Tips when selling your home

[Julie-Ann]

Do you have any tips for when you are selling your home?

My local real estate agent sent a leaflet with some tips for selling. My favourite was:

Play down the scent. No more bread or coffee makers! He also points out many people are allergic to scents so plug in air fresheners, candles & perfume aren't suitable.

Love to hear your suggestions.

[rachel]

I agree with you, Julie-Ann, those plug in air fresheners are a major turnoff for me (the chemical smell irritates my eyes and nose and makes me think - what are they hiding?).

Cross-ventilation with doors and windows open is great - with light perfume of flowers from the garden coming in. Lots of natural light.

Minimise the stuff - remove photos unless you're super attractive and you think people will want to imagine themselves living in your house and being you. ;)

Be prepared for the fact people *will* open wardrobe and cupboard doors. Storage is an important factor when buying a house and people will look. So don't have oodles of stuff piled up and ready to fall out on top of them! Not a good look and will also make it look like there isn't enough space.

Pack up as much as possible before an open home. (things like out of season clothes, knick knacks etc - get them out of the house)

Another big tip: don't be there for the open home. It can make people really uncomfortable if they know the owner is around.

A clean, "easy care" look is a great thing to go for.

[Julie-Ann]

For a couple of years we went through a period of moving and selling houses.
My son came up with some creative ideas of where to stash his mess that you might find helpful. He did such a good job people often commented to the Real Estate Agent did a child really live here? His favourite was in his pillow slips, you can put some bulkier items at the back. Flatter items can be stored under the quilt, just avoid obvious bumpy items. He also would get a large throw rug he had and roll items in the rug and store that under the bed. I didn't find out about any of these places until I overheard him telling a friend whose parents were selling.
I also became a little creative and would store dirty dishes in the fridge. People will open your cupboards and even the dishwasher but not normally the fridge.
My husband's secret area was the boot of the car.
Just a few ideas if your selling.

[Rubyfig]

One thing I've noticed real estate agents seem to turn on every light even on bright days.
We have planted some annuals out the front for extra colour as well as just keeping it tidy.
Our real estate agent also said to put on soft music, and when it was cold to light the fire. There have been more people coming to our home opens lately so fingers crossed we will sell soon.:)

[Julie-Ann]

There were a few new homes for sale near us this weekend with most of them selling already:D.
So being the nosey person I am I had a look through some. There were some homes that were very stark and lacking any warmth but others had a real loved feel about them. I especially noticed the bunch of fresh flowers on the table and the fresh fruit in a bowl on the kitchen bench top.
Does anyone have any other tips?

[sunnyroadmum]

When we sold our house a few years ago I always had a clean set of towels for the bathrooms to pop on when the house was open (or ready for a private appointment) I bundled up the towels we were using and put them in the car, leaving the fresh dry clean towels for others to see :)

Also, I think removing clutter and keeping your wardrobes and cupboards neat and tidy and not too full is a good idea - people need to be able to see that they can fit their stuff in there, but I think its good to leave some of your personal touches (a few photos, knick-knacks) that show it's lived in, but people can still imagine themselves/their furniture in there.

One of my bug bears is real estate agents who take photos for the listing of your furniture, without showing the actual house - drives me mad and so many of them do it...you know a picture of chair in the corner of the room???

[yvette72]

Have been a ex real estate here are a couple of tips.
1.put all small things away
2.declutter your home as much as possible
3.first impresses count

[Annie X]

We were lucky to be able to move into our new house before putting our old house on the market. My single, extremely organised brother in law moved into our old house while it was for sale as he was still living at home. He took the minimum amount of furniture, which made the house look lived in while not being cluttered. He would also spray eucalyptus or tea tree around the house for a fresh scent. Selling with an established tenant was a bonus for us as we managed to sell to an investor. :D

I get migraines from coffee, even the smell can trigger sweats and blinding headaches. The amount of home opens we had to walk out of when we were looking to buy due to the 'fresh coffee' was ridiculous. I ended up ringing an agent and explaining my problem, so we ended up with alot of appointments instead of having to attend home opens. (Yes, I have to avoid the larger shopping centres due to this problem too).

[Julie-Ann]

Such great tips.
Sorry to hear about how coffee affects you, that must be difficult to cope with:(.

[Elements]

I was once told if someone comes for a 3rd look they won't purchase.
They will see to much and they were not serious enough to consider it on the 2nd look.

[Julie-Ann]

My DH was a real estate agent for a few years so sold our renovated properties. Mr 16 and I would sit outside and watch the people going in. We had a theory that if on a 2nd visit the person was more than 25 mins they would put in an offer. We had a 100% success rate to our theory:D