bed linen
  • Put fresh towels in bathrooms
  • Flush all toilets and put the seats down
  • Wipe water from all showers, baths, benchtops and sinks
  • Make up beds
  • Clean ashes out of fireplace
  • If a mess of objects materialises at the last minute, load everything into a suitcase and wheel it out with you when you leave before the inspection
  • Take a short break – it is best to leave the premises while the home is being shown. people are intimidated when owners are present and tend to hurry through the house.

Preparing for Settlement

When the property is sold, it is important to ensure the property is ready for their possession. Such preparation tasks can include.

  • All personal items removed from inside the property
  • Kitchen, bathroom, laundry and toilet areas cleaned and free of mould
  • Walls, ceilings, handrails and cupboards cleaned and free of mould
  • Carpets vacuumed and hard floors mopped
  • Window glass, screens, tracks and frames cleaned, both inside and out
  • Curtains, blinds and verticals cleaned and free of dust – and cords / wands in working order
  • Light fittings, fans, smoke alarms, switches and power points clean and in working order
  • Cleaning of wood heater, and of filters in heat pumps / reverse cycle split systems
  • Ensuring yard is free of rubbish and personal items, and that bins are clean and clear of rubbish
  • Driveway should be free of leaves, dirt and oil stains
  • Lawns mowed, trees and shrubs pruned, weeds removed
  • Removing cobwebs from house and garage, both inside and out
  • Garage, patio and veranda free of rubbish and personal items, and swept clean

Tip: ensure that we are presented with all keys for your property.