Preparing your property for sale is one of the most important jobs to undertake prior to placing your home on the market. We all want the best outcome with our potential sale and planning ahead can make all the difference when making the nerve wrecking decision to list your property on the market.
Thorough planning coupled with the right estate agent can greatly increase your chances of success when navigating this typically stressful process.
Styling Property to Increase Market Value
Keep the Potential Buyer in Mind
Take some time to do research into who your likely buyer will be. If your home is priced within reach of first-home buyers, stage the property to be attractive to that buyer. If your property is in an area popular with investors, keep your decorating clean and simple to help them see how easy your home is to maintain. A family home? Then style some of the bedrooms to help potential buyers imagine their children occupying the space.
Properties that are tailored to appeal to their target buyers are more likely to create a meaningful connection.
Image Sourced from Designing Divas
Maximise Space
Keep rooms free from clutter and bulky furniture to a minimum. You want potential buyers to feel at home so store personal items such as photo albums out of sight. If you keep your styling simple and fuss free, potential buyers won’t be overwhelmed by your clutter and free to focus on the positive points of your home.
Finish Those Odd Jobs
No one wants to buy a house that requires a heap of work before moving in. Finish off all those odd jobs around the home before you put it on the market in order to maximise that critical first impression. Homes that are ready to live in are considerably more appealing than places which require work so be sure to assess what needs improving before contacting an estate agent.
Find the Right Agent
Once your property is fit for sale, you need to find an agent who understands your needs. There are thousands of estate agents out there and not all are fit to manage the sale of your property. Take time to research the agents in your area on sites such as RateMyAgent. They receive over 2000 reviews each week from genuine vendors who rate their experience with estate agents.
The site allows you to see useful information such as the most recommended agents in your suburb, agents with the greatest number of sales, most number of active listings and the highest average sale price. All vendor reviews are linked to the actual property sold so you can easily find agents selling homes similar to your own. The right agent along with property styling can make all the difference to the final market value of your home.
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When and how to sell your home is a huge decision so know your options before you launch into the process. Take your time, style it right and reap the rewards.
Did you style your property prior to selling? Do you feel it made a difference to the result? Are you thinking of selling in the next 12 months?
Nicole xxx
This was written in collaboration with RateMyAgent as per my disclosure policy.
I’m obsessed with those house programmes like Selling Houses Australia, and it’s all about the property styling! It’s a total game changer and can make the difference between a house sale and house stale! I’m not thinking of selling, but if and when I am, I’ll be sure to refer back!
Sammie they are my guilty secret! I can spend many an hour watching those shows, I love them!!
I, like Sammie, am obsessed with Selling Houses Australia. It makes such a big difference to style your home for sale.
Me TOO!!!!! It really does, doesn’t it. xx
What a cool site to compare the agents in your area. When we sold our cottage house 6 years ago, we did a lot of things to get it looking good and it’s what secured the sale in the end.
It such a great idea, I spent an hour of so playing on there once I learned about it, and thought how much time and effort it could save.
Yep, Selling Houses Australia my favourite show too. I love it when the people get grumpy at Andrew when he tells them what’s wrong with their house. Hello? You’re the ones who can’t sell your house and invited him here. Anyway… yes, we had our house professionally styled when we sold it – cost a fair bit ($6k) but I reckon it was worth it – made the house look amazing. We also just bought a house that had been styled – didn’t look so flash once the furniture had gone – but no house ever does.
I find the grumpy home owners rather frustrating! But I love the show. We styled our previous home and it made all the difference.
Staging and styling makes so much difference – I couldn’t rent out my rental property when it was empty nobody seemed to have the vision for how it could look, so I furnished it with furniture, art and homewares and they couldn’t get through the door and sign the contract fast enough! Ill be doing this when I sell our home as well ?