Preparing Your Home For Sale

How your home comes across in the first few minutes of viewing with a potential buyer can be a crucial part of the outcome at the other end of the sale process.

The time has come to take a truthful look at your home. Tasteful decoration, careful presentation, and clever use of space can often be the difference between an ‘acceptable’ result and a ‘great’ result.

While some homes require barely any work at all to prepare them for sale, others need a little additional help to really attract the market’s interest. We’ve put together a few recommendations to make your property stand out in the marketplace so you can maximise the sale price of your home.

Street appeal

Before a buyer even steps inside your home, they will see it first from the road. Therefore the exterior of your home is critical to impressing potential buyers. Improve your home's street appeal by undertaking the following:

Simple gardening, ensure lawns are mowed and weeds removed

Sweep the front approach areas, and clear the entrance way of any leaves or foliage

Wash the exterior of the house and ensure paintwork is pristine

Water blast concrete areas

Remove any clutter from around the property

Add potted plants to add appeal to the first impression

Storage

Clean out garages and sheds to show how much storage space is available

In the kitchen, clean out the pantry and clear appliances off the bench top to create a feeling of more space

In the bedrooms, clearing out wardrobes creates the perception of abundant storage space

Buyers will open your cupboards and closets, so make sure these are immaculate. Folding linen and clothing will make storage spaces appear large

Depersonalise

It is important to depersonalise your home before sale, as buyers tend to have a hard time seeing past personal effects. You want them to start to imagine their own items and photos filling the home.

Remove personal photos and items

Remove magnets or notices from the fridge

We recommend staging your home or using a stylist to help your property appeal to a wide range of buyers

Think about painting over bold colours and dated wallpaper

Head to local open homes to get a feel for what works well and what does not

Property maintenance

It may not be necessary to conduct expensive work before selling your home however, small maintenance upgrades can make a huge difference to your home. 

Repair leaking taps

Replace faulty light fittings

Adjust sticking doors and/or loose door handles

Plaster over any small cracks or holes in the walls and re-touch paint

Bathrooms should be gleaming, repair broken tiles and ensure seals are in place

Consider getting your carpet professionally cleaned

Space and light

Create the impression of space by removing unnecessary furniture and ornaments

Open all blinds, clean the windows and surrounding sills

Trim any branches that may be overhanging in the garden

Add a mirror to smaller rooms to create a feeling of space

Install 100 watt light bulbs to brighten dark rooms

Consider hiring a storage unit to house unnecessary objects

Before every open home

Remove pet feeding bowls and if possible remove pets from the property during the open

Turn on lights in darker rooms

Remove valuable items from sight

Leave doors open so that buyers can explore the feeling of space

Make sure the temperature inside the property is comfortable

Highlight special features such as open fires or architectural quirks with the property