Summer Selling Checklist – Preparing your Property to Sell in the New Year

As the Christmas holidays come to an end, the property market returns from its break as buyers return to the market.

This checklist will help you take the first critical steps needed to sell your property in in 2019.

1. Research the Market

The property market is always changing. It’s important that you have a good understanding of what’s happening in your area before listing your property.

We frequently share trusted information about the National and Brisbane housing markets to help you have a good understanding.

Another great way to grab a sense of what to expect is through observing the market in your local area for six to eight weeks.

Watch for properties enter the market and sell within that period to have a stronger understanding of what properties are selling for and what you can afford to buy.

2. Physically compare your property with others in your neighbourhood

While observing online is a great way to build understanding of your property’s position within the market - attending open houses of nearby selling properties can help you be more informed in your comparison.

This will also help you to compare the service of Real Estate agents.

3. Get a pest and building inspection

Getting a pest and building inspection will help you through highlighting any issues with your property and give you the option to fix these issues prior to placing your property on the market.

These could be key features which could be identified by buyers, which could result in a longer time on the market.

If you get these issues repaired, you can ask the inspector for a top-up report which you can include in your sales document.

4. Clean and Declutter

The less that is in the property, the better it will look.

Don’t show off what the home has given you, rather clean it out and give it a fresh look. This will help buyers see what the home can give them.

If you’re serious about selling your property, there is no better time than now to declutter home.

Go through all your belongings and mark them as ‘keep’, ‘sell’, ‘donate’ and ‘trash’.

Keep – items that are important to you and you will use in the future.
Sell – items that are of worth on outlets such as eBay or Gumtree.
Donate – items which are in good quality but not necessarily worth the time listing for sale.
Trash – out-of-date items.

5. Create a great first impression

The first thing anyone is going to see of your property is the front lawn and garden. And because first impressions really do matter, be sure to keep your front yard neat and tidy.

This will help to impress any potential buyers who see your property.