If you’re looking to put your property up for sale, there are simple tweaks you can do that will instantly add thousands of dollars to the value of your home.
Australian property stylist, Anita Birges, said potential buyers want to immediately feel at home the moment they walk through the front door so it’s important to create a space where they can see themselves living for a long time.
So to help create this feeling and to boost the value of your home, the decluttering expert has revealed the six tricks she swears by when styling any house on the market.
Australian property stylist Anita Birges (pictured) said potential buyers want to immediately feel at home the moment they walk through the front door. To get started, you need to ensure your front entrance is immaculate – so get rid of all the leaves on the doorstep
‘The market has changed, and if you’re not presenting yourself, you will have less people attending the open and you can lose out on a lot of money,’ Anita told Daily Mail Australia.
‘If everyone else is styling and decluttering, and you’re not doing anything to your home, you’re starting yourself on the wrong foot.
‘It’s really important to style your property for sale – and you don’t need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars – utilise what you’ve already got.
‘The goal is to make the buyer feel like they live there. They want to imagine themselves bringing their family into your home.’
Front facade
First impressions always count so ensure your front entrance is immaculate.
‘So this is the first thing people are going to see when they walk up to your door. We need to make it calm, inviting, attractive and memorable,’ she told the Today show.
To get started, the founder of Mise en Place said you need to get rid of all the dried leaves on the footpath leading up to the doorstep.
Make sure you shake the front doormat to remove any leaves and ensure you leave no mail behind behind in the letterbox.
‘Don’t forget that buyers see maybe 10 properties so why not give them something to remember like having a cool doormat,’ she said.
Anita urged sellers to ‘depersonalise’ every space – so remove all your family pictures
To get the home ready for potential buyers, Anita said you can simply rearrange the layout of your property by moving artworks to a space that feels right
Turn on all the lights in the house between 6pm and 8pm
When your home is on the market, Anita said most buyers are going to do a drive by usually between the hours of 6pm and 8pm.
‘So I want you to light up your home like a Christmas tree so when they’re driving past at that time of the evening, yours is going to stand out in the street,’ she said.
‘You’ll be surprised how many people drive by your property after work and decide whether it’s worth attending the open.’
Make the best features of your home stand out
Anita suggested if you have a fireplace in your property, make sure there’s no clutter around it.
‘You really need to think about what are the things we’re featuring to sell this home, in this case we need to declutter so we could show off this feature at its best,’ she explained.
Property stylist Anita Birges’ tips to prepare your home for sale
- Turn on all the lights in the house between 6pm to 8pm
- Spot clean marks off windows/sliding glass doors
- Make sure hanging art is hanging up straight
- Declutter and remove all evidence of ‘pets’ and ‘work’ ie. papers and bills
- Make sure all internal lights are on, including bedside lamps
- Double check beds are made neatly and straighten sheets
- Make sure toilet seats are down and clean
- Turn off all devices, computers and televisions
- Avoid cooking strong smelling foods the night before your inspection
- Empty the dishwasher, dryer etc. No evidence of chores
- Take valuables with you
- Sweep the path, shake the front doormat
- Remove all mail from letterbox
- Hide garage bins if possible
- Open all blinds, verticals and shutters to the maximum
- Drive all cars away from the property during the open
If you have any sentimental or unique items around your home, Anita said always make sure you remove them before sale because it’s just a ‘distraction to a buyer’
Make the buyers feel at home
‘You want to make somebody else feel like it could be their home so these family photos are going to make people feel uncomfortable,’ she explained.
Anita urged homeowners to ‘depersonalise’ every space if they are looking to sell their property.
‘You don’t want to tell the story of your life,’ she said.
The stylist said you should always ‘rethink’ the layout of your home so if you have any artworks, move them to another room or space – and always make sure they are hanging up straight on the wall.
If you have any sentimental or unique items around your home, make sure you remove them before sale.
‘While it might seem precious or sentimental to you, it’s just a distraction to a buyer,’ Anita said.
Make sure you declutter your space, remove all family pictures and ensure artworks are standing straight up on the wall
Less is better! Clear your space – and have a simple vase filled with fresh flowers for the open
Declutter your home
‘When buyers come into your home, they don’t want to see your jobs or your kids’ drawings, they want to feel like this could be their home,’ she said.
So when do you know you’ve decluttered enough?
‘I actually say “go out of the room, and go back in, the first thing that catches your eyes first needs to be removed from the room”,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Walk out again, and walk back in, it could be that hideous plant or the beautiful China jug that catches your eyes – that’s what the buyers are going to love at.’
Fix the minor problems
‘The one last tip I want to give you is when buyers come in to your home, they’re really trying to find ways on how to deduct from the asking price,’ Anita revealed.
She said it was important to fix the tiny things around your home such as a broken power point or paint peeling.
‘Or something really minor that we know only cost like $10 or $20 to fix. But in their mind, they’re thinking a deduction of $2,000, $5,000 or even $10,000,’ she said.
‘So you can just fix this up with a simple trip to the hardware store.’