FIRST IMPRESSIONS
You only have one opportunity to make a first impression and this initial feeling can set the tone for the entire buyer experience. If a buyers’ first impression is negative, they will often look for reasons to back up that impression as they inspect your home. If their first impression is positive, they are more likely to look for reasons to purchase.
PROPERTY PRESENTATION
Property presentation plays a critical part of the selling process as it directly contributes to the sale price of a property. Paying close attention to proper staging will contribute to how a buyer feels and it enables them to imagine themselves living in your home. This ultimately increases their interest in purchasing and could result in a premium sale price.
Property styling is about employing design strategies to attract strong buyer interest to your home. The goal is to redefine and maximise each space to highlight and enhance the properties features. Staging your property includes de-cluttering and de-personalising so potential buyers can envision themselves and their possessions in the home. Consideration is given to the correct placement of furniture, artwork and homewares that will improve the look of signage, web based and print images when it comes to marketing the home.
Professional Photography will make your property look fantastic and will entice more buyers to inspect your home. Buyers rate photographs as the single most useful tool in their website search. These images will directly influence a prospective purchaser’s decision.
PRESENTATION TIPS
Drive by inspections
Many buyers will do drive-by inspections and if your home’s street appeal isn’t great they may simply cross it off their list. Attend to fading or peeling paint, dirty windows, grimy external walls, overgrown gardens and broken fences.
Sparkling clean, light and bright
Your home should be spotlessly clean for inspections, especially the bathrooms and kitchen. Sparkling windows with curtains drawn are essential as they look great and maximise the flow of natural light. Attend to animal and cigarette odours, clean and deodorise the carpet and furniture and remove bathroom and kitchen accessories from bench tops and shower recesses.
Repairs and modern touches
Do a room by room inspection and make a list of all the little things that require attention. Look for chipped paint, cracked tiles and stains. Take action and rectify these maintenance issues. If you’re repainting, go for light coloured neutral tones. Replace damaged and outdated light fittings with modern ones to add a ore up to date feel. Create a feeling of space Less clutter enables the true space of your home to be seen and appreciated. Remove ornaments, family photos and extra furniture. Kids rooms are often the worst offenders when it comes to cluttered spaces. Aim to clear away as much ‘stuff’ as you can from every room.
Limit the amount of furniture
Display only the minimum amount of furniture that is needed in each room to avoid overcrowding a space and making it look smaller.
Keep bedrooms simple
All you really need is a bed and bedside tables and lamps. Don’t clutter a small room with a tallboy or other pieces of furniture. Keep it simple.
Keep colours light
Bold colours and patterns can make a space look smaller and might not appeal to all buyers. An all-white scheme will make a room appear larger. However, include some pops of colour so it doesn’t look too bland.
Use mirrors
Mirrors help reflect both space and light and are one of the simplest ways to instantly make a space look bigger and brighter.
Make the most of natural light
It’s no secret that the first thing we do as real estate agents at an open for inspection is to open up all the blinds and window coverings. If there are areas of your home where privacy isn’t an issue, then it might pay to remove any window coverings that obstruct the amount of light that comes in.
The outdoor room
The garden, alfresco dining, entertaining and swimming pool areas are incredibly important selling features of your home. Many times a sale can be made when the buyer first steps into the backyard. They look around the garden and visualise themselves having barbecues, entertaining family and friends and playing with the kids. Remove any clutter from decks, wash and clean outdoor furniture, mow the lawns, trim trees and hedges. Remove all pool equipment and ensure the pool is sparkling clean.
Enhancing the presentation of your home is definitely worth your while. You will be surprised at how much additional appeal you can create with a little bit of work and expense. More importantly, a higher sale price may be achieved because of your efforts.
Take advantage of the agency’s experience and expertise to guide you through what needs to be done well before the marketing campaign is due to commence.