Present To Sell

How to ensure a return on effort and investment

Deciding how to present a property to the market is one of the critical decisions a vendor needs to make (and get right) when selling.

Spending $100,000 preparing a property for the market to only add $50,000 in value is both self defeating and common. However, not spending $100,000 and potentially wiping $200,000 off the property’s value is equally common.

The key to success is to understand what improvements protect and/or create value as opposed to ‘improvements’ that cost more than the value they add to the property.

In the current market, buyers are overstating the time, effort & cost of home renovations and repairs. They have heard one too many horror stories of people who embarked on a renovation, only for the cost to blow out on them.

As a vendor, you cannot do anything about a buyer’s propensity to overstate the likely costs of improvements. But you can and should look to deal with as many issues as possible prior to going to market. The less money a buyer feels they need to spend on a property once/if they buy it, the more they will be prepared to bid for it, and vice versa.

Spending $100,000 to only add $50,000 in value is a classic case of overcapitalising. Whilst linking improvement costs with a higher sales price is an inexact science, there are a few principals to heed.

Repairs are more likely to add value beyond the cost of works than renovations. The retail cost of renovations tends to be far more expensive than repairs. The profit margin on repairs such as painting, sanding floorboards, landscaping, fresh carpet, and touching up tired elements of a property all add tremendous appeal to a property at a reasonable price.

Paying retail price for new kitchens, bathrooms and major structural works are much harder to profit on, given the cost of builders, labour, and materials.

Commission a building report on your own property before listing on market. If there are any issues in the report that could change a prospective buyer’s value perception of your property, deal with this issue or disclose it up front to the buyer.

Roof issues, subfloor issues, termites, questionable electrical and/or plumbing, damp and moisture are all items that can cause a keen buyer to withdraw their interest in a property. The only thing worse than knowing about such issues in your property is not knowing.

Get an outsider’s perspective on cost effective improvements. Being pragmatic about the presentation of your home prior to listing it on the market is not easy. A trusted friend or advisor who has no connection to the financial outcome of the sale may offer some reasoned advice you had not thought of.

Decluttering is the easiest space you will create in a property. Avoid crowding your available space out, with excess belongings. The less items in a room, the more space a buyer will see. The bigger a property feels, the bigger the sales price is likely to be.

Avoid injecting too much personality and flair into the presentation. The more it looks like your home, the less it will feel like home to a prospective buyer.