Reply With QuoteHun, would you use a G'Borough agent? I have an excellent one. He is great. If he didn't come out to you, it'd be purely because you're out of his area. Actually there are two that I can think of - we'll talk. Surely one of them will do your area.
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DECLUTTER!
We are looking to buy a house, and nothing is more off putting than a house photo that has crap everywhere.
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Hun, would you use a G'Borough agent? I have an excellent one. He is great. If he didn't come out to you, it'd be purely because you're out of his area. Actually there are two that I can think of - we'll talk. Surely one of them will do your area.
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Oh how could I forget! Not sure if it's been mentioned but get professional photos! The difference is amazing
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I sold my place in Northcote last year.
1. Do your homework re agents. Research through realestate.com.au (or similar) what houses are for sale in your local area and then through reiv.com.au what sold and for what price. You'll get a feel for their approach. Many agents underquote and properties get passed in because people aren't prepared to go that high (particularly in today's market). Others seem to sell before auction for slightly less than I think things would go for (probably not wanting to risk an auction and losing out on a commission). Ideally you want to find a balance - an agent that sells property for a realistic/good price.
2. Do your homework re what's for sale. You will soon learn from other houses, how to present yours. Just look at the photos.
3. What we did to our place:
Repainted. We had neutral colours anyway but they needed freshening up. Both inside and outside.
Fix anything that needs fixing.
Declutter (we removed about 30 boxes of stuff and it was a pretty small house, you need to be ruthless), remove any extraneous furniture and decoration. Remove anything overly quirky from the house/garden.
We had our front and back gardens tidied up - new plants, new mulch.
You really do need to make it look like a showhome. That's what people expect.
Veggie garden I would keep if it's blooming.
Dog run - dunno, if it makes the garden look smaller that may work against you. Hard to say without seeing.
Our agent organised everything from painting to gardening to styling. We had some pieces of furniture brought in. A lot of agents offer this service these days in Melbourne.
2014 BellyBelly RAK Recipient.
Nay - spare room is back to becoming a bedroom already. All the office stuff is out of there - the desk already in storage and the filing cabinets in the garage.
OP - if the agent is good and is recommended, then I have no problem getting them out here, if they'll come
Fionas - thanks for the tips, re agents. The dog run isn't a run as such. It's more that we keep the dogs out of one section of our pergola/decking area so DD had somewhere outdoors to play without having the dogs in her face. The area the dogs play in has our built in BBQ, more decking and pergola, garden beds (with plants and herbs) and fake turf. That still probably doesn't give you any idea at all lol!
We've been toying around with ideas all afternoon, what furniture to remove (two dressers currently used for all our crockery and wine glasses can go) whether we just move out before we sell and then we don't have toddler, baby and dogs to continually tidy up after and we can get the house to spotless standards. I didn't really want to do that, but what's a few extra months right? I did mention we'll be living with my parents didn't I?
Thanks for the advice, taken stacks on board and starting to feel a bit excited about it all (and very nervous!).
If anyone thinks of anything else, or has another opinion, I'm interested!
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As a guide, keep the furniture that shows what the room is and remove anything that's optiional eg. lounge needs couch, entertainment unit - if the coffee table makes the area look smaller, get rid. Bedrooms need bed, bedside tables, if it's a big room then chest of drawers, otherwise get rid.
That makes it sound like everything will look bare but you add colour and movement with pictures on the wall and nice soft furnishings eg. plenty of pillows on the beds, cushions on the couch etc. etc.
We had a six-week campaign and during that time we were doing AT LEAST two open for inspections per week, one on a weekday evening, the other on a Saturday morning. We also did about five private viewings for people who couldn't make the opens. So yes, moving out may make it easier. But if you decide to stay, you'll find a way to make it work, you just do as much as it's daunting at the time. I was heavily pregnant, had severe SPD, could barely walk or bend, had gestational diabetes and was housebound with a toddler. No family support - we got through itJust!
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btw way lovely
i dealt with heaps of agents and can recommend ones to stay well away from and ones that were better than the worse (none of them were that great!!)
i rang up over 40 Real estate agent offices from you way out to whoop whoop and so many never got back to me!!! Some, espcially one company which do heaps of work out that way were absolute dodgy rogues!!!!
let me know if you want any help choosing an agent
and make sure you get a couple of agents out as well
btw their commission is totally negotionable too
we got ours for 2.0% where as my mum who sold with another agent paid 2.5%
Also where they advertise and what they recommend as a compaign can make a difference. Some do local paper, where as some so the local mag. Others do big publications.
Go for what appeals to you
also go through the local rag and see what type of houses appeal to you and what agent is selling them. They all present houses differently!
its exciting times ahead!!!
