Rhys' Top Tips
For Home Sellers
Be Prepared
When it comes time to look at selling any property, whether it be an investment or your home. There are the common components to getting the property ready for sale, like cleaning and decluttering. But there are a couple of lesser known, but equally important elements I like to put on the radar of my sellers.
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Do you have a copy of the building plans for the property?
Building plans are fantastic for a couple of reasons. Should a prospective buyer have any concerns about approved structures, they will be able to reference for themselves. Having this information available fuels confidence for the buyer, in turn helping you as a property seller, get an unconditional result sooner.
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The plans may also be used to prepare floor plans for the property. They are without a doubt great to have if you have them and worth obtaining from the local council if you don’t
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What is working or not working on your property?
Most buyers will expect an electrical, plumbing and gas general working order clause on the purchase contract. It worth inspecting your property closely for any faults or signs of partly faulty elements. As your agent, we can help you arrange for trades to fix any known faults, or we can ‘contract out’ of having these items being included in the general working order clause.
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Strata Documents – Hold on to the minutes and financial statements!
If you are selling a strata titled property, make sure you don’t delete emails with the Minutes from the meetings and financial statements. If you only have hard copy of these documents, I suggest scanning them so you have digital, share ready copies ready to go. As much as strata companies are obligated to share these documents if you require copies of them, they may charge you a fee to re-provide you with these documents.
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Any "quirks" or differences?
Do you share a bore with a neighbouring property? Are your car bays NOT your lot number? Was there anything your agent failed to tell you when you purchased the property that you wish you were told? We don’t want you to have any surprises during the selling process and the best way to ensure that is to disclose any material facts to a potential buyer.
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All your preparedness will add to our preparedness when it comes time to sell your home
Presentation and Maintenance
It would be an omission to not include presentation and maintenance in a guide for property sellers, even if it’s in every ‘Guide for Sellers’. But here are some specific nuggets I hope will help.
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How Will Your Home Look from A Buyers’ First Impression?
It starts from the front yard. Even a green thumb won’t want to see overgrown shrubs and weeds in the gardens. Investment into mulch and gardening goes a long way to give a great first impression to buyers.
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For City of South Perth residents, you can find information on green waste collections here.
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For City of Belmont Residents, green waste information on their bin system can be found here
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And City of Canning Residents can find information here.
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Paint and Floor Coverings
It’s amazing how much different a lick of paint makes. Whether it’s just a couple of walls or the entire house, if you think it needs doing, it probably does.
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Painters are always busy, but we have painters who do a great job and price fairly. If you need help organising someone let me know. Painting a home can transform the feeling you get from a home.
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As for floors, maybe they could simply benefit from a good, professional clean. Every property is different but together I can provide you with guidance on what investment will yield the best result.
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Staging, Hire Furniture and Virtual Furniture
Is the property is vacant or only partly furnished? On most occasions, the first time a buyer will notice your property for sale is online. It’s important to consider the first impression your property will make with prospective buyers and the images used online often form part of this first impression.
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The right furniture (the key word being ‘right’) can make a significantly positive first impression, it can also help support a positive ‘impression of value’ on a home. I have never had a property seller regret investing into staging a home. Not only can it help deliver a great sales result, but also a quicker sales result.
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Sometime staging a home isn’t always possible, the next best option might be ‘virtual’ furniture. Several years ago when virtual furniture first came on the scene it looked fake, but now days I have had buyers think the virtual furniture was real! I’ve even had sellers start their marketing campaigns without virtual furniture before changing their minds and having virtual furniture put into their photos which have seen their level of enquiry increase and sell their home WITHOUT adjusting their pricing.
Have You Found These Tips Helpful?
These points just scratch the surface on how I can assist get any property ready for sale. We take your prep work and your efforts into presentation and maximise their impact. We do this by making sure we are experts on your home and look at all the ways we can build on the perception of value of your home, giving buyers confidence to move and make offers.
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I’d love to hear from you, please let me know if a move is on the horizon for you. Getting the absolute best selling result for your home starts now. 😊