Get in early for the spring selling season

If you’re selling in spring, it’s time to get busy. We’re finding that people are hitting the market early this year and with supply still quite low, it’s a great idea to get a head start by getting your home ready as soon as you can to catch those keen, early buyers who may have been looking through the winter and are ready to offer.

Yes, it’s true that the selling season is now year-round, however spring does see more people out and about, hoping to find an ideal home before Christmas. With gardens looking lush and interiors bright and sunny, it’s also a great time to show off your home.

But where do you start?

Here’s a fast and easy guide to getting your home ready for a fuss-free spring sale.

• Have an appraisal: Find out what does and doesn’t need to be done, and get trades booked in as early as you can. Remember that they’re going to be much busier once spring rolls around so the sooner you book in the jobs you need done, the better chance you’ll have that everything will be up to scratch before the market really ramps up.We can help with this and have people on our books who we can refer you to.
• Declutter, donate: Now is the time to be ruthless with your spring cleaning to ensure that your cupboards aren’t overflowing and your home looks neat, tidy and enticing. List on Facebook Marketplace, join your local Buy Nothing group and or have a garage sale – and to get you started, here’s our article on 20 things to get rid of before you move.
• Spring cleaning: Of course, you want to ensure that your home absolutely sparkles before you put it on the market. Have the carpets cleaned, clean out all the cupboards, clean the windows inside and out and don’t forget to wash the curtains.You also want to give the outside of your home a really good clean. Get rid of any cobwebs, have the gutters cleaned and use a high-pressure washer on the driveway.
• Paint and repair: Make sure that any repairs and painting are done before you put your home up for sale. This means that there will be nothing left that will need to be done and that could hold up your settlement.
• Style or book a stylist: If interior design is not your forte, you may wish to consider home staging. A professionally styled home will look beautiful in photos and appeal directly to its target buyers. If your home will be empty, you can also have virtual styling done for online images to help people imagine living there.

And if you’re selling and buying?

Then you need to be doubly organised. Get your finances in order and your mortgage broker appointed. Know what you’re looking for and where your limits are regarding house type/location and price.

Be ready to move fast once your home is sold, so you can make strong confident offers on your next home. Here are some more tips for buyers:

• Have some flexibility around location: While you might have a set of preferred suburbs you want to buy in, use a little flexibility because you might just find that your ideal home is in an adjoining suburb.
• Inspect the property: When you find a house you like, before you put in an offer, do a thorough inspection to see if there are any issues you can see or repair work that might need to be done down the track.
• Visit the home at different times of the day: While you think you’ve found the house of your dreams because it’s lovely and bright in the morning, you might find that it’s much darker in the afternoons as the sun moves from east to west. This might not be a big deal but you also don’t want to have any regrets when you finally settle in.

Selling this spring? Talk to us

If you’re planning to put your house on the market this spring, please give us a call sooner rather than later. Being well-prepared beforehand can save you a lot of stress in the long run, and we are here to help every step of the way.