Preparing Your Home for Sale

Did you know it takes as little as five seconds for someone to form a first impression? First impressions are crucial in real estate, especially when they are formed online where most buyers search for property these days.

This checklist will help you make the most of those five seconds by ensuring your home is showcased at its best and ready for sale.

1. Clean, declutter & depersonalise

Start by giving your home the ultimate Spring Clean. Get into the nitty gritty details by deep cleaning the carpets and airing out your home to appeal to the senses. Be sure to pay special attention to wet areas, such as kitchens and bathrooms.

Your hard work will not only set you up for success when creating your online property listing (especially when taking photos) but it will also make prepping for Open for Inspections a breeze. Plus, doing all the heavy lifting now means the process of packing up to move into your new home will be that much easier.

Decluttering your home will make the house look and feel bigger. Ridding of unwanted clothing, furniture, and other belongings can also be quite the liberating experience. Be sure to pack away personal items, such as family photos. By removing yourself from the property, potential buyers will be able to imagine their lives in that space rather than feeling like a visitor in your home.

2. Paint a neutral canvas

While your favourite colour may be neon green, your buyers may feel differently. It’s best to play it safe by painting over bold coloured walls with a lovely, neutral colour palette. Much like depersonalising your home, repainting your home in a neutral canvas removes distraction and enables buyers to focus on nothing but the house itself.

3. Style your space

Just because you’re repainting the house in neutral tones doesn’t mean it needs to feel sterile. People often buy into the lifestyle that your home provides rather than the property itself so styling your home tastefully is a powerful tool in attracting buyers. If interior design isn’t your strong suit, consider hiring a professional home staging company.

If you’re selling on a budget and can’t afford to hire a professional, you can certainly do it yourself. Add tasteful splashes of colour throughout the house with accent items such as couch pillows, throws, bath towels and bedding. Do your best to keep to similar accent colours throughout the home so buyers have a unified experience. Plants and flowers are also a fabulous way of breathing life into indoor spaces. Afterall, nature never goes out of style.

4. Replace dated fixtures & fittings

Renovations are quite the expensive tasks. If your home is a little dated and full renovations are out of the question, consider replacing dated fixtures and fittings throughout your home instead. Swapping outdated bathroom taps, doorknobs, lights and cabinet handles is a cost-effective way to modernise your home without burning a hole in your wallet.

5. Street view

Now that you’ve mastered the interior component of preparing your house for sale, it’s time to tackle what some people argue is the most important part of creating a good first impression, your curb appeal.

The facade of your home is the first thing buyers will see when attending your Open for Inspections, which sets the tone for what’s to come. What’s more, it’s best practice to make the front of your home the first image on your property listing, so the façade is also the first thing buyers will see when finding your listing in online search results.

Spend time in the sunshine by mowing the lawn and sprucing up your gardens. If your front lawn looks a little dull, bring some life to the house by planting greenery or adding pot plants to the veranda. Don’t be afraid to add a dash of colour with some lovely flowers, too.

Five seconds isn’t a lot of time! So it’s important to put your best foot forward to make a great first impression. After you’re through with this checklist your home will be ready for sale and buyers will be lining up to view your gorgeous home.