Let’s be honest, we all want to sell our house as soon as we can. As soon as we make the decision to move to the new house of our dreams, we want to do it today. Not in 2 weeks’ time or 2 months’ time… but TODAY. We are by habit very impatient creatures. So what happens when we want to buy our new home but we can’t because our current home isn’t selling?
Here are 5 tips that you can easily do yourself that will guarantee the sale of your house in the shortest time possible:
Curb Appeal
What is the first thing that happens when buyers arrive at your house? They notice everything that is wrong with the house. Not how beautiful it is or how amazing the area is. They will notice that your gutter is skew or that there are weeds in your garden beds or that the paint is peeling in one spot on the wall. This is just how we are. So make your house as appealing as possible, especially on the outside or where your house will first come into view for buyers. Make sure you have fresh paint in these areas, and that your grass is cut and that your garden is weed free and newly mulched. Anything you can do to smarten and clean-up will have a huge impact. You may see it as having to spend extra money, but if it gets potential buyers through the door then it is a small price to pay.
Repair and Rejuvenate
Even the smallest thing like peeling paint on the front wall or a front gate that is slightly bent will make buyers think that the house has been neglected and that they will need to do a lot of maintenance on the house. When my Dad needed to move out of our family home of 45 years, it had been slightly neglected for a few years. My father was getting old and he didn’t have the energy anymore to deal with a big old house with a huge garden and pool. It stood on the market for 6 months without even one offer. My siblings and I then decided to spend a long weekend sorting it out. Luckily many hands make light work so we cut the grass, weeded the garden, mulched all the beds and trimmed the overgrown hedges, and repainted the whole house. What a difference it made! Within 2 weeks it was sold at the original asking price.
Stage the House
Many people don’t know what this is or it what it entails. Staging involves deep cleaning, de-cluttering, de-personalising, and arranging furniture in a way that makes your home more appealing to buyers. This is exactly what we did with my Dad’s house. We removed all the family photos and photos of us kids when we were babies. Buyers want a clean canvas to envisage their family photos on the walls and their family living in the house. We spring cleaned everything from the fridge to the carpets to the curtains. We pretended that Garden and Home were coming on the Monday to do a photoshoot and article on my Dad’s house.
Price it Correctly
You will need to have your house valuated by a professional agent in order to have a good idea what your house is worth. You can set the value a little bit higher than the value that was determined but make sure that it is less than other comparable houses in your area that are for sale. Then go and see what the houses in your area have that you don’t or vice versa. Just make sure that you are willing to be flexible on your price as you don’t want your house to be stuck on the market unnecessarily because of a few thousand rand.
Market your House
Obviously your agent will do most of this for you, but you can also market your property easily and for free by simply telling friends about your house and posting it on Social Media. If you have implemented all the above tips then word will spread quickly about how amazing your house is. Even people that aren’t in the market for a new house may have secretly been longing for your house for years. And then sit back and wait for the offers to come rolling in.