So, you are about to sell your home. What is going to help you get the absolute best price? 

I have said this before, but it’s important so here’s a quick reminder. If you want to nail that top price, you’ll need to put the effort in and make sure your home looks as best as it possibly can. The key to securing the absolute best price is in the preparation. 

Key areas of preparation

  • Get those repairs done – Buyers notice everything. 
  • Clean, clean and clean – Your house is akin to a showroom during home opens. 
  • Get painting done – Fresh paint usually has the greatest impact. Don’t forget the skirtings, doors and frames.
  • De-clutter – Less is more when presenting your house for sale. 
  • De-personalise – We want the house to appeal to the widest audience possible. 
  • Utilise some staging – Staging paints the picture for buyers and can have a huge impact. 
  • Ensure there’s enough lighting – We love light and bright homes so let’s light it up. 
  • Get good photos – This is what buyers see first, and we all know the importance of first impressions. 
  • Day of home opens – The stage must be set well for the big day. 

If you can get these key areas taken care of properly in the lead up, then you are giving yourself the best chance in getting the absolute top price possible. Anticipating all the hard prep work will allow you to draw out an emotional purchase from one of your potential buyers. This is where you can achieve a really great price. Buyers might be inclined to think more objectively before coming to a home open but, by the time they have walked through, they often buy subjectively and with far more emotion after seeing and experiencing something they love. 

Marketing

Now, it’s not all about the preparation. The marketing must be good, or preferably great, if we want a better price. Marketing your property strategically to attract the right buyers, and lots of them, is a must!

Driving more competition to the home by spreading a wider net means investing in a good marketing campaign. Not all marketing items are appropriate for every property so my advice here is understand who your buyers are and then formulate a marketing strategy that is targeted to your market. 

Work with your agent here, but don’t be afraid to challenge them on certain areas if you are unsure a certain piece of marketing is right for your property. If it’s tried and tested, then they should be able to explain that to you, and hopefully give you some examples. 

Pick the right market to sell in

Trust your agent to guide you with their knowledge of the local market. The best time to sell is not necessarily the same for every property either as the property market is dynamic and different segments of it can be rising or falling at different times.

Each individual seller’s personal and/or financial circumstances may also have an impact on the right time to sell, but the obvious sentiment here is, if the market is booming then that’s the best chance you have of getting a top price for your home. It also might be a good time to sell if you aren’t in a highly desired property, for example, something on a busy road. I find that selling property on a busy road is far easier in a hot market than in a cold market. Those types of property get exponentially harder to sell in cold markets. 

Pricing

As I’ve said before, list low and sell high. We can’t dictate to the market what the price for our property should be no matter how much we love our home or how special we think it is. However, we can strategically price our property in the market which will let us generate the highest level of competition. In turn, this will give your agent a better chance of negotiating those offers to a higher price.

If we price too high, then we will narrow the potential buyer pool too low, and your agent will struggle to negotiate a higher price if there’s only a limited number of buyers around. You don’t want your house sitting on the market for months on end, you’re more likely to get a better price on your home if you set yourself up to sell fast. Show the buyers that you mean business.

Working with the offers

So, all of the above has gone to plan and your agent has brought you an offer, or maybe a few. Your agent should have strategies on how to deal with multiple offers but here are some general tips to make sure you don’t get stuck. 

We have said this a few times, but here it is again…the first offer is the best offer. Well, assuming someone hasn’t come in with a quick low-ball offer, it’s often your best offer. It pays to be ready to act quickly when you do get that offer. Buyers won’t want to wait around, especially in hot markets, so try not to drag things out too far, or at least be aware if you do, you may lose that buyer. Frequent communication with the buyer can help buy a little extra time so make sure your agent keeps them well informed. You usually don’t want to lose that buyer though, and remember sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  

So, to sum it all up, put in the effort and prepare your house well. Make sure it’s clean, bright, decluttered, depersonalised and presented in its best possible light for photos and home opens. Pay attention to the marketing strategy and make sure it speaks directly to your target market. Make sure the pricing is right, don’t overshoot it and finally, when that offer comes in, remember quite often there’s not a better one coming later. 

If you want to have chat with James about your real estate matters, he is happy to help. He is best contactable via email at james@mgpproperty.com.au or on 0447 120 125.

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