With 95% of home buyers searching online, it's absolutely essential to make sure your property is looking it’s best from the very second it’s uploaded for public viewing. There is no second chance at a first impression.
- First things first. Great presentation helps property sellers get a great price. Really great presentation helps sellers get a really great price. You only get one opportunity to present and market your property and there’s no second chance at a first impression. Everything you can do to make your place look and feel amazing is worth it.
2. Your main marketing image, or what we call the ‘hero’ shot will normally make or break your campaign. This will be the best image of your property and the one that instantly generates maximum buyer interest. Your agent will be able to recommend the best and most affordable way to shoot, edit and light-balance professional images of your property so they look amazing online. As you’re preparing, consult with your agent to identify your ‘hero’ shot. This is the main marketing image your agent will be sending out to the world. Work out what it is and get it looking as good as possible.
3. Select your agent as early in the process as you can. He or she will be able to help with everything from presentation feedback to suggesting improvements and sourcing suppliers and contractors. Make use of their resources.
4. Work with your agent and decide your ‘GO’ date. This is the first day you’ll be allowing
buyers to view your property so everything needs to be in place by then. Setting your ‘GO'
date in advance gives you a solid deadline to work towards.
5. Keep in mind, to achieve a top market price, 3 things need to happen: 1. You need to be noticed by one or more buyers. 2. Said buyers need to view your property and 3. Your buyers need to be confident and comfortable enough to make an offer or submit a bid. A correct marketing approach as suggested by your agent will often lead to multiple buyer interest and a bidding war.
6. How a home smells is often just as important as how a home looks.
7. Keep every surface as clear as possible. This includes kitchen countertops, bathrooms, tables and coffee tables. Clear spaces simply make a room bigger and brighter. Less is more.
8. Enable as much natural light as possible then look for ways to create extra light in darker rooms where needed.
9.
One of the easiest ways to influence overall internal appeal is wall space. If you and your agent think a fresh coat of paint will add appeal, go for it! Lighter tones like an off-white are proven to work best. In fact, I’m a big fan of painting everything white and letting art and furniture be the standout features. The photos look amazing.
10. If your home feels and looks ‘weird’ when you go on the market, don't be concerned. Living in a home and living in a home you’re selling are two different things. There will be some inconvenience but this is not forever.
11. Not sure about your price range? Try this; Jump online and search for similar homes in your area for sale. Imagine you are a buyer looking in that range. Would your home be on your list to view?
12. Never confuse the asking price of another property with an indication of actual value. The only accurate analysis is recent sales of comparable properties.
13. Every buyer shops on price because every buyer is on a budget. Pricing well above a logical range estimate means you risk taking your property off the buyer’s radar.
14. Every property for sale is marketed via a campaign. It begins and it ends but during that time everything matters and everything is important to your sale.
15. Your campaign will be based on a range of marketing methods to target and attract as many buyers as possible. Speak with your agent about marketing and what traffic you might expect from each method.
16. Going on the market without a For Sale sign will compromise your campaign and limit buyer attraction. Hot buyers will often ‘stalk’ an area looking for new homes on the market.
17. Each area has an average ‘days on market’ for a real estate listing. If you are still on the market past this time, then it’s usually cause for concern. Speak with your agent about a marketing ‘reset’ if you feel you’ve been on the market for too long. Keep in mind, real estate for sale has a use-by date too.
18. There is nothing wrong with a quick sale. Many top market prices occur within days of the listing going live because motivated buyers are ready and waiting to secure their next home. A property for sale is more attractive when it’s fresh on the market.
19.
Never hang around during a buyer viewing or open house. It’s distracting and may throw a buyer off. Let the agent do his or her job and focus on their buyers during a home inspection.
20. If you sold your property subject to certain conditions, which the buyer couldn’t meet and the sale ‘falls over’, then it never existed. Erase this from memory and move on. Contracts fail all the time for a variety of reasons. Put it behind you and work with your agent to make a sale that stays together. Don’t fall for the trap of clinging to a contract price that didn’t eventuate.
21. Monitor online visits to your listing. If you’re not getting page views there’s an issue. If you’re getting page views but they are not converting to physical buyer views, that’s an issue too. Speak to your agent and agree on a plan to fix it.
22. A series of price reductions sends a message to buyers that the seller has overestimated the value and likely selling price of their property and no other buyers are interested. Nobody wants a home that sits on the market but if one buyer wants a property then chances are another buyer will want it too. Consider marketing with a price range or selling by
online auction.
23.
Speaking of auction, keep in mind an auction works in increments from a conservative base. Many agents and sellers fall for the fatal mistake of marketing a property at the highest or optimistic end of the range thinking this will influence buyers. It never does.
24. A good
online auction campaign will produce at least one buyer at the final bidding stage. The owner can then decide if they wish to accept the price offered. Where no buyers are present on auction day, the reason is almost always because the property was quoted at a price in excess of buyer expectations. Agents call this ‘missing the market’
25. An
online auction works when multiple buyers continue bidding beyond the reserve price. This fully transparent selling method is probably responsible for more great results than any other single strategy.
26.
Ask your agent to explain the Buyer Enquiry Wave, which illustrates the average level of buyer interest over time in your area.
27. Complete any minor repairs required. Check light bulbs. De-clutter cupboards and shelves. Assume potential buyers will open every kitchen drawer and cupboard.
