So you’ve chosen your agent. Now to prepare your home for sale. Non-negotiable include:
- Declutter
Declutter and pack personal effects away. As much as your family portraits from your Bali holiday are framed and work in with your décor, no buyer wants to see them. Remove anything personal from vision. Your home needs to appeal to a broader buyer as they imagine themselves living there.
- Get Clean (and Stay Clean)
Everything must be sparkling clean for the duration of the sales campaign.
Chances are your agent will always call you from the car, on the way to your home with a potential buyer at the most inconvenient of times.
It may seem impossible however keeping your home clean and tidy for 4 short weeks is a small price to pay in giving yourself the best chance at creating a strong first impression.
Have a James Bond style exit plan when your agent calls. Dirty shoes at the door, a wipe over with disinfectant, rubbish on the curb.
HOT TIP: Don’t buy into the notion of burning scented candles, incense, brewing coffee or baking bread. Fragrance is far too intimate and powerful. Aim for fresh, clean and citrusy. Don’t muddle about with preservative-filled air purifiers. That’s a hard no. Stick with the Glen 20.
- Wow with Street Appeal
First impressions count. Buyers will often drive by to check out potential properties and rule them out simply based on street appeal.
Give your property the best chance of buyer attraction by:
- tidying up the garden
- painting the fence, front door, lattice work and fencing
- remove unsightly clotheslines, junk, children’s play equipment
- pressure clean render, paths and driveway
- Bust out the Tools
Now is the time to undertake all of the outstanding maintenance you were saving for a never-to-arrive rainy long weekend. Put on your tool belt, charge up the electric drill and get cracking. Buyers don’t want to see any potential work or wear and tear in their potential new home or investment.
- Call in the Experts!
If your budget allows, call in the experts! Your real estate agent and auctioneer are entrenched in the real estate industry across Melbourne. They can make recommendations all over the city for trades to prepare your home for sale.
Think handymen, builders, furniture staging companies, painters, carpenters, landscape gardeners, electricians, plumbers, stylists. There is an expert for every household job, and even do-it-all businesses set up to undertake and project manage all of the work necessary to get your property ready for sale. You don’t have to lift a finger!
Invest $1000 may have you pocketing $10,000 come auction day. If you have the cash flow, put your best foot forward to gain top market value. Come auction day, reap the rewards.
