Preparing your property for sale

You've made the decision to sell, but is your property ready? How can you, the owner, maximise the sales value of your property?

A lifestyle property purchase is an emotional decision…

People generally buy coastal property to enhance their lifestyle. They are emotional decisions and first impressions will, in the majority of cases, usually decide whether they like the property or not. When looking to sell, you, the owner, have opportunities to enhance the emotional appeal – the hook – that will entice your buyers. The first opportunity occurs at an external viewing of the property which may or may not lead to the second opportunity – the inspection. There is a great deal that you can do to lead prospective buyers from viewing, to inspection, to offer.

However, the majority of prospective purchasers, if they are at the stage of making an appointment to inspect, have already formed some attachment to the property by viewing it externally and making the call. So when they inspect the property they are looking at two things: what is right with the property, and what is wrong with it!

Preparing for external viewing:

When a prospective buyer drives past your property or views it on the Internet, will he or she get an impression of care, or perhaps of neglect? What can you, the vendor, do to trigger the desire for a full inspection? Are there visible factors that might lead a prospective purchaser to think that the property needs some work? Will they be trying to assess how much this work might be likely to cost, instead of focusing on the positive aspects?
Walk outside and have a good, long, objective look at your property…

Outdoor Entertaining Area:

Is the decking sound or rotten?
Do you need to replace a board or two?
Big visual surfaces are usually what catch the eye first. Is the paint peeling and chipped? To repair and paint it can be a very effective and low cost means of enhancing first impressions of your property.
Is your outdoor furniture showing signs of cockatoo attack and too much wear?
Has the accumulation of outdoor clutter gone beyond a stacked surfboard or two and the barbie? Try for a clean, spacious and inviting feel.

Gardens

A well-maintained garden not only provides instant and eye-catching appeal but also suggests the degree of care with which the whole property has been tended. A neglected garden, a rundown fence, can trigger negative responses, discouraging potential buyers from investigating any further.

Roofing, downpipes and external paintwork:

Again, do they send a clear message of good maintenance to onlookers or might they suggest a general lack of TLC? There are often low cost ways of creating impressive visual improvements. Talk to us.

At Great Ocean Properties, it is part of the service we offer, advising our vendors on the best ways to send a positive signal during that all-important first impression.

Preparing for inspection:

The following suggestions present simple, common-sense guidelines to ensure your property is at its best when prospective buyers arrive.Stand back a little in each room and look with an objective eye:

Look at the arrangement, condition and choice of your furniture. Your artwork. Is the overall impression one of clutter, or space and light? If you aren't sure, ask us.
Could the paintwork do with a touch-up here and there? Are there blobs of blue-tack on the walls in the kids' rooms? Wear and tear in the hallway?
Do the carpets need a steam-clean? Is your eye drawn to stains and signs of wear? In some cases, you might consider low cost replacement. The visual enhancement that a new carpet lends to a room can make this more than worthwhile.
Take a close look at the kitchen, bathroom, toilets and laundry. Any cracked, discoloured or broken glass and tiling should be replaced if possible. Change washers on those dripping taps. You don't want a prospective purchaser to be visualising all the things that need to be done (and what that might cost), so take time to fix up those little things.
Last but not least – is it clean? Really clean? Sparkling clean? What about spots of mildew around the bathroom fan? A build-up of grease in hard-to-get-at kitchen areas? These small things can lose you the 'hook' of emotional appeal, and lose you an offer. If necessary, consider hiring professional cleaners to get the results your property needs during a marketing campaign. Also, every house has its own unique fragrance. Some smell of cedar, some of the sea, but others smell of over-cooked cabbage, old fry-ups and dogs. A small point but an important one. If necessary, consider using an unobtrusive room freshener, such as a light citrus scent.