How to sell your home faster, quicker and easier

We have noticed an increasing number of customers coming to us with dated and aged, framed art which requires re-framing. During the framing consultations it often transpires that the customer is “doing the place up” as they are putting the property on the market. And just as often, advise and tips are exchanged on some of the helpful strategies to make a property more appealing, more inviting , and hence, quicker to attract bids. and sell. Below we list some of these useful approaches to make your home more appealing and inviting:  1.Re-frame your dated and so-yesterday picture frames, photo frames and ... andwall frames!

Unfortunately, while you most probably sigh and flutter at the sight of your children’s kindergarten or early school photos framed in the old 1” Bird’s Eye Maple and your husband most likely still salivates over his old 1980’s Richmond premiership posters, they’re just too personal a memento to remain in the house while it’s being inspected by strangers.

It’s long been known that would be buyers are unconsciously put off by walking into what still seems to be your private, family, personal space. Do yourself a favour and move out of the house al intimate, family and familial decorations, photos and picture frames. In their place, buy, or even better, hire ( yes you can, it’s called Art for Rent) trendy, fashionable, decorative, framed posters and other art.

This will make the home you are selling more like a house for sale, less private and more public, so prospective buyers won’t even feel a twinge of misplaced guilt when bidding for your home, when the time comes. Take the advice of the art renters or real estate agents as to what you should hand on the walls as trends and fashions change.

For instance, these last few years have seen indoor transterior themes with nature. If budget is tight, you can re-frame your standard sizes prints, poster and photos with Ready-Made picture frames and poster frames. If you art is not of standard size, then you may need to consider custom picture framing. Custom picture frames price estimates are available with our Picture Framing Prices Estimator.

2. Clean and tidy up the house and all rooms! So you’ve got 3 or 4 little vegemites jumping, running, bumping, stumbling, falling, throwing toys and what else God knows what all over the house and everywhere. Your home resembles a war-zone, a pig-sty, or a hybrid of the two because of them. You may need to become a tiger mum for a few weeks, or better still, send the ankle-biters their Nanna for a while. Common sense dictates that house visitors and interested buyers be presented with a neat, tidy and clean property. The same goes for the garage, shed and any outdoor buildings. Simply moving unwanted furniture and old goods into these won’t do either. If you can afford it, hire someone to do it for you, just Google ‘Home Stagers” , they say the average is around $2,000, not really super expensive when you consider that many Melbourne homes sell for around the 1 million mark.

3. Make it smell nice! Remember that delicious aroma of freshly baked cake or cookies that filled the house when mum or grandma used to bake when you were young? It was a nice smell, on that’ll you’ll always remember, therefore consider adopting the same, or similar approach, when preparing your home for pre-sale inspections. Several aromatic oil reed diffusers in a few rooms together with a good quality, scented candles and an electronic air freshener should help matters. There are even academic studies to back the theory that customers spend more in well-scented environments. A 2013 article in the Journal of Retailing by an academic at the University of California-Irvine Business School, evidenced that shoppers spent nearly 33% more money in furnishings when store were scented with a simple orange scent. Needless to say, the opposite of nice odours, bad odours, can ward off anyone, let alone someone who might want to buy your house. Therefore, cast with haste from your adobe any lingering odours of food cooking, pets, cat litter, smokers, baby nappies mould and really, anything with dust on it. But, returning to the good, likeable, aromatic scents. Simple citrus family produce scents are particularly fragrant, enduring and relatively cheap to procure. Garden herbs such as lemon grass, rosemary, thyme or basil are also worth getting, especially in the kitchen and help create a homely feeling for would-be buyers. Aromatic reed diffusers, vanilla, green Tea, pine and cedar and most oil-based candles carefully positioned around the premises can do wonders to freshen up the ambient.

4. Have a refreshments place or spot! Visitors, the real estate agent and prospective buyers might like to sit down somewhere to discuss the finer points of your home, perhaps even sign the Contract of sale. Make it easier for them to stop and dwell to do so in your home, rather than in the estate agent’s car or office. Prepare the dining table or kitchen counter with a hot water kettle, tea, coffee, biscuits, coasters, glasses and a bottle of wine and a cheese platter, even. All this gives good vibes and helps to charm outside folks with a welcoming impression, that you want them to stay and that you want them to feel at home. Who knows, your home could well be their home, if they feel at home enough!

5. Create a first good impression! Invest in a perhaps corny, but all-time favourite, ‘Home Sweet Home” doormat with welcoming, potted palms or plants at each side. You only get one chance to make the initial good impression and every little bit helps. It goes without saying that the entrance to the house should be particularly tidy, orderly and clean. Thus you may cheerfully banish all shoes, toys, children’s bicycles, scooters, pets’ water and food bowls and sundry paraphernalia. By the same token, a nice pair of verandah or outdoor chairs just by the front entrance help make visitors feel more welcome.

6. Play God, adopt ‘let There be Light”! Darkness, dinginess, gloominess, dimness, obscurity and many other nouns often conjure negative, if not pejorative, qualities. Thus, banish these and ergo, make light! Open all doors, all blinds, awnings, curtains and even leave lights one even is unnecessary. Interested, and even uninterested visitors and buyers generally dislike darkened or unlit premises and rooms. They may think that the house has some aspects or features that are hidden, need not seen, and this of course, is of concern to them. Perhaps the unseen hides something negative or unwelcome or unsavoury. Best to stop such impressions or doubts from appearing and to bathe the premises with both natural and artificial light.

7. Keep personal effects minimal and organized ! Okay, possible or probable purchasers would not be buying you clothes and personal effects but don’t leave them all over the place even though it’s your home lest you unwittingly create an unfavourable impression. Some preacher long ago coined the term “Cleanliness is close to godliness” and while this isn’t a religious blog, this saying does apply to home inspections. Be tidy and organized to create a neat place for all your clothes, shoes and accessories, rest assured someone, at some time, will open your wardrobes and see all you intimate apparel. Seeing as this is more likely, than unlikely to happen, you may as well show them how neat and organized you and your family are.

8. Mind the temperature! Guests, visitors or anybody else for that matter like to feel comfortable at all times, especially when visiting somebody else’s house. If it’s a hot summer day, turn that air conditioning on, even if the most of doors will stay open most of the day.

If it’s a cold winter day, switch on the ducted or reverse cycle gas heating, even if visitors leave the exit doors open on their way out. If you make your visitors feel comfortable they are more likely to perceive your home more welcoming, perhaps more of a fit of what they may be looking for.

This small but important house staging strategy aims to avoid complaints and increases the probability of them returning for a second, or third visit, and perhaps, eventual sale. Thank you for reading or "How to sell your home faster, quicker and easier"