Selling My House

It will take keen buyers a very short time to find your house, once it has been listed for sale.

People will have seen it, thought about it - and probably even gone through your photos of the interior online - in the first week or two. What this means is that you need to make your good impression right from start.

It’s not the best strategy to put your house on the market pretty much as is – decide the buyers aren’t coming – then making superficial changes like, re-mulching the garden, adding a coach light to the porch and painting the letterbox. They won’t be fooled! It will still be the same house they decided they didn’t want to buy in the first place.

To avoid putting serious buyers off and missing a nice quick sale, finish your improvements before your property is listed. In some cases this won’t be possible, but it is definitely something to aim for.

Once you know you are going to sell, there will be some time while you are interviewing real estate agents and looking at your next house, to start getting your house ready. You might start by doing the standard and most obvious jobs, such as:

Improving the front area of the house

1. mow the lawn, trim edges & overgrown shrubs
2. brush away cobwebs & clean guttering
3. wash down the house & garden walls
4. paint the front door
5. clean the oil stain off the driveway and put down a tray
6. take down old party lights
7. get rid of that broken plastic swing set in the front yard
8. clean front windows inside and out
9. remove anything leaning against windows from the inside
10. re-paint the tyre swan planter pot! 

 Improving the back area of the house

1. mow the lawn & trim edges
2. trim overgrown shrubs & clean guttering
3. clean the leaves out of the pond
4. sweep the back patio
5. clear cobwebs off the garden furniture 
6. place a pot plant on the outside table
7. refill the sandpit
8. repaint the door on the cubbyhouse & clear cobwebs
9. re-hang a sagging gate
10. paint the back door

Improving the interior of the house

Potential buyers, who get a great first impression of the outside of your house, could still easily be put off if they can’t imagine themselves living ‘in’ your house.  If it is untidy or simply cluttered, people will tend to feel uncomfortable.

Once a buyer opens the front door they will form a lasting first impression of the inside of your house. It’s natural to have things around your house that you intend to get around to fixing at another time. Now is that time! 

To see what your potential buyer might see, a good idea is to stand at your front door and make a mental note of anything you can see from the entrance that could be improved or removed. But beware not to stack all these removed items in a cupboard or even the garage because when people inspect your house they look EVERYWHERE!

You might notice things like:

• too many shoes shoved onto a shoe rack
• a half chewed doorstop (thanks to the dog)
• the overflowing ‘everything’ basket under the hallstand
• an accumulation of photo frames on the buffet
• brown bananas in the fruit bowl
• books and documents all over the dining room table

The object is to ensure your potential buyer feels comfortable in your house. Imagine stepping into a hotel room to find an unmade bed and a used towel on the floor. You don’t expect it and it would probably make you feel slightly uncomfortable. It’s the same with your house. These potential buyers are imaging themselves living there – imagine their own things in the house. To help sell this idea to them, you want to help them to easily imagine that.

This means besides the usual cleaning, you need to clear away anything that ‘marks your ownership’, such as: 

• multiple free standing photos of the family
• kids paintings hung on the fridge
• your clothes draped over a chair or the lounge

 Consider making two lists, one for the things you will clear away and the second for the things you might add. 

When Improvements Get Expensive

If you find there are things that need fixing that might cost $1000+, put some thought into whether the disrepair is really going to be enough to put potential buyers off – or be enough to bring the price down too far.

An interested buyer might try to use those things to get you to drop the price, but there is something you can do, without opening your wallet or taking a price cut.

If you need plumbing improvements or new wiring, consider simply gathering a few quotes for the work, to have on hand.

Having quotes handy is a positive move in three ways: 

1. Preparation: By knowing the cost up front, the agent will be in a better position to bargain if the buyer wants to use the much needed repairs as leverage to bring the price down.
2. Transparency: Having the quotes up front shows the potential buyer that you and/or your Agent are genuine and are not trying to hide anything. Trust is important to making a sale.
3. Money in your pocket: Don’t outlay on expensive improvements, save your money, because chances are that you won’t get that money back in the sale price – and you might need that extra money to make improvements on your new home.