Jocelyn Marrian from Real Homes Realty shares her insights on common mistakes sellers make that are pushing buyers away from a successful sale.
Has your property been on the market for more than 6 weeks?
Chances are there’s a reason (or multiple reasons!) buyers are avoiding your open homes.
To get the best price for your home, you want to make it as welcoming as possible to generate interest and encourage buyers to make an offer and to achieve a great price.
However, if for some reason, they’re afraid to take that step, you run the risk of missing out on someone who may be willing to pay more.
1. Poor presentation at Open Homes
When you are inviting people into your home for an inspection, there are a few things that can spook potential buyers away.
Prior to the first open home, it is essential to make sure your home is clean, decluttered and smelling fresh.
Before every viewing give your property a once over, ensuring that windows are clean inside and out – It’s surprising how much difference it makes to the light.
When presenting your home, it’s important to strike a balance between being overly personal and a blank canvas. Stick to warm, neutral tones for living areas, avoid loud scary colours and where possible, take out your personal items. Buyer often feel like they are intruding when there are family photos hidden around every corner.
Taking your personal items out and packing up excess items sends a subliminal message that you are ready to sell!
Set the scene – During your open homes, have fresh flowers, candles burning, bake, brew some coffee, this will make people feel welcome and cosy in your home. Make sure the temperature is perfect and comfortable for your buyers.
2. Mounds of Maintenance
Nothing makes a potential buyer turned off more than the knowledge they will have a crazy number of things to fix once buying the property.
Fix It – From leaking taps to broken bulb, make sure the minor repairs are taken care of. A fresh coat of paint can make a world of difference, freshens up those scuff marks, and scrapes in the woodwork.
Damaged light fixtures, dusty ceiling fans or an overgrown garden may seem like small issues, but they will create a sense of disrepair in your property.
You don’t want your home to feel like a haunted house, so spend some time preparing your home and attending to all of those minor jobs you’ve put off.
A fresh coat of paint and some minor repairs can go a long way, and they are well worth the effort as it could mean the difference between selling your home quickly or having it sit on the market being overlooked.
3. An overpriced property
The death touch of a poorly priced property can make your home become a haunted house on the market, having open homes looking like ghost towns.
The tough market in Australia can unfortunately tempt sellers to overprice their home.
When this happens, the property can experience an extended period of sitting stale on the market, and this prolonged time can deter buyers as they worry there are skeletons hidden in your closet.
It’s a great idea to research the market ensure your agent provides you with enough information about past sales, and who your competition is, so get your agents advice, and find a suitable price that buyers will be enticed by.
4. Cheap marketing campaigns
When selling your property often property owners resist spending on marketing thinking they can save a few dollars. The risk you are taking is limiting the number of eyes that get to see your property, the more buyers viewing your property the more competition, which can mean the difference of an average or under-priced sale.
The bigger the webcast out on to the market to more bodies can be attracted.
Unfortunately, marketing doesn’t come cheap, but it can make or break a deal.
So, how do we clear the cobwebs and welcome buyers by making them feel more at ease? Take away the unknown and provide more ways of reaching your buyers for both them and you (Soho Property is a free-to-list property portal)!
5. Pushy Agent
An overzealous agent puts buyers off.
Buying a home is a big deal for most people, and no one wants to feel forced or pressured into a decision about purchasing a property. Understanding what buyers want and helping resolve their needs could be the difference between the buyer feeling like they are being boxed in or opening their eyes to all your property has to offer.
You want to work with someone who is friendly and engaging, able to negotiate well on your behalf to get you the result you deserve.
Removing your buyers’ fears is vital to getting it SOLD!
Just the thought of dealing with even one of the 5 points is enough to scare some buyers away.
However, a buyer’s greatest fear is missing out on the property they love, and they often miss out because something scares them away.
Poor presentation or unusual smells are just too scary to entice them to see themselves living in your home and making it their own.
With more buyers comes a greater competition which drives the price up.
How do you introduce this level of transparency? Through a great sales strategy and marketing your property correctly, is vital to it being sold for the best price and within a short time frame. As the old saying goes “you can’t sell a secret” this is so very true!
