Presenting Your Property For Sale

Presenting Your Property For Sale

When you make your decision to sell your home it is important to spend some time getting it ready for market. You only have one chance to make a first impression, so a bit of effort in the weeks prior to the home hitting the market will pay dividends for you. Both in terms of getting the best possible price, and reducing the time to find a buyer.

Let’s go through the parts of the home and take a look at what you should do to get it ready for sale.

Kitchen & Dining

• Destock the pantry – to create a sense of space
• Remove excess items from cupboards and draws eg. Pack away some appliances and cooking equipment
• Have the benches as bare as possible – definitely no piles of correspondence, keys etc.
• Make sure the oven and cooktop are spotless.
• Remove paraphernalia from the front of the fridge - no magnets, no messages, no photos
• No tea towels hanging on display
• Remove dishrack from the sink
• Consider removing a couple of chairs or kitchen stools to enhance the sense of space

Bathroom

• Shower screens need to be spotless. If you use a shower curtain – consider buying a new one
• It is okay to have some towels hanging, as long as they match the bathroom décor. And only hang one or two
• Remove all products from the shower
• Minimal items on the vanity

Living area

• Remove knick-knacks
• Remove or reduce personal photographs – especially if you have a photo wall. It will make the room look much bigger.
• Remote controls need to be put away
• Consider the placement and amount of furniture. Removing a coffee table or armchair may help the room look a lot bigger.

Bedrooms

• Consider buying a new bed covering. It doesn’t have to be expensive, stores like Spotlight often have bargains. Plain white it a good choice with a few (not too many) colourful cushions.
• Reduce the number of items on the bedside cupboards and other surfaces.
• Reduce the number of items in the wardrobe. Aim to have them about half full, with the clothes evenly spaced. This will make the cupboards look much bigger.
Linen Cupboards
• As with wardrobes. Pack half the contents away.
• Try to have nothing stored on the floor

Garage

• Don’t have boxes of goods sitting on the floor. If you don’t have storage shelves, then get rid of all other items.
• Try not to have your car parked in the garage during inspections. It will make the space look too small

Windows and screens

• All windows need to be clean and undamaged.
• All screens need to be clean and undamaged – definitely no torn fly screens.

Gardens

• Lawn mowed
• Avoid putting patches of new turf in only some sections – it becomes obvious you’ve done this just for the sale.
• Consider a load of new bark chips on the garden beds. This will instantly upgrade even the worst garden beds.
• No weeds
• Trim plants that might be overhanging paths.
• If you don’t have a hose reel to keep the hose tidy, then don’t have the hose on display.

Styling

Professional styling can be quite expensive. Get your agent’s advice as to whether it is worth doing that in your market, for your house.
You can get a very similar result for far less by following the advice above. Get a friend who's opinion you trust to give you a really tough critique of your presentation.