How to make your property stand out by changing your mindset
When you’ve lived somewhere and made it your home, it can be difficult to let go of that mindset when you decide to sell. In fact, it’s probably one of the most difficult parts of the selling process – changing your thinking from “my home” to “the buyer’s home”.
So, how do you move forward?
This is something that your real estate agent can help with and is a change in mindset that will benefit you as the seller. Once you start to concentrate on what buyers in this market will spend their money on, rather than what you love in your home, the easier and more lucrative the selling process will be.
Understand your target market so much you understand how they think
We can all look at local market trends and recent buyer patterns but you need to really try to understand who will be buying your home. Whether it’s young families, empty nesters, or even millennials, understand what makes them tick. What do they look for, what do they not want, and what are they willing to pay when they find something they do want.
Really drill your Real Estate agent to find out what’s been selling in the area and why. If that means you need to repaint your feature wall white or introduce more storage to get top dollar, then do it – as long as it’s worth it financially of course.
Once you understand them, how do you attract them?
The majority of the initial buying phase is conducted online, so how can you make sure you hook them in and attract them to your property?
- Videos and photos – these are really important and of course they are only ever going to be as good as the subject. So have a think about possible beautification tactics you can apply to heighten the curb appeal e.g. if you know you’re going to be selling in summer, plant some extra bulbs out the front or back to make the outdoor areas bloom in the photos.
- Think about things that no one would know but you – and communicate this in all of the advertising material. Things like how wonderful it is to watch the sunrise/sunset over the Sydney Harbour from the balcony or how much light the apartment gets throughout the day, even in winter.
- Make it look at easy to maintain as possible – the appeal of brand new is very strong in today’s market, after all there are a lot of brand new homes to choose from. So, if you’ve got an older style home, think about how you can make it feel brand new. It can be as simple as a fresh coat of paint, new kitchen doors, upgrading your appliances and fixing any building defects. You don’t want potential buyers to walk through and feel overwhelmed with the thought of what needs to be done, you want them to be overwhelmed by the feeling that they could just move straight in.
- Clear the clutter – whenever we move home, we’re always amazed by how much stuff we have. And most buyers are looking for ample space – whether that’s storage or living – to put all of it. So, create the visual proof that their life will fit by clearing cupboards and removing extra furniture.
- Create a show home – we’ve all been wowed by show homes. Beautiful interiors that make us want to move in straight away. Well you can change your home into a show home by hiring an interior designer for the time your home is on the market. You can even hire some additional furniture to really finish off the look. The only down side is you have to give it back.