House presentation hints

First impressions count! You need to be brutally honest with yourself and look at your property from a potential buyer’s point of view. Aim to create a welcoming homely environment. The little things do matter to the astute buyer. A clean well presented home can make a big difference in the price you achieve when selling your home. A well presented home can achieve thousands of dollars above expectation and a poorly presented home can sell for well below expectation. Remember buyers will judge on appearance.

Your aim is to make the potential purchaser feel warm and fuzzy about your property. You want them thinking that they could live there. Once they feel right about the property they will start picturing their furniture in it.

  • If there are repairs to be done to the property and they are within your budget, do them. Fix the loose knobs, squeaky doors, patch and repair the wall, fix leaking taps and discoloured sinks and fix and remove broken fittings.
  • Consider a quick repaint in neutral colours that will fit in with any buyer’s colour scheme.
  • Put your garden gnomes and tyre swans in the garage since you want purchasers paying attention to the house and not your décor.
  • Remove any signs or posters that may be controversial or offensive to people.
  • Clean up after pets. Pick up dog poo since you do not want the lasting memory to be what they brought home on their shoes, remove kitty litter and hide half eaten bowls of pet food.
  • Clean away the cobwebs and wash down the dust and grime from the inside and the outside of the property, paying particular attention to the front door as that is the first impression for the purchaser.
  • Repair screens and windows so that they are functional.
  • If needed, have your windows and carpets professionally cleaned and get oil stains removed from driveways and carports.
  • Glue back peeling wall paper.
  • Make sure the lawn is mowed and cut and trim garden shrubs where necessary.
  • Open the windows and air out the house.
  • Analyse rooms and remove items that make the room look messy, small or overcrowded.
  • Impress purchasers with a spotless and uncluttered kitchen (they look more spacious).
  • Clean the oven, pantry, and cupboards as potential buyers will notice.
  • Organise closets to show off storage space.
  • Tidy up cracked tiles in the bathroom they look unhygienic.
  • Clean mouldy showers, shower curtains and ceilings in the bathroom.
  • Remove all dead or dying pot plants in the house or garden.
  • If the garden plants are dull, add a bit of colour with some flowering plant.
  • Remove mouldy or over-ripe fruit in the fruit bowl. A bowl of fruit can be used to add a bit of colour to a plain kitchen.
  • Remove personal information stuck to the wall, refrigerator or lying on the kitchen bench as they tend to make the kitchen look untidy.
  • Smoke outside.
  • Make sure the house is safe and that there are no accidents waiting to happen.