Posts Tagged ‘presentation’
Create the Right First Impression
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
A wise person has said, “There are no second chances at a first impression”. From the time potential buyers view your advertising, look at the pictures of your house, they will be forming a judgment about it. It will be hard to change that view later on – if the impression is somewhat negative the potential customer will have moved on to consider other properties, even if yours COULD have been a great one for them.
So before you put your property on the market, clean it up – concentrating first on the things that are easy to do which make it look better to people when they first come to see it. I don’t necessarily say do a big renovation project. If its a rental property and the tenants have left, consider spending some money to get it looking better. Of course this all depends on your own needs and the market conditions at the time. But let me tell you why putting a little bit of effort in at first will help you, if you are not desperate for a quick sale.
One common strategy for property buyers and investors is to buy a house that is structurally sound and in a good location, but dirty and poorly presented – for a LOW price of course, and then to tidy it up over a few weeks and sell it for a quick profit if possible, or at least to rent it for better money and hold for long term gains. They say the profit is made when you BUY not when you sell. SO, if you are a seller, don’t be the one that OTHERS make a quick profit from. You could provide the service of offering a more polished product and thereby keep the profit yourself. Present your property properly and realise the proper value of your property when you sell. People don’t want to pay for potential – they will pay for a finished product.
Some Rules Here
If you need to do some renovations for best results, concentrate your efforts on COSMETIC renovations – not on structural ones. Make sure the walls are at least CLEAN – by washing them. If need be, paint them – preferable a neutral off-white colour for that clean new look.
Go for HIGH IMPACT lower costing changes wherever possible. It is possible to spend big money for things which won’t make much difference to the price the buyer is willing to pay.
Before Having the House Shown
Make sure the lawn (if any) is mowed and the ground whipper-snipped recently. Keep any bushes trimmed. Don’t let the garden be overgrown. It might cost money or time to do these things, but if you don’t, you’ll be losing more than twice the amount in the negotiations when you go to contract.
ALSO: Consider using a home staging company. Home stagers can make your home look super elegant by the way they present it. It can result in a significant difference to your sale price.
REMEMBER: Make your first impression count. You don’t get a second chance at a first impression. Its amazing how not only buyers, but also valuers are moved by the first impression they have of a property when they see it.
