Spring in Australia is a great time for selling a house but there is also a lot of competition. So should you put your house on the market now or wait until end of December when the season eases?
If you put your house on market now, you will find many people are out and about so there will be more purchases at your open inspections. If your house is special, tidy, mainly renovations and is not currently a rented property, you will have a better chance to sell, especially if it is under the median house price for the area. So for an expensive property you might get 10 groups of people at your inspection but for house in a good suburb which has a lower median price range you will get more interest as many first home-owners will be purchasing before Christmas. As it gets closer to December the numbers will start to fall off. The plus side is that not as many houses will be on the market!
My 5 best tips for improving the saleability of your home without doing a full blown renovation!
Paint – neutral colours will always freshen up a house and make it more appealing. Recently I went to two open inspections of similar house which were unrenovated but so different in their approach to selling. One house has been painted and nicely but not overly styled. The other vendors felt there was no need to do anything to their house as an investor would purchase it and knock it down to build townhouses. While it is true developers are always on the lookout for a bargain, first home owners are also looking at the cheaper end and are often prepared to pay more than the developer. The first place went for about $20k more simply because it attracted a larger crowd at the inspections therefore attracted more competition.
Bedroom before and after – decluttered and painted and styled for October sale
Declutter – you may not believe it but purchasers, especially first home owner who have been renting, often can’t see the wood for the trees. They can’t see what a room would be like without the clutter so always remove almost all extra furniture from the rooms and hide all your knick-knacks out of sight. I’m not talking about getting rid of your precious objects or furniture, just move them out of the way while you are selling. Store to garage if needs be—having a cluttered garage is preferable to having a cluttered house.
Tidy up and declutter as much as possible. Click the image for Realestate tips
Style – you can do your own styling quite easily and the house will look wonderful with fresh colourful linen and curtains. Put aside a budget for styling. If you hire in professional, this will make a big difference to your place but if you can’t afford the $2-3K for styling, then just buy nice linen that you can reuse later. Replace floral or faded curtains with new neutral ones or just buy cheap white blinds—they will lift the look of your rooms but you will have to sell them with the house. You can often find them on special at K-mart, Target, Bunnings and Spotlight. Buy cushions, throws and European pillowcases if you need to.
If you do nothing else, use bright fresh linen and throws and cushions
Words – Check the Agent’s wording on your house’s listing. Don’t let them put words like knock-down, detonate or renovator’s dream. It is the agent’s job to sell no matter what, but you want the best price not the lowest price an investor will pay. You do have a say in how the property is described. Be realistic but don’t let the agent sell too cheaply. By the way, don’t let the agent visit until you have the place tidy and decluttered. Again, agents often can’t see beyond what’s in front of their faces and will undervalue the home if it does not look attractive to them.
Curb Appeal – Make sure your front is very tidy and appealing. Pull up all the weeds, scrub the concrete paths, add some colour in the way of annuals either in the ground or in pots. If you have time create a small outdoor retreat. Put a nice chair and small table in a cool pretty spot so that purchasers can imagine themselves sitting there and soaking up the atmosphere.
This is a perfect spot to relax- help the purchaser’s imagine they are here!