Presenting your home

Preparing Your Home For Sale

Is yours one of these families who makes a special effort once a week to go right through the house cleaning and tidying it? Maybe you are someone who can afford a cleaner who does this for you. Either way, doesn’t it look fantastic once it’s done?

If you want to sell a car, it is essential to restore it as close to its new condition as possible. You clean it, polish it, put on new tyres if they are in bad condition, steam clean the engine, repair any torn upholstery, put new mats on the floor and you’ll get considerably more for it. More importantly, the car will sell whereas if you left it as it is on a day to day basis, you are likely to put the buyer off. The cost to do that would have been less than $100 and a little of your time.

It is the same with your home. You have to try to restore it as close as possible to its new condition.

You can lose at least 10% off your price if you don’t prepare and present your home at its best. For example if you have an average priced home which could get a top dollar of $150,000 and you present if poorly, you could realize as little as $135,000 or even less. That is $15,000 on an average home and most homes only require an investment of $1,000 tops, plus some of your time. What is more, poorly presented homes not only fetch bargain prices, they also take a long time to sell.

Owners of badly presented homes don’t take poor presentation into account when they make price comparisons with other homes. They will say “Mine is a four bedroom, two bathroom too, so it should fetch the same.” Consequently, they have an expectation the same as their neighbour who may be overpriced but still beautifully prepared.

In all probability, a fabulous home preparation will cost no more than $500 and can be completed in the few weekends before putting your home on the market. You would be wise to do this before you call us in as we would then be better able to judge the potential of your home. Irrespective of experience, all people tend to judge by what they see. Don’t think for a moment you can risk leaving it to the imagination of the buyers. It is vital you create a good first impression throughout the inspection. Don’t give them even one reason to knock your price down, or worse, walk away.

Under no circumstances should you be putting major investments into your property. This is not the time to add the extra room or put in a pool. If there is future potential, let the buyers judge that for themselves as they all have different requirements. They may want the three bedrooms and one bathroom just as it is. The person who wants to add the extra bedroom with en-suite can do so later.

Split your home preparation into two segments. Segment one is all the things you must do to the home to bring it up to speed. Segment two contains all the jobs you must do each time you have an inspection, especially the Open. Pay particular attention to kitchens and bathrooms as they have the greatest influence on the buyer, especially the women.

1 – HOME PREPARATION

Outside

  1. First impressions are vital and a tidy garden is essential. Trim all the shrubs and trees, prune the hedges and overhanging shrubbery from paths and driveways.
  2. Mow lawns and weed driveways, mow the nature strip and trim the edges.
  3. Lay new fresh pine bark to your garden beds – especially at the front. If you have bare patches on the lawn, put in a few shrubs and some pine bark. This can make all the difference. Ensure the garden looks complete: A few rocks, pine bark and shrubs will hide or replace unsightly weed beds.
  4. Fix any broken or loose tiles.
  5. All oil spills and stains should be removed from the driveway.
  6. If your driveway is unsealed, spread a new layer of gravel.
  7. Repair or replace any broken sections of the fence or gates.
  8. Clean the barbecue.
  9. Make sure all gutters are clear and washed. This is normally sufficient to freshen it up and save painting.
  10. All broken fly-wire should be repaired and replaced.
  11. If you have any outside awnings, clean them.
  12. Wash the outside walls, especially of cobwebs, insects and mud that may have splashed from the garden beds.
  13. Make sure your front door bell works.

