Bringing your dreams to
Properly preparing your home for sale can be critical in achieving the best price in the shortest possible time. It can sometimes involve hard work and some expense, but it will always result in clear cut benefits at sale time. The following is a list of helpful hints to assist you in bringing your dreams to fruition!
Clear spaces and light Your property can appear larger and more spacious if you remove all clutter and extra furniture. This includes clearing bench tops, the inside of wardrobes and pathways. Pack away or store anything you don t need prior to moving to your next home. Make rooms as bright as possible by keeping shades and curtains open during the day and have all light fittings working sufficiently to provide good lighting at night. Clean and tidy Impress buyers by having every room and area of your home clean and tidy, not only will it increase the potential value of your home, it will save you heaps of cleaning time on moving day. Redecoration Even a small amount can make an enormous difference. It may just be a coat of paint to the front door or window sashes perhaps some new cushions for the lounge or some fresh flowers.
Looking good outside and the things you can do to help One of the major frustrations property consultants experience with buyers is drive-bys. After matching a buyer to a home and organising an inspection time, if the buyer then drives-by and doesn t like what they see from the street, they keep going and cancel the appointment. It s very difficult to overcome this type of initial reaction. A potential sale can be lost before the prospective buyer has even walked through the gate. Take a walk past your home from the opposite side of the street and try and see what buyers at first glance will see... Drive weeds or oil patches? Paths weeds? Lawn cut, neatly edged and weed free? Garden weed free? shrubs and trees trimmed? Roof moss free, free of flaking paint? Spouting leak free, clean? Fencing stained and in good repair? Your property consultant may have suggested specific ideas for your home and garden to improve the overall presentation of the property.
Early Stage Excitement The sign is up and the first advertisement has been placed. Sometimes plenty of people come through and all is going according to plan. If on the other hand, you haven t had lots of potential buyers through, remember it s not a reflection on you or your home. Once the initial flow of activity is over we find that some people can feel a real let-down because no one has rushed in and offered top prices on their home. If you ve had a lot of people through but it s starting to wane, it may be a good time to review the marketing, talk about it with your consultant in terms of demand, the market, pricing, etc.
Mid Week Activity We find some vendors get concerned that there is not as much activity during the week. Most buyers want to view your home outside the standard working week, so appointments after 5pm, during their lunch hour and on the weekend is more likely. If anyone wants to see your home during the week, we will be only too happy to show them. Sometimes you may feel it s not working, we ve taken all these people through and we are getting positive feedback on the house, but no one is making offers. Remember if you are feeling like this, tell your consultant how you feel. It may just be the type of market that you are in, they will be able to explain this to you.
Auction Slow activity is not a reflection on you or your home! Remember that a successful auction campaign is made up of three stages of marketing. Activity prior to auction day is only the first stage! Just Prior to Auction You may be nervous because you feel like you ll be on show on the day of the auction. Remember, there will be no surprises. Your consultant will meet with you prior to the auction day to sum up all the activity so far. You ll know what s happening all the way.
The Auction Day The on show nerves may arise again. It s not you who is up for auction, so it should not be taken personally if bidding is slow. See it as a time of gathering up further information about the current market and where your property sits in that market. After Auction Day So your property didn t sell under the hammer, this was only the second stage of marketing, now for the third stage. Your property consultant will now contact all those buyers who inspected your property throughout the first stage of marketing and those who were present at auction day. We don t put a price on straight away. It s better to keep working with the interested parties. Once all interest has been followed up on, use their feedback as an indication for pricing your property in today s market, then put a price on. Have patience here a high percentage of houses are bought within a few days after auction day. Yours may be one of them. If an offer comes before auction day, consider: Activity so far Other interest Time remaining until auction day THEN MAKE YOUR DECISION!
What Can I do... What if a buyer walks in off the street? This is your decision. If you are confident and happy that you can show someone through your property, then do so. It would be advisable to get their name and phone number before you take them through. As soon as they have looked through, ring your property consultant and give them the name and number of the person so that they can follow it up. This will not happen very often but if it does, your other option is simply to say, Please kindly ring Fruit Property, and give them your consultant s card.
What if a sign blows down? If the sign blows down or is damaged or crooked, then please ring our office and ask to speak with Client Care, who will then arrange to either replace the sign or have it fixed immediately.
What if my advert is wrong? This is not a common occurrence, however sometimes mistakes with the publishing houses are beyond our control. If your advert is incorrect, or you are not happy with how your property has been presented, please tell your consultant as soon as possible. Just a reminder While we will always do our best to make any changes you may require, please pay particular attention to our advertising deadlines. Change of photo, text or price may influence the number of people through an open home, so it is important to let your consultant know of any changes before the deadline. For example: If you reduce your price by $2,000 you would want this reduction to reflect in your advertisement.
What if my consultant turns up late? This is very unlikely to occur, however if you are concerned because there are people waiting to get through then use your own judgment. If you feel confident please take their name and number and show the people through your home, otherwise phone our office and we will send someone out immediately. What if I can t contact my consultant? If for some reason you need to make contact with your consultant urgently but cannot get in touch, please ring our office and speak with Client Care. They will do everything possible to either contact your consultant or resolve your issue.
What if I feel that there are not enough people coming through my home? If you are unhappy with the number of buyers previewing your property, you should discuss this with your consultant. This is a good time to re-evaluate the marketing strategy, looking at price and also the presentation of your home. Alternatively, you can review the marketing with our management team by simply arranging it through your consultant or ringing Client Care directly at our office.
I don t feel confident in negotiating Your consultant has been trained to help you through the negotiation process. Client feedback tells us that this is the stage where most people need some assistance. If you feel at any stage that you would like a second opinion or want some help with this, please don t hesitate to call Client Care or our management team. Helpful hints Use all the information you have... What marketing you have done Number of people through Time on the market Open home activity Price where did it come from?... when you make your decision.
What if I feel the price might need adjusting as the marketing progresses? Again, you have two options, either discuss this further with your consultant or ring our office and discuss your concerns with Client Care. It is quite common for vendors to have a go at a higher price, however if you feel the price may need altering, then ring your consultant or Client Care and we can make arrangements to amend all current marketing. Your property consultant will continue to monitor the market and discuss pricing if required.
Any other What do I do? that may arise It is our intention to work with you to get your home sold in the quickest possible time for the maximum amount of money. If there is anything else that is concerning you at any stage of the marketing, please do not hesitate to call your property consultant or Client Care.
Remember selling your home can be an emotional time! Communicating with your property consultant is vital! Remember at Fruit Property we work with you...not at you, so maintaining open communication lines with your property consultant will not only help us deliver a high level of service, but also give you the confidence and knowledge that we are working with you to achieve your goals.
When is enough, enough? When deciding whether or not to accept an offer, take the following into account: What type of market you are in buyers, sellers or balanced? How long have you been in the market? What marketing has been done to attract buyers? How many buyers have been through? What is their feedback? How much higher than the indicated market value has your asking price been? What offers have been made before the current one? Is there a valuation and what is it? How does all of this relate to the offer in front of you now?
Don t shoot the messenger! We will pass on any information or feedback given to us by the market. We believe we don t do you any favours by hiding or distorting feedback about your property. To help you to achieve your goals, we prefer to tell you what s happening every step of the way. You can then decide with your property consultant what strategies to employ next. Don t shoot the messenger, work with them.