Journal – July 8 2024
A Week in My Life, 8th July 2024
Each week I look at auction numbers, I find them fascinating. The other numbers I am spending time on currently are temperatures around and about our great state.
If it’s 1 degrees here, what is it on the Mornington Peninsula, or in Mansfield, that kind of thing. If you are thinking of selling is it something that you would take into account?
What else would be on your consideration list?
Temperature, local facilities, cafes etc?
When we sell we want to get the absolute maximum for our home. To do this, we need to do the hard yards, more than decluttering or presentation, we should look at the actual structure, all the little things that we ignore when we live in a place yet a buyer will spot.
Emphasis on the street presentation and the garden leading to the front door. First impressions. If a buyer finds a flaw then they will look for more. If the flaw or flaws are big enough then it will put them off buying or make them reduce the price they are prepared to pay. .
Before we sell we will be getting a building and pest inspection. I want to know what issues are likely to come up with buyers. It’s incredibly frustrating to homeowners when they think their home is perfect and the buyers inspection report comes up with a major structural defect or termites.
A major structural defect or active pest infestation can derail your sale and fast. It’s the unexpected, big things,the things we hadn’t noticed because we overlook the familiar.
Real estate agents bang on about your home being super clean and smelling nice but all that becomes irrelevant if there is a major defect. Before you spend thousands of dollars on prettying your place up, spend a few hundred and get a building and pest inspection.
Before you spend money on anything with your home, think about the outcome you are seeking. Are you okay to sell your home as is and accept a lesser amount? If yes, then invest minimal or no cost. If you are prepared to spend time and money to maximise your sale price then be mindful what you do. Some things will improve your home and some things wont. It can be a tough choice.
Having an idea about the possible sale price is good, it’s why people get an appraisal (an appraisal is free, a sworn valuation from a Registered Valuer is not). Agents will use recent sales of similar homes to estimate their price. They will also use data from corelogic or similar software. The only true sale price you will get is when you see what a buyer will pay but knowing what CoreLogic says is helpful.
When you find a treasure.
Working my way through all my cupboards, I have come across a few treasures, not $$ valuable necessarily, more sentimental.
When you work through your belongings in preparation to moving, if you find significant things then put them together in a box and label the box.
If they are more sentimental or historically significant like local photos of an event or even scenery with people in it, maybe a book written by a local or about a local person or place then please consider donating them to the local historical society. Often they can scan photos and give them back to you.
As a sellers advocate, I also appraise homes for clients. It’s one step of the process before we call agents in to view your home. We discuss the work to be undertaken (if any), furniture etc. Having gone through my own decluttering process, your clutter could not possibly be as bad as mine!
