One of the most common things I get asked as a Real Estate Agent is “Do you think there is anything I can do to maximize the sale price of my property,” To this my answer is always YES!!
The first thing I advise my vendors is to attend to all those small ‘niggly’ jobs that they have been avoiding for the last couple of years. Like the sticky window that needs a quick plane, replacing the piece of glass that has a crack through it, resealing the joints in your spouting that drip when it rains. These are things that buyers are noticing in today’s market. They will notice the dripping spouting in winter, and a savvy buyer will open all the windows in a home and when they find faults they start mentally adding up the cost and time of rectifying these issues and if there are too many they will simply walk away saying that the home needs too much work for our busy lives.
The next thing I address is the amount of furniture there is in the property as well as its position in the house. What we want to create is a sense of space and sometimes my vendors need to hire a storage shed to be able to re-home 1/ 2 of their possessions (to this I say “well you will be ½ packed and ready to move into your next home”). But the last thing a buyer wants to do is walk into a home and feel that it is too full or that they feel they are going to damage something. A buyer wants to be able to walk around and be able to visualize their furniture in the home. Not feel like it is a cramped space and that everywhere they turn, they might knock something over.
Furniture placement is very important as well, it has to be in the right place to make the room look practical and spacious, and yes sometimes that means that the TV is not the focal point of a room.
One other piece of advice, is to remove net curtains and make sure windows are clean, prior to hitting the market, what you want is the absolute maximum amount of sunlight streaming into your home. No one likes a dark home and this is a perfect cost free way to enhance the value of your home. Just ask yourself ”Is good sun important to me?” the answer is most often YES!
The final piece of the puzzle is Photos. This is, in my opinion, the most crucial part of your marketing. If you have bad photos the buyer will automatically discredit your home because the photos are dark, don’t show enough information or are in the wrong order. I always recommend my clients get a professional photographer in to do all the photos, and there are many that specialise in home photography. I do not recommend using Uncle Bob to do your photos. He might be a great hobbyist photographer but he won’t understand the angles to get the maximum benefits and he wont be able to enhance each photo to soften or harden different textures or lighten shadows. Although I must stress that we can’t edit anything out like power lines etc, I’m talking about making the photos pop out of the screen with clarity. I personally use Open2view.com for a lot of my clients photos as they have extra add-ons like 3D tours and extra website access.
By doing all of these things you will present a quality home that appears well maintained and presented. Where the buyer will have every reason to want to purchase your home.
Written by Brad Sketcher
Brad Sketcher is a Licensed Real Estate Agent with Tommys Hutt Valley. Brad and his Team are able to cover all of your Real Estate needs and advise on all things property either locally from Eastbourne through to Te Marua or nationwide through our relationship with the Realtors Networking Group. Brad has extensive Social Media knowledge and can advise on specific Social Media Campaigns for your home for maximum exposure. Follow Brad on his Social Media page or feel free to call him on 021 586 423 or email on brad@tommyshv.co.nz
The information contained in this article is of a general nature and should not be taken as advice. It reflects the opinions of the writer only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of New Zealand Home Loans.
