Selling Your Home

Many home sellers face competition from hundreds of other home sellers in the same or comparable area and price range. When you want to sel your home, you have to find a way to stand out from the competition. The last resort as a seller, you want to be faced with to attract potential buyers is to lower the price of your property.

An effective way to differentiate your property from all the rest is to ‘present bit properly’. You must present your home as if it were a show-home, emphasizing its most positive attributes and eliminating all possible distractions. You have to communicate your property’s potential to buyers. This is true of ever home in every range.

1 Mindset of Buyers

Buying a home is an exhausting process; by the time potential buyers get to your doorstep they want to see a place where they can relax, feel comfortable and make their own. The more the home projects a clean, calm and comforting feeling, the more inclined buyers are to make you an offer.

Some buyers do not have the imagination, desire or time to make the transformation of a new home. You have to facilitate a buyer by understanding the way they think. The buying process involves emotional experiences, money and timing. Most people are visual buyers. If your home does not look spotless, well taken care of,

and repaired, buyers think there is more damage to the home than what they are seeing.

2 Getting the Price Right

Pricing along with condition and location is very important aspect in determining whether your home will sell quickly or not. The average buyer looks at 15-20 properties at the same time that they are considering yours. If your set price range does not compare to others in the area, you will not be taken seriously and your home will sit on the market. If the house is overpriced, it will probably not sell. If overpriced now with the intention of reducing later, this will signal that it was and probably still is overpriced. If your house is under-priced it will most likely sell quickly, but at the detriment of your net earnings. A well maintained house will sell for more than a similar one that has not

been maintained routinely and needs repair.

3 First Impressions

Go across the street and look at your home from a distance. Pretend you are a buyer. What do you see, what feeling will a potential buyer have when they pull up. Kerb appeal

is important. If buyers are not attracted by the looks of the exterior, you will never get them inside. Clean the outside, windows, paths. Give the front door a lick of fresh paint.

Mow the lawns. Add a few flowers in the spring and summer. You must have an unemotional eye when assessing your property.

4 Declutter your Home

Clutter absorbs the energy of space. Although it is one of the biggest challenges when preparing your home for sale, you must de-clutter. To do it efficiently, do it one room at

a time. Aim for flow and openness so your room looks bigger. Less is more! You are not selling your things, you are selling your space.

5 Make Minor Repairs

Repairing items shows you take care of your home. Buyers are always looking for things that are wrong so that they can lower the price. If they find something that does not look good to them, they will automatically begin to calculate the amount of money they need to take off the sales price in order to get the home in the condition they want. And they usually exaggerate this!! Buyers spend a lot more time than you would think, staring at the ceilings. You don’t want any signs of a leaky roof ir any stains from grease, smoke or ceiling cracks. Nothing says freshness like new paint, and it’s the most cost effective improvement to your home. Don’t give the buyers a reason to remember your home as ‘the house with the orange bathroom’

6 Don’t do Major Renovations

The idea is not to spend a lot of money on preparing your home for sale. Do not invest heavily into costly home improvements unless the buying price ends up covering these costs. When possible , stick to the simpler and less expensive options.

7 Make your home sparkle

Clean houses are more appealing. Pay special attention to the kitchen, as this is one of the most observed spaces in a home. Wash windows inside and out, clean the cobwebs, polish taps and mirrors, steam clean any carpets that are crying out for it, vacuum daily, clean out fireplaces full of old ashes, bleach stained grout, hang out fresh towels, clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Clean your home until it is spotless! Maintain the new and improved interior and exterior of your home until you sell successfully. It is hard but it is necessary

8 Neutralise Smells

Be very sensitive to smells and eliminate all unsavory smells throughout your house. Whether it comes from the Laundry, Pets, Rubbish, Cooking or Smoking: excessive smell turns buyers off. Ask a friend about any smell of your house. You may be so accustomed to the smells and might not notice them anymore. It is best to find the root of the problem and

remove it permanently. A pleasantly scented house is very inviting.

9 Examine Everything

Look at your house through the buyers eye, as though you haven’t seen it before. Stand outside – Do you want to go in – Is it inviting? Stand in the doorway of every single room and imagine how it will look to a buyer. Is there anything else you can do? Anything else you can remove? Anything missing that you can add?

10 Viewing the House

Always have your house available to view, even though it may occasionally be inconvenient for you. You will always be given plenty of notice before any viewing. Leave on plenty of lights, it makes your home warm and inviting. Do not uses scented sprays to prepare for visitors. It is too obvious, and some people may be allergic. Use a bowl of potpourri or something natural. If it’s hot, keep the house cool. If it’s cold keep the house warm. Buyers will not stay in a house that is too hot or too cold. Take any pets away with you , if not possible have them in the back garden. Make your beds, pick up newspapers, don’t leave empty glasses lying around etc

11 Now ‘Close the door behind you’

Your agent and potential buyer would prefer that the seller not be present during a viewing, it will limit the buyers conversation or make them feel uncomfortable. Homebuyers feel like ‘intruders’ if you are home when they visit.

GET AN APPRAISAL