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keep some kids toys out - not a whole heap but some. makes it appealing to young famlies or grand pearants.
check everything works (we found our oven didn't work, when some one came though and tested it...as in the boyer!)
if they say "missionarys off to India" RUN AWAY (or maybe that was our bad luck, lol)
check out differant agancys - the one we sold for talked big. but sold us short (we think) and thier attatude towards everthing stunk to high hevean (if you want names PM me)
Oh and dont let them push you in to OFI at short notice.
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i wouldn't worry about getting rid of the 'dog run', it wouldn't be a big detractor if someone didn't like it.
do you have any travel pics you could put up where family photos are? i love photos, and don't think yours are too much at all.
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We sold last year, passed in at auction (4 week campaign), sold a week later.
My biggest advice is, once you are on the market ensure that your house is never any more than 30 minutes of cleaning from OFI standard! As a previous poster said, you can't be forced into an inspection at short notice but do you want to sell the house or not? Someone who wants to arrange a private inspection is generally pretty serious about buying, as opposed to the tyre kickers and neighbours who will turn up to your advertised OFI's. I have three kids, Miss P was only 6 months old, but you just have to make it work! Every time the kids make a mess, follow behind and help them clean it up. Wipe down the bathrooms each morning after everyone has washed and keep the kitchen clean and tidy. If we had an inspection at short notice, I always turned the dishwasher on! Nothing worse than looking in the dishwasher at someone else's dirty dishes... (The dishwasher was new and quiet!)
We did not take down our photo's. I did put away most of the toys and put the highchair away. But we were selling a four bedroom family home and most of the people inspecting it also had families. I didn't have anywhere to hide the Exersaucer so it was in a corner of the very large family room. EVERY single inspection someone used it to keep their bub entertained! (I thought it was a bit odd, but... whatever!) We also had a cubby, ensured that was always clean and tidy. The agent told us that the kids who came to OFI never wanted to leave!
Smell is really important. Fresh flowers are good, open windows if it's not too cold. I bought some really nice room perfume which left a subtle vanilla smell in the house, I'd spray it just before I left and the agent said that a lot of people commented that the house smelled lovely. Don't use something strong or overpowering, you don't want people sneezing their way around your home!
Definitely keep the vege garden, make sure it is well maintained and tidy. The dog run is a tricky one. If it makes the outdoor area look small, I would remove it. I think most people want to feel an open and spacious home.
Figure out what your target market is and adjust the presentation of your home to suit that market. Having said that, we were certain a family with young children would buy our house but we sold to a couple with a 20 year old and a 16 year old! They fell in love with the outdoor entertaining area and the new kitchen.
2014 BellyBelly RAK Recipient.
Thanks again for the tips
Fionas - that's my concern. DH spoke to an agent today and they were toying with the idea of putting it on the market earlier and allowing for sale time and settlement to cover me having the baby. I said I didn't want to be juggling open for inspections with having a spotless, shiny house, removing toddler and two dogs whilst being eight months pregnant, when we're not actually in a hurry to sell. So DH listened to me and we agreed that as soon as I feel human and find my feet with two children, then we'll put it on the market.
det - It's really hard here because we don't receive the local paper to the letterbox, and there isn't enough to go around if you collect it from the petrol station (maybe 100 are delivered there for this entire area), so I don't know how we'll go for local coverage. I suspect that we won't sell to other people in our suburb though, but who knows. I have a feeling I know exactly the agent you're talking about. Would be funny if it's the same one because we've already labelled them a no go zone
Dansta - LOL, thanks for the heads up about the missionaries!
HotI - We've got lots of travel pics, but we thought that in the entry bit (where all of those small frames are), I'll replace all the photos of DD and us with photos of the house being built and everything else will be replaced with generic things. Reckon that would work?
nickle - I totally understand where you're coming from, re the house being ready at 30 minutes notice. I don't want to turn anyone away, ever. I think it's going to be easier for us to move. We're only going to be 15 minutes away so if the agent rings for and OPI, I can dart over and open some windows, etc, but it should be cleaner for longer without us here. I'll probably change my mind a million times between now and then about that though!
I'm into the swing of things now. Packed up some kitchen things today, mainly cookbooks. Made room in the pantry for all our crockery so we can store a very large dresser we have. DVD's all out of their cases and in a pouch so we packed up all the cases and are trying to sell the two cabinets they were in. Once I start, I just keep going, we've moved through a few rentals over the years, so packing is almost second nature!
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You packed your cookbooks??? But I get my cooking inspiration from you!! Oh NO!!!
2014 BellyBelly RAK Recipient.
LOL!!!! I've kept the most used onesYou packed your cookbooks??? But I get my cooking inspiration from you!! Oh NO!!!
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