When you sell your property, whether an investment or a family home, you can do several small things to achieve the best result. The most important thing to consider when you are trying to sell your home is that if you want to get a price above what the market might consider its fair value, you need to get multiple buyers competing. So what can you do to ensure your property appeals to as many people as possible? The best type of buyer who is willing to compete on price for your home is an owner-occupier. All your efforts must be directed towards doing as much as possible to appeal to this market. You’re looking for someone to walk into the first home open and fall in love with the place. Follow these tips to give yourself the best chances of success.
1. Declutter
The first thing you will need to do is to present your home in the best possible light. That means you will have to give it a spring clean and start the process of decluttering. Getting rid of excess clutter and junk serves two purposes. Firstly it makes it look far more appealing – a neat home is what most aspire to. But it also makes things look more spacious. If your kitchen benchtops are covered in appliances, they look smaller. If your bedrooms are filled with furniture and clutter, they look smaller. Space is at the heart of what most owner-occupiers want.
2. Paint and Floors
While we all know that if you renovate your home, it will be more appealing. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible based on the costs and what you have to work with. However, there are several things you can do to dramatically improve the appeal of your home for only a small outlay. At a minimum, you should look to paint the property. The painting will make a huge difference if you have old wallpaper or worse. Even a freshen-up can make the place stand out to potential buyers. If you have more money, installing new flooring goes a long way. The cost of laminate or even new carpet isn’t all that high, but, it ma a property more livable and spacious.
3. Fixtures and Fittings
We know that putting in a new kitchen and bathroom will appeal to many buyers, but that’s not always possible. A very cheap alternative is to replace the fixtures and fittings. This can make an older basin look new again. If you want to get more creative, it is possible to paint over tiles and freshen things up. Similarly, fresh, clean window coverings beat the dated old vertical blinds or faded curtains.
4. Landscaping/Garden
Many people focus all their time trying to improve the interior of a property but completely forget about the outside. The garden and exterior of a home is the first thing you see when you open a home, and an overrun or dead garden not only looks bad but is also more work in the eyes of a potential buyer. Tidying up the garden and making it appear neat and manageable will appeal to your preferred end buyer, an owner-occupier. It also helps create that instant connection. A young family will love the look of a neat lawn for their kids to play on.
5. Light
One of the most underrated elements of an appealing home is its light and brightness. Even if the property is facing the wrong direction, consider a solution like a skylight to help brighten up the internal living areas. Similarly, choose window coverings that still allow plenty of light in. This is especially important in the main living areas where families spend most of their time.
6. Staging
Just because you love your old La-Z-Boy doesn’t mean a potential buyer will. If your old furniture has seen better days, hiring furniture during sales might be worth it. Of course, you won’t be able to live in the house at the time if you’re trying to keep it immaculate. Staging is one of the most underrated tools that you can use to present your home to potential buyers. Your old furniture is not likely to be very appealing or even the best fit for your home, and most buyers aren’t creative enough to imagine what an empty house looks like with their furniture. A few thousand dollars invested in property staging can reap a large reward when it sells.
