Selling A Home – To begin, it is important to state that this is an opinion piece and should not be taken as fact or legal advice. We strongly recommend you consult the relevant professionals to make informed decisions when selling property.
Selling property definitely has a level of skill to it, but it also sometimes comes down to things outside of your control – or in other words, luck. With that said, it’s always good to try to improve your odds and make your own luck when something is more of an art than a science.
Timing
Before you make the decision to sell your home, you need to make sure you have the timing right. This isn’t just restricted to thinking about what time of year is the best time for your property to sell well, but includes the wider picture. Obviously the wider picture can be hard to see and even harder to predict, but it is definitely something that you should consider. Here are a few examples to get you started:
The Market
The property market has its ups and its downs, and you have to do your best to not get caught out by this. It can be a bit of a guessing game at times, making it hard to navigate, but you might get a lucky break. Lots of people do see a positive return from their initial investment and that’s great. The flipside is that some people lose money because they’ve sold at the wrong time – this can be something as simple as holding out for an unrealistic price being met while house prices in the area drop (sometimes as much as around $100,000). Whether you can afford to ride the market out or need to sell at a certain time also comes into play.
If you live in a residential area some things to keep an eye out for are: other houses on your street being done up, young families buying in your street and/or area, and the local infrastructure being developed – schools, parks, roads, train stations, shops, etc. All of these things can indicate an area on the up.
Keeping an eye on the housing market can be as simple as jumping on Domain.com.au once a month and taking note of what the house prices are doing – if you want to go the extra distance you can make a spreadsheet.
New Shopping Centers
If a new shopping center is planned for your area it can have a dramatic effect on house prices. Sometimes this can be a negative one if your property is “too close” to a massive development. Other times it can solidify your investment – this is often seen with apartments that have been built above or next to an old shopping center that gets the green light for a make-over.
New Transport Networks
Is a new transport network in the pipeline and is it going to link your area to the wider world?
The hot topic in this field at the moment can be set alight by the words light and rail. As most people know Melbourne is famous for its trams. The irony is that other cities had trams in the past, and they are now re-installing them due to the continuous growth of the congestion problem – why keep an old tram system going when you can close it and build a new light rail down the track!?
Whatever your views are on these hot topics, if your property finds itself on or near a public transport stop this is a great selling point and is likely to increase its value.
Presentation
This concept is about as old as the idea of buying and selling homes itself, but is still a must! If you’re trying to sell your home, you want to get a good sum of money for it. If you want to get a good sum of money, you need to make sure the property is looking its best (within reason – your budget may not allow for a hefty investment on this before the sale). Presentation falls into two main areas – “physical” and “mental ”. With both, the aim is to show potential buyers a home they can imagine living in (and will thus want to buy).
The Physical Aspects Of Selling A Home
This one is more obvious, so we’ll keep it brief – a lick of paint here and there, the right kind (and amount) of furniture in each room (you can rent furniture if you don’t have it), etc.
The Mental Aspects Of Selling A Home
There is plenty of psychology that comes into play when selling homes. Some things you don’t have control over, such as the weather, but if you want to sell your home on a warm sunny day, don’t sell in the middle of winter. If you want people to be interested in your property you need your place to be clean, tidy and inviting. If you want people to fall in love with your property you need your home to be at its best – this isn’t just to do with the physical aspects, it can be smells and sounds in and around the property.
Should You Auction Your Home?
Strictly speaking this comes under ‘The Mental Aspects Of Selling A Home’ but it is such a massive topic that we felt we had to split it off under its own heading. The decision of whether to sell your home at auction, or not, can have a huge impact on the sum of money you end up with. There a so many variables that come into play, which means that every sale is unique. Make sure you do your research – perhaps draw up a list of pros and cons of auctioning. Don’t forget to talk to people in the know. Even with all of this, it can still come down to luck.
Selling A Home – Conclusion
This is the tip of the iceberg of a very complex and vast topic. And even with everything we’ve highlighted there are still plenty of other angles and ideas that are well worth considering. It’s also important to put yourself in the mindset of the buyer – our articles Buying A Home and The Suburbs Around The Junction both might help get you started with that. One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that Newcastle is growing, and fast, and house prices look set to continue going up.
