You don’t need gimmicks or a tap-dancing agent to sell your property. Five Ipswich real estate agents talk about how you can make your home stand out from the crowd.
Steve Athanates from NGU Real Estate – Brassall says:
“Presentation is always the key – decluttering and making sure of the first impressions, such as yards and gardened are mowed and weeded and step treads are painted. Poor presentation distracts people. They stop looking at the features of the home, and focus on the presentation – and they are two very different things.
“The biggest thing in modern real estate is the demand for professional floor plans. We are the only company in Ipswich who have professional floor plans, but also get a drone shot and overlay the floor plan so you can see the rooms relative to the block and which way they face. It’s one of our biggest things requested by our buyers.
“The thing we are doing different in this modern era is targeted profile marketing via social media. Any professional agent should be able to have an intelligent conversation about using targeted social media.”
Bill Woodard from Harcourts Performance says:
“Marketing is the first important step, but it’s no good spending hard-earned money to advertise your property if you don’t put the effort into presenting your home as you will just stand out for all the wrong reasons.
“Simple improvements like mulching the gardens, pressure wash driveways and paths, touch up painting and styling the home – which is also affordable with places like Kmart.
“Professional photos and floor plans are a real must in today’s marketing as not all buyers are local and many investors buy unseen from interstate. Without these you will not attract their interest.”
Tracey Caruana from McGrath Springfield says:
“You have to present it to the market looking impeccable. It really needs to look as much like a display home as possible, because unfortunately that is what buyers are comparing against. The other thing is attending to all repairs and maintenance, such as painting the ledge at the front door so it doesn’t have marks.
“Then magnificent photography that captures the lifestyle, character and charm of the property. I always try to do video if I can because it enables me to talk through elements of the property you can’t see in the photos, such as high ceilings and filigree detail in light fittings.”
Michael Mulholland from All Local Real Estate says:
“Fix the little things – the broken doorknob in the bathroom, the cracked tile in the kitchen, the dead spots in the lawn. Up your kerb appeal – Remove clutter from the home’s exterior, touch up paint, add plants and improve the landscape.
“Clean and keep it that way – it may be worth the money to hire some professionals. Also, pets are amazing companions, but they are not very good salesmen. Pet stains and odours must be eliminated.
“Avoid personalising too much – your home is your castle, but when you are trying to sell it, you want it to look like it could be someone else’s castle too.”
Stuart Ross from Bremer Valley Realty says:
“The old saying in real estate, ‘first impressions’, is the golden rule. Be the buyer – stand at your property front entry, look for the things that are making your property look inviting. This could be simple things like well-presented gardens and lawns, pot plants on the verandah. Once inside, have it clean and decluttered so buyers can see where their furniture would fit and how your home could easily become theirs.
“Spending a little bit of time on presentation can make a huge difference in the price you recieve and the length of time your property is on the market.
“Spending a few extra dollars on professional photos for advertising will always attract more buyers. These companies have the equipment to make simple items and rooms stand out.”
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