Prepare for Your Inspection
As a homeowner, you can play an important part in the timely sale of your property. By following some of these tips, you will help me sell your property faster, at the best possible price.
The easiest and most reliable way to improve the appeal of your home is to enlist a quality home service professional. The right professional can help you get everything in order - from repainting the kitchen to providing a thorough cleaning - so you can stay focused on more important things.
1. Make the Most of That First Impression.
A well-manicured garden, neatly trimmed shrubs and a clutter-free verandah create an instant good impression for prospective buyers. So does a freshly painted - or at least freshly scrubbed - front door. The fewer obstacles between prospective buyers appreciating the true appeal of your home, the better.
2. Invest a Few Hours for Future Dividends
Here's your chance to clean up in real estate. Clean up the living room, the bathroom, the kitchen. If your woodwork is scuffed or the paint is fading, consider some minor redecoration. If you're worried about time, hire professional cleaners or painters to get your house ready. Remember, buyers would rather see how great your home really looks, than hear how great it could be "with a little work."
3. Check Taps and Bulbs
Dripping water rattles the nerves, discolours sinks and suggests faulty or worn-out plumbing. Burned out bulbs or faulty wiring leaves prospects in the dark. Don't let little problems detract from what's right with your home.
4. Don't Shut Out a Sale
If cabinets or doors stick in your home, you can be sure they will also stick in a buyer's mind. Don't try to explain away sticky situations when you can easily plane them away. A little effort on your part can smooth the way toward closing a deal.
5. Think Safety
Homeowners learn to live with all kinds of self-set booby traps: toys on the stairs, festooned extension cords, slippery throw rugs and low hanging overhead lights. Make your residence as non-perilous as possible for uninitiated visitors.
6. Make Room for Space
Remember, potential buyers are looking for more than just comfortable living space. They're looking for storage space, too. Make sure your storage areas are tidy and free of unnecessary items.
7. Consider Your Cupboards
The better organised a cupboard, the larger it appears. Now's the time to box up those unwanted clothes and donate them to charity.
8. Make Your Bathroom Sparkle
Bathrooms sell homes so let them shine. Check and repair damaged or unsightly caulking in the baths and showers. Get rid of mould and stains. For added allure, display your best towels, mats, and shower curtains.
9. Create Dream Bedrooms
Wake up buyers to the cosy comforts of your bedrooms. For a spacious look, get rid of excess furniture. Invest in a stylish bedspread or doona cover with some feature cushions to create instant impact.
10. Open up in the Daytime
Let the sun shine in! Pull back your curtains and raise the blinds so buyers can see how bright and cheery your home is.
11. Lighten up at Night
Turn on the excitement by turning on all your lights - both inside and outside - when opening your home for inspection in the evening. Lights add colour and warmth, and make buyers feel welcome.
12. Avoid Crowd Scenes
Potential buyers often feel like intruders when they enter a home filled with people. Rather than giving your house the attention it deserves, they're likely to hurry through. Keep the company present to a minimum.
13. Watch Your Pets
Dogs and cats are great companions, but not when you're showing off your home to buyers. Pets have a talent for getting underfoot. So do everybody a favour: keep Kitty and Spot outside, or at least out of the way. Don't forget to also clean up their mess - in the garden and litter trays - before any inspection.
14. Think Volume
Rock-and-roll will never die. But it might kill a real estate transaction. When it's time to open your house for inspection, it's time to turn down the stereo and turn off the TV.
15. Relax
If you are present during an inspection, remember that buyers want to view your home with a minimum of distraction. Be friendly, but don't try to force conversation.
16. Don't Apologise
No matter how humble your abode, never apologise for its shortcomings if you are present for an Open House or Inspection. If a prospective buyer volunteers a derogatory comment about your home's appearance, don't respond and let me handle the situation.
17. Keep a Low Profile
Nobody knows your home as well as you do. We know buyers - what they need and what they want. We will have an easier time articulating the virtues of your home if you stay in the background.
18. Don't Turn Your Home into a Second-Hand Store
When buyers come to view your home, don't distract them with offers to sell those furnishings you no longer need. You may lose the biggest sale of all.
19. Defer to Experience
When buyers want to talk price, terms, or other real estate matters, let them speak to an expert - us!
20. Help Us
We will have an easier time selling your home if inspections are always scheduled through our office. You'll appreciate the results.
