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Spring house hunting season is here: Everything you need to get your home ready to sell
Top Tips for getting ready to sell your house
One thing listing agents and property experts tell us again and again is that selling your home is about appealing to buyers’ emotions. In a way, it’s like telling buyers a marvellous story about what their lives could be if they only lived in your splendid house.
With spring here, the warmer weather traditionally means more folks looking for a new and exciting life, and the housing market warming up again. If you’re thinking of selling, now is the time that you’ll want to get your house ready to sell.
That doesn’t mean you can just take a few snaps on your phone and chuck up a Trade Me listing, however. If you’re planning to sell quickly, and to make the very most of your biggest financial asset (without breaking the bank) , you need to get your house in order.
That story starts before your potential buyer has even stepped through the front door, with a prologue titled: “kerb appeal”. Follow this cracking opener with gripping chapters on living rooms, and indoor-outdoor flow, with thrilling scenes in kitchens, bedrooms and laundries, and you’ll be half way to the bestseller list.
Like any good author, however, you need to do your research before your start. So here are our top tips for getting your novel-worthy home read to sell:
Is your house ready for sale?
Research: Know your readers
Authors need to know their audience and so do you. Is your house a first-home buyer’s dream, a do-up, a second home, or a luxury pad? Knowing your market will help you set a reasonable price, and get your home sold quickly.
Prologue: kerb appeal
First impressions count. Boost your kerb appeal and you will get more interest from buyers.
Great novels hook you in from the first line. The same goes for your front entrance. Tidy up the entrance, sweep the paths, trim the grass - and don’t forget the edges - and fix any glaring issues, like droopy gutters, or peeling paint.
Consider simple fixes like moving your bins out of sight, weeding your flower beds and mulching them with bark, and swapping out your well used welcome mat for a new one. You could even consider a potted lavender, geranium or rosemary by the front door for a clean, fresh welcoming scent.
Chapter one: declutter and clean
Decluttering is key to getting your home ready to sell.
Every story starts with a blank page. If you can, strip your home back to basics - it’s time for a radical declutter. Pack away photos, knick-knacks, and personal treasures. If you must, use a storage locker.
Then go full CleanTok on the place. Polished baseboards, cobweb-free corners, gleaming windows inside and out, and bathrooms so spotless you’d happily eat in them.
Chapter two: repair and replace
Like a first re-read, cleaning might turn up some boo-boos around the home. Touch up paint, restick-saggy wallpaper, re-hang cupboard doors, and re-grout tiles. Buyers notice the details and even a little disrepair may suggest neglect.
Now is the time to tackle bigger jobs too. “Fully fenced garden”, and “Freshly painted” can be selling points for some buyers.
Chapter three: Think of the walls
What kind of condition are your walls in? Dotted with pin holes in the kids’ bedrooms? Stained with cooking residue in the kitchen? Tired and shabby everywhere else?
Could you hang some fresh wallpaper, or take everything back to a neutral colour, like white, or off white? It’s not a small job, but can help buyers imagine what the home could look like with their stuff in it.
Chapter four: Decorate to impress
You don’t need as much furniture to sell your home as you may need to live in it. Edit your stuff.
Just like the pacing of a novel, décor is all about balance and flow. Not every scene can be an action-packed free-for-all, you need space to breathe, to reflect, to feel calm.
Too much furniture feels cluttered and overwhelming. Too little feels barren.
How can you edit your furniture and furnishings to create balance and flow? What can you do with the things you already have in your home? Can you borrow pieces from friends and family to complete the look?
If this idea is a little scary, consider a professional stager, or following some online for tips and tricks.
Chapter five: Small luxuries sing
Plush cushions, fancy coffee table books, scented candles, the luxury extras can make a space sing.
In fiction, they’re grace notes; in your home, they’re the elegant extras that create a sense of lifestyle in buyers minds.
Fresh flowers in a pretty vase, lush, layered bedding, an expensive handwash in the powder room, a chunky coffee table book with a pretty scented candle sitting on it - these moments tell the buyer this home is loved and enjoyed. Maybe they could love it and enjoy it too?
Epilogue: Ask for feedback
Before launching your masterpiece, get a test audience. Invite friends around: how does it smell? What spaces draw them in? What would they change?
Then call in a couple of agents. Their pitch will include tweaks or repairs you may have overlooked—so you can go to market with confidence.
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