First impressions always count. So perhaps this Spring is the ideal opportunity to enhance the appeal of your property, especially if your agent will be doing a tour of your home in the future.
Refresh
A freshly painted older home with neat gutters, a tidy garden with trees, lawn and shrubs trimmed, green grass and a sparkling pool with spotless surrounds will generally sell more readily and certainly at a better price than a modern-looking home with peeling paint, shoddy gutters and fascias, neglected garden and green pool, says Samantha Nel, Pam Golding Properties branch manager for the Southern Suburbs.
If you have put some paint aside, with the intention of getting to the job “one day”, you now have some time to give your home a new look. Get the whole family involved in removing weeds, trimming hedges and generally improving the appearance of your garden, especially if it is visible from the entrance to your property or the road. Homes with kerbside appeal are always more enticing to prospective buyers, adds Nel.
Simply grouping pot plants and repainting the pots, and perhaps adding pavers can create an attractive focal point. Many of us have extra pavers lying around in the garage, so this could be a fun activity to enhance your home. Moving inside, look through your cupboards and coordinate bed linen and curtains to create a restful impression.
Declutter
Good advice is to declutter all areas of the home and spring clean rooms, carpets, furniture, curtains and linen, where possible. In the kitchen, for example, pack away appliances to display attractive granite tops and cupboards and to create sufficient workspace – which is very important.
A new colour scheme for cupboards can make a huge difference to a kitchen with a dated look. If you have some extra paint lying around, you could give your kitchen an easy makeover. And bear in mind that chipped tiles create a very poor impression. Use any extra tiles you may have set aside to repair these. Also, ensure the scullery and laundry area is clean and neat.
Revamp
If you are feeling ambitious, why not do a simple kitchen and bathroom revamp by repainting or rearranging furniture, painting some doors and repairing hinges and rotating items such as bath mats and towels in the bathroom. Fresh towels should be neatly displayed and any children’s toys should be removed from the bathroom.
By simply repositioning or even removing some of the furniture and objects in a room one can more fully reveal its character and purpose and help create an air of spaciousness. Entrance halls should be light, inviting and again, uncluttered. When a potential buyer walks into your home they need to feel a natural flow through the house from the interior living spaces to outdoor entertainment, patio, pool and other areas.
Importantly, display the rooms for the purpose intended – a bedroom turned into a gym may not be appealing to potential buyers, nor a bedroom with a dual purpose as a study as the clutter of papers and office equipment does not create the impression of a restful atmosphere for a good night’s rest.
Depersonalise
Nel says that if you are seriously considering putting your home up for sale, start putting away personal items so that they will not appear in photographs or virtual tours.
While there is still a lot of uncertainty in the world today, we do know that technology-driven activity will continue, with a strong focus on online portals, virtual tours and digital showdays or watch parties. Now, more than ever, we need to be mindful of the way we present our homes to potential buyers, concludes Nel.
