Presenting your home to sell
To avoid buyer’s remorse on settlement day, identifying the following presentation tricks can ensure you are not swept up in emotion and inadvertently overlook pertinent aspects of the property.
Undersized furniture is a developer’s favourite. If and when the final dwelling design creates small bedrooms or tight living spaces, appropriately proportioned furniture will be installed. Unless you can identify undersized furniture, you may find your standard sized furniture is too large for your new home, on moving in day.
Mirrors, lights & plants can be a mixture of light enhancement, or a clever diversion. Carefully placed mirrors can bounce light around an otherwise dark room, lamps in corners can mask the lack of natural light whilst pot plants create privacy and ambience that doesn’t exist once they are removed.
What’s not for sale? Many home buyers have fallen for a property based on its appeal in totality. The only problem with this criteria is the designer furniture won’t be there once the sale settles. Advice for novice public speakers is to imagine the audience naked. I am not sure if this is good advice for those in the public speaking space, but it sure is terrific advice for home buyers – imagine the home naked.
Awkwardly positioned lights and windows will probably sparkle on inspection day. Just ask yourself – how easily will it be to clean the glass panel in the 10 foot ceiling over the stair case going forward. Whilst you see sparkling windows and dramatic architecture at the open inspection, what you don’t know is the owner hired two extendable ladders and a trapeze artist to clean them.
Inspection times can have a huge bearing on the presentation of a property. Properties on busy roads will have strategically set inspection times during the day, avoiding the peak hour traffic. Those with east facing gardens will show early in the morning when the garden is sun-drenched. Apartments with south facing balconies will show in the evening when the city skyline lights are shining.
Every property has both an optimal and a suboptimal presentation time during a 24 hour window.
As a buyer, inspecting the property at 3 different times during the day will offer a broad perspective.
How will it look lived in? On inspection day, your eyes will tell you what is there in the home. Your observations will tell you what is not there but should be. It is customary for owners to declutter if not move out to get the styled look they want. Styling usually involves handpicked pieces of furniture that enhance the emotional appeal of the property.
Understandably, they won’t necessarily cater for the practical side of life such as storage space for sports gear, luggage cases and Christmas trees. Removing selected yet necessary furniture items such as a coffee table or dressing table can declutter a room for the inspection. Practically though, you will want and need those items when you are living in the property. If you are inspecting a terrace, identify where the bins live. As you tour a beautifully presented property, ask yourself, ‘how will it look lived in?’ and ‘what is not there that should be?’
Scented candles can create pleasant odours. They can also be used to mask unpleasant odours such as smelly drains, damp in the walls and moisture in the air. An owner is well advised to present their property in the best possible manner. A buyer is equally well advised to remain circumspect during their search.
When it is all said and done, residential sales contracts in Queensland are caveat emptor – buyer beware.
