Sydney property: How to prepare your home for market and sell for more in 2021
Sergei Ledesma and Cheryl Carcel have styled their home and ahead of auction next month. They are selling to buy a bigger place for their two children Ripley, 4, and newborn baby, River. Picture: David Swift.
Home sellers can pocket up to $100,000 extra for their properties with the right preparation, real estate stylists and agents have revealed.
Simple tasks such as decluttering the home and spending extra time vetting agents will have a big impact on the sale price, but are often skipped to the detriment of sellers, the property experts claimed.
The warnings come as property sales data showed the housing market has been heating up on the back of low interest rates, which have encouraged buyers to spend more.
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Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee said current conditions made it a great time to sell.
Using more modern furniture can make a home more appealing.
“High levels of activity has seen price growth in almost every single suburb, ” she said.
Ms Conisbee said it was important for sellers to take the time to prepare their home to make it stand out from the crowd given listings may increase over the year. “After a strong finish to 2020, we have already seen a record number of auctions take place in the early stages of January,” she said, adding that an auction campaign should be considered by sellers in the current climate.
“If you have lots of people wanting to buy, it makes sense to do a competitive process instead of selling to the first person,” she said.
Choosing the right person to market the property remained vital for the success of an auction campaign, according to Adrian William director Adrian Tsavalas.
He said the agent affected the level of interest generated and, in turn, the price. He advised sellers to read agent reviews, conduct reference checks and see how their listings were marketed. “An agent that sells every property in the suburb isn’t always the one to get the best price,” he said. “You want to select an agent based on how they promote their listings, quality of photography, language used in their listings, and if they take pride in what they sell.”
Mr Tsavalas said reviews from previous client often helped.
“Ask agents for contact numbers of past clients so you can conduct a reference style check,” he said.
Sellers were also encouraged to undertake their own research on local prices and avoid relying on the agents’ word alone.
With plenty of buyers in the market, sellers should look to sell via a competitive process such as auction. Picture: Jay Town.
REA chief economist Nerida Conisbee said it was a great time to sell at the moment.
“The market can speak in weird ways, so finding as many relevant sales in the month leading up can help set price hopes and realistic expectations,” Mr Tsavalas said.
Presentation is also a key ingredient to achieving success. Brand Collective founder Naomi Brand said sellers who style their home effectively stand to make an extra $100,000.
“We’ve seen people who spend up to $7000 in styling sell their homes for an extra $50,000 to $100,000 (more) than if they did nothing,” she said. “We’re also finding homes that are presented well sell quicker too.”
Ms Brand said sellers should declutter, clean surfaces and depersonalise their home.
“People want to imagine themselves and their family living there — but they can’t do that with your belongings,” she said.
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No. 7 Cooper Street, Redfern, has been styled ahead of its auction next month.
The Cooper St property is on the market with a $975,000 guide.
Ms Brand said paint is an easy product to spruce up outdated or tired rooms like a kitchen or bathroom. Reflective surfaces like mirrors were another secret to create light in dark room without needing to knock walls down.
Old furniture can age a property and turn off buyers. Ms Brand said a partial style with a few rented pieces can give a fresh look.
“You want to grab their attention and take them on a journey,” she said. “This is done through colours, lighting, furniture and layout.”
Ms Brand said sellers should show how their house can be used as a home office due to more buyer working from home at the moment.
Redfern couple Sergi Ledesma and Cheryl Carcel, who are selling their one-bedroom cottage to upsize to a larger property for their growing family, said it seemed to take a village to sell well.
Paint is a simple solution for homeowners looking to spruce their place up ahead of selling.
“When we found our real estate agent, he suggested we work with a property stylist, painter and a few other people,” Ms Carcel said.
“We were fortunate our agent had these individuals on speed dial which made our lives immensely easier.”
Mr Ledesma said it was crucial for them to find the right team to make the process as easy as possible, despite it being a seller’s market.
“We felt they were quite genuine and straightforward which we appreciated very much,” he said.
Their stylish Cooper St home is set to go to auction on February 6 with a $975,000 guide through Adrian William’s Adrian Tsavalas.