Inside

  1. Nothing puts a person off more than peeling paintwork, especially on windows. Repaint and make sure all windows open and close easily. Rubbing a bar of soap up and down the runners will easily fix that.
  2. Plaster any cracks or chips and if necessary, repaint.
  3. Repaint any tarnished woodwork. In many cases you are competing with other homes which are virtually brand new.
  4. Un-clutter every room. Show homes have a few choice pieces of furniture spread around creating space and airiness. It pays to position your furniture around walls or even remove some of it and put it in the garage until after the sale. Don’t move any furniture just prior to inspections as the marks will be clearly visible on the carpet.
  5. If there are stains on any of the carpets, have them cleaned back to freshness..
  6. Test all blinds to make sure they function properly.
  7. If you judge repainting is not necessary, then clean all marks off the paintwork with kerosene on a cloth. Kerosene evaporates without leaving any shiny patches. This may eliminate the need to repaint the walls.
  8. Painting only one room may reflect badly on the other rooms around. If it is necessary to paint on room, you may consider either painting all the surrounding rooms as well or even the whole house.
  9. Touch up or repaint skirting boards, architraves and door frames.
  10. If you do repaint, choose light, neutral colours. Dark rooms make the home harder to sell and neutral colours will ensure as easy fit with your buyer’s furniture.
  11. Oil any squeaky doors.
  12. Make sure every light has a fitting. Purchase an inexpensive one for any missing. Replace any light bulbs that are not working. Clean all the fittings.
  13. Re-paste any peeling wallpaper. Don’t hang new wallpaper. Your house should appeal to as many people as possible. It is better to have a wall neutrally painted than impose your wallpaper tastes on the buyer.
  14. Clear the fridge door of all its junk.

Kitchens and Bathrooms

There is absolutely no doubt that the kitchen and bathrooms are the most important rooms in the house as far as the buyers are concerned. They also have the greatest impact on women who are often the major decision makers.

  1. Restore the grouting to it’s original condition by either cleaning it with an effective fungicide or applying a weak mixture of grouting.
  2. Clean the stove and oven as close to its new condition as possible.
  3. Wash and polish all vinyl, cork and tile areas.
  4. Make sure the globes are 100W and blinds are open to the maximum. Brighter bathrooms and kitchens look cleaner and happier.
  5. Repair dripping taps and remove all water stains from bowls.
  6. Co-ordinate all towels, bath mats and curtains. If necessary, invest in a new shower curtain.
  7. Put in a few leafy green plants. They humanize and freshen bathrooms and you can take them with you.
  8. If the bathroom ceiling is even slightly stained or flaking, repaint it. Don’t have it looking tired or old.
  9. Clean exhaust fans and vents and fix any that are not functioning properly.

2 – PREPARING FOR AN INSPECTION

  1. Clean and tidy everywhere. Make your home like a builder’s show home.
  2. Close the garage doors
  3. Take the washing off the line.
  4. Remove all evidence of pets inside and outside the house. Remove their beds also.
  5. Absolutely get rid of all pet odours by opening doors and windows and using room fresheners. Nothing can be worse than a smelly house.
  6. Place vases of fresh or artificial flowers around, especially on the kitchen table.
  7. Create as much space as possible on bench tops by putting everything away in cupboards. This creates an impression of space, especially in a small kitchen.
  8. Replace towels in all bathrooms.
  9. Remove cosmetics etc from all vanity units and place them in cupboards.
  10. Use a toothbrush around taps to get right into the crevices.
  11. Clean all mirrors.
  12. Clean the kitchen floor thoroughly.
  13. Display a bowl of fresh fruit on a bench top to give an inviting appearance.
  14. Remove notepaper, car keys, brushes, papers and magazines from the kitchen and the sink clear of any dishes or waste.

Humanize It

A few homely human touches can make a huge difference to the appeal.

  1. If you have a bread maker, have some bread timed for completion at inspection time. Alternatively a pot of freshly percolated coffee is also wonderful.
  2. If your home is air conditioned, make sure it is beautifully cool in summer and warm in winter.
  3. If you have an open fireplace, set a fire during winter. In summer, have it set ready with logs or have an arrangement of fresh flowers in there.
  4. If you don’t have plants, invest in a few. It’s never a waste as you will take them with you.

This may seem a lot, but it will in reality only take a few weekends and you will make thousands of dollars in the short time you invest.

Finally, at any time during an inspection whether it be an open or by appointment, leave the premises. Nothing makes a buyer more uncomfortable than having the owner present and we don’t want that. Do we?