Follow These Simple Tips & Put Your Best Foot Forward
In today's market there is more to selling your property than just getting the price right. In fact, not preparing your property for sale, can leave it sitting on the market for a long, long time.
Whether you getting ready to have photographs taken, or eagerly anticipating the arrival of a potential buyer, then 'staging' your home is a vital task.
Photography
For every good 'property listing' agency on the coast, they appear to be outweighed by the 'lazy listers' who stand by the maxim "It's a numbers game. The more I list, the more I sell" with little or no regard to professionalism.
Just because someone has a fancy camera with all the different lenses and can say "I just need to adjust the aperture so I can enable the correct bracketing" does not make them qualified to put your property in the right light.
We use a professional photographer who speaks in this way but he will not photograph a property unless it has been prepared.
This preparation, should be done whenever someone is coming with a view to purchase...without fail.
I have lost count the number of times I have to deftly step over some discarded rubbish in the garden, or have the owner of the property say "Ooh! I wouldn't go in there if I were you. He's a lovely dog but not too good with people who wear glasses".
If I'm going to buy a house (or consider it) then I want to go into every room and look in the cupboards.
Not because I'm nosy but because I want to see what I'm getting. However, I always open a closed door with trepidation as I can get attacked by mops, boxes, and all manner of household goods that have been jammed in by the owner who's had a 'quick tidy'.
It's not rocket science.
No one is expecting you to make your property what it isn't. You can't change the size, the layout, the views or the number of bedrooms.
You can't make the terrace larger, the garden a different shape or pretend you have a private infinity pool if you haven't got one...but you can present your property in the absolute best light available to you.
8 Tips In Preparing Your Property For A Viewing
Whether you are preparing for photographs to be taken or anxiously waiting for potential purchasers to show up, it is well worth making an effort to do the following:
1. Tidy Up
Clear the surfaces of the day to day junk and clear the decks in all the rooms.
The people coming to see your property are more interested in how the property 'feels' than they are in seeing last weeks underwear on the back of a chair.
Remove the lotions and potions that you inevitably have lined up in the bathrooms. They make it look cluttered and clutter takes up space. Put them under the sink, put them in a bag and put them away. All those half empty bottles of shampoo on the bathtub. Move them all away
The old newspapers lying around. The rubbish that is waiting for the bin run. The pile of washing waiting to be ironed. The ironing board. The plates waiting to go in the dishwasher. The pile of junk mail on the table in the hall.
All of it. Move it away and get it out of site. In the bedrooms, in the lounge, the kitchen and the basement. Buyers expect to see signs of habitation, but they don't want to see a tube of hemorrhoid cream and last months Sur In English.
2. Open The Curtains
Daylight is a beautiful thing. Some of your potential buyers come from dark and gloomy countries and they are coming to Spain for the fresh air and the sunshine.
Even if your house is dark inside (which is a good selling point believe it or not) get those curtains open and the windows open too weather permitting.
You cannot make your property what it isn't but you can put it across with every advantage it has.
If the view from a window is not attractive, like looking directly at a brick wall, still open the curtains. The buyers will most likely look anyway and if they are going to buy they will have to look.
3. Move The Animals
We all love our pets and struggle to imagine life without them but not everyone will ooh and ahh when they see your pooch. Keep them away if you can. In the garden, next door, have someone take them for a walk.
"Fido's in the kitchen so I can't show you in there, but you know, it's a kitchen innit" - An owner
4. Flowers
If you can get your hands on some fresh flowers (without stealing them) then the splash of colour they bring to a room is lovely and the scent can add a touch of freshness too.
Stick some on the dining table, maybe in the master bedroom.
We have all been into someone's home, sniffed, and thought "what on earth is that pong?". Use some air freshener if in doubt
5. Lights
Most properties have dark corners where the sun doesn't shine, so even if its the middle of the day, stick the lights on...everywhere. Along with the curtains being opened allowing the natural light in, the added glow from lamps etc, can really add a fair bit of illumination.
Bedside lamps, free standing lamps, spotlights, ceiling lights. Turn them all on
This extra light is great for photographs
6. Clean the Windows
I know. It's a painful job but stick your earbuds in, turn on the music on, and just clean them. Inside and out. If you clean them, no one will notice, but if you don't clean them, they will.
7. Money
If you can, spend a little on making the house ready for presentation. Flowers, air freshener, a good carpet shampoo...whatever you need. It will unlikely be a great deal of money but the thought you put into the preparation of your property, will be reflected in the feedback from potential purchasers and will make the property 'a nice viewing'.
Yes, a coat of paint is a lovely thing to be able to afford to do, and it certainly helps to freshen things up, but it is not vital to sell.
Any self respecting estate agent will have prepared the clients with the ability to 'see beyond the furniture'. To be able to imagine what they could do with the property in general and picture its potential.
Not all properties need a coat of paint as some as in immaculate condition. If you feel yours could do with a lick of love, then if you can afford it then it will not hurt. It is, however, not essential.
8. Last but not least... be careful what you say!
Yes, I know. You need to sell the property and no one is more qualified to share the experience than you, right?!
Wrong.
Selling a property requires a certain skill set that not everyone has (even some of the agents haven't got them), so if you're not sure, don't try.
"It's OK. They don't sell drugs in this block...we checked" - An owner
The chance to step into the lime light and get your fifteen minutes of fame can be tempting. But, and its quite a big but, if you need to sell your property, then sharing the stories of the neighbour from hell, or the rowdy hen nights nearby, or the fact they found a dead body on the beach across the road, will not help the cause at all.
Let the estate agent do their job. They will know what to say, how to say it and when.
I for one, if I find the potential buyer verging on the positive side, will often leave them alone and let them have five minutes of space so they can talk between themselves without me hovering about.
The last thing they want is someone repeating how the window cleaner charges fifty cents per window, but he's a nice lad, so you offer him a cup of tea and maybe a bottle of wine at Christmas.
Putting your property on the market for a quick sale needs a certain approach of which the price is just one aspect. Making sure your property is presented the absolute best way is maybe just as important.
If you need any further help or no obligation advice, please feel free to contact us here at Terrasur Homes and we will happily make sure you are on the right track.
