How to get your property ready for sale

Great presentation is crucial to selling. In our experience at homes.com.au, a well-presented home that is professionally photographed will attract more clicks, meaning greater buyer engagement. This usually results in a faster sale for a better price, regardless of market conditions.

Why does this happen? Simply put, buyers are inspired by beautiful presentation. It gives them confidence in the quality of your home and helps them fall in love with it.

Putting effort into presentation ensures your property looks its best, with the greatest features highlighted and any negatives minimised. It also tells buyers that you’re serious about selling, which is especially important in changing markets when many sellers are simply testing interest.

Buyers stay longer at opens if a property is nicely presented. This is important because in order for them to truly engage with your property, they need time to imagine themselves living there.

Great presentation also means better photos. This is crucial because buyers will decide whether to inspect your property based on how good your home looks in the advertising.

“Click rates tell us that beautifully presented homes get more attention from buyers,” said homes.com.au Founder & Managing Director, Pat Carbone. “The higher your click rate, the more buyers you will get at your open inspections.”

Hiring a stylist is optional but many agents say their work can directly contribute to a better price. Stylists know so many great tricks and consider size, scale and colour for every room. If your property has several negatives that need to be overcome, a stylist can help you do that.

Selling is a serious undertaking and investing a few dollars in great styling, photography and marketing can help you make even more dollars on auction day.

15 tips to enhance presentation when selling

1. Declutter interiors as much as possible. Too much furniture can make a room feel very small and lots of ornaments can be distracting to buyers
2. New paint and carpet can transform a tired property into a fresh, new-look home. Alternatively, consider steam cleaning the carpets and washing painted walls with sugar soap to brighten them up
3. Go room by room looking for small repairs, such as cracked tiles, peeling or chipped paint, carpet stains, broken blind chains, torn flyscreens and windows or sliding doors that stick
4. Cleanliness is crucial. Buyers won’t stay in messy or dirty homes, so scrub every nook and cranny! Pay particular attention to bathrooms and the kitchen
5. Cleaning the windows will make a significant difference to your interiors, with more natural light immediately flooding in
6. Consider professional styling. This might involve moving some furniture into storage, hiring some modern pieces and adding rugs and cushions for colour and cosiness. Your stylist will do all of this for you!
7. Consider buying new lighting fixtures to immediately jazz up any uninspiring rooms
8. Consider small modern updates, such as replacing old handles on doors and kitchen cabinets with sleeker styles; doing the same with tapware and showerheads; and replacing white power point switch covers with stainless steel covers (available at hardware stores)
9. First impressions count, so it’s worth investing in your property’s exteriors. Mow the lawns, weed the gardens, prune the bushes, remove unattractive plants, invest in some mulch and add a few evergreen flowering shrubs to achieve inexpensive ‘wow factor’
10. Clear the gutters and consider a house and roof wash. A high pressure hose can easily remove caked-on dirt and grime from tiles, bricks and paint. You’ll be amazed at the results!
11. If your roof eaves are stained, paint them. Stained eaves can make buyers worry that the roof is leaking. Also consider re-painting the gutters and fascia boards if they are faded
12. Wash outdoor furniture and pressure clean balcony tiles, pavers and decking. Consider a new coat of timber varnish on decking, which can be easily applied with a small roller brush
13. If you have animals, take them out of the house for opens. Remove food bowls and kitty litter and deodorise the interiors. Bad smells can be very off-putting to buyers
14. If you have personal framed photos on display, pick the best ones and leave them in place. They can help create a happy, homey ambience for buyers
15. Fresh flowers always look great – place them on the dining table or kitchen bench