The process of selling your home

If you’ve decided that it’s time to sell your home, the process can be daunting. This is where Infolio can lend a helping hand. Our experts can take care of everything on your behalf, allowing you to relax until your property has been sold. Failing that, we’ve put together a seller’s checklist for those who’d rather go it alone.

Here are eight things you’ll need to remember if you’ve decided to sell your home.

Research the market

While you may have heard rumors of how much alike homes in the neighborhood have been selling for at auction, more needs to be considered before you advertise your own. You’ll need to have a thorough understanding of what people are looking for, and how quickly they will buy. Is there a property shortage? Is your suburb up-and-coming? What might your property have that others don’t?

Once you’ve established your property’s place in the market, you can start to look at the presentation of competing vendor’s homes. Keeping an eye on what others are doing allows you to figure out what looks good, what looks bad, and what you can do better.

Browse real estate agents

The best place to meet a real estate agent is at an open for inspection. Meeting them in this context allows you to see their true talents (or lack thereof) on show. After attending a few inspections you can establish the market leaders and the not so great performers. To determine who is going to take their job most seriously, monitor who calls you back after inspections, who follows you up prior to auction, and who invites you back to the property for a closer look around.

This stage is about figuring out who will work best for you. Who would you trust talking to your buyers? Your agent can make or break the success of your sale; put your property in the most professional of hands.

Interview the agents

It’s important to make sure the person you hire knows what they are doing. By conducting an interview before hiring your agent, you’ll be able to determine if they’re the right person for the job. Some of the most important questions are:

1.    Who will be at your open homes?

To give yourself the best chance at finding a serious buyer, you should select an experienced, senior agent to represent you. Make sure that an office junior will not be conducting your open homes. Another important thing to consider is language. If you live in an area with a high percentage of overseas buyers, you may need a multi-lingual agent to represent you.

2.    Who will be your auctioneer?

If you’d like your home to go to auction, it’s important to establish who will lead the day’s proceedings. Only a specialized auctioneer will know the best tactics to secure you the best price.

3.    What is the marketing campaign & budget?

Marketing plays an important role in achieving a successful sale. The agent you hire should be able to recommend a marketing campaign that is most suitable for your property. Make sure that the program outlines: period of promotion, media used (ensuring Internet is included), and the cost of the campaign.

4.    Does the agent have a database of qualified buyers?

Sometimes the best offers will come early in the campaign, often from buyers who’ve recently missed out on another property. A clever, active agent will have a list of these buyers ready for you to meet.

5.    Does the agent work with professional buyer’s advocates?

Good buyer’s advocates represent qualified buyers looking in your area. Advocates are quick to act on good quality property and can often secure you a sale without the fuss of countless open for inspections. Meeting buyers via advocates could also save you a considerable amount on advertising bills and marketing paraphernalia.

Present the home for sale

First impressions are lasting impressions, especially when it comes to property. Your agent should offer you a stylist to help you with presentation tips, but in simple terms, you need to de-clutter. Consider the following:

• Clear surfaces like tables and fireplaces of unnecessary items
• Limit the amount of bulky furniture in each room
• Steam clean your carpets
• Consider hiring a storage facility for a few months to illuminate clutter
• Tidy your garden
• Put down tan bark/stones in your yard where appropriate
• Add flower beds or pot plants to brighten up outside spaces

Be aggressive about price

Have a clear expectation of what you and your agent agree is a reasonable target price. Every market is different, so this may mean asking for a fixed price, quoting a price range, or outlining an ‘in excess of’ figure. You’ll need to study your market and the prices quoted to determine what system will work best. It’s also worth asking what method your agent recommends, and why.

Keep up appearances

There’s no point getting your home ready to sell if you don’t maintain its appearance. Keep your home neat and tidy, ensuring it’s available as often as your agent needs it. This may seem inconvenient, but you’ll want as many buyers to view your property as possible. This means allowing agents access when they need (within reason, of course).

Consider early offers

It’s important to carefully consider any early offers you receive. If the first bid allows you to achieve your goals, you should think about selling sooner rather than later. The highest price will often come when your home is fresh on the market, not when it’s been listed for months on end.

Listen to your agent

Before your home goes to market, there are a number of things you need to cover. There are legal requirements to fulfill, marketing plans to design, and the house itself to prepare. With so much to consider, it’s important to listen to your agent’s feedback, having weekly meetings with them to discuss the process of your sale.

In the end, the groundwork you put into preparing your property can be the difference between a standard price and a great one. We hope that our checklist helps to guide you along the way.

Sincerely yours,

Infolio