Selling Tips

Selling Tips

We often find that successful sellers have quite a few boxes to tick before they are ready to place a for sale sign on their property. Lack of preparation prior to selling can lead to a property not achieving the premium sales result you deserve, hence anytime you invest in this important step is likely to pay dividends beyond most seller’s expectations.

Here are some probing questions designed to help you confirm that it is indeed the right time to list your property.

Tip #1 Timing is everything

When is the best time to sell? Every home and suburb has its own clock. Getting this right is more likely to render the premium price you have no doubt heard of.

Sometimes it can be dictated by how much competition is around. Less stock means that there is more demand for your property.

It can also be determined by the season and where the buyers are during that time. Sometimes it’s much more strategic such as the upcoming announcement of a new private facility, a government driven improvement or the re-zoning of the area.  

Before you decide it’s time to sell, it can be prudent to consult with council on ear marked projects.

Tip#2 Identify your target market

What is the market that this home is likely to appeal to? Is it families with young children? Retirees? Holiday makers? Professional couples? Investors?  Developers? Renovators? Builders? Etc..

For example, a renovator is looking for a property they can improve and are less put off by having to do work to the home than the busy professional who wants to move in with minor distractions from their already busy lives.

Tip#3 Prepare the home for sale without overcapitalising

As a rule if you invest a dollar correctly it should render you two dollars on the day of sale. This concept should also be applied to the time you may need to commit to this. In other words if your hourly rate in your day job is paying you X you should calculate it and ensure that your personal time is included in this formula. As a worst case scenario if you invest a dollar you want to at least get your money back on the day of the sale. If after you do your numbers the answer is no then why do it?

There are some simple preparations that can be done at little to no cost.

  • De-clutter, clean and tidy. The more space a buyer can see without distractions the better. The cleaner your rooms feel and the tidier they are (gardens included) the better.
  • Re-purpose. Once you have identified your target market, repurpose the rooms to suit, if your target market is a young family you may want to turn the second bedroom from a study to a bedroom, if it’s a professional couple the opposite would apply.
  • Maintenance. Assuming that the home is not being marketed to a developer/builder/ renovator, it makes sense to make sure that basically it’s in sound condition, all light globes working, taps don’t leak, flyscreens in good repair etc.