Before putting your property in the market:
Remember you don’t get a second chance to a first impression.
- Market valuation? Price correctly from the start, for a quicker and effortless sale. Remember the market is currently hyper price sensitive.
- Work with the right estate agent, Keller Williams Realty.
- Calculations: TAX – Keep in mind any applicable tax implications, for example capital gains tax. Seek advice from a financial advisor or accountant.
- Compliance certificates, building plans, property maintenance, etc.
Get your home ready:
• Call a handyman
When selling a house, you should have your handyman on speed dial. Make sure anything and everything that needs to be fixed (think: locks, hardware, leaky faucets, running toilets, cracks in the walls, broken appliances, squeaky doors, etc.) has been taken care of before listing a home. Otherwise, property buyers may think your home hasn’t been well taken care of, which can be a turn-off for many. Repairing all known defects in the property before show day.
• Paint the walls
Now’s the time to re-paint your home. Start by painting over those bright orange and green walls with neutral colors. Stick to whites, light greys, light beiges, and “greige” wall colors. These shades will make your home appear bigger, brighter and more welcoming. Adding a fresh coat of paint to your home will also help cover the wall’s imperfections and convey a blank slate to potential property buyers.
• Buy more light bulbs
Go ahead and stock up on light bulbs. When showing your house to potential property buyers, all light fixtures and lamps will need to be turned on. For this reason, it’s important that all lights in your home have working light bulbs.
• Give your house a deep clean
First impressions mean a lot. So don’t let foul smells, dirty floors or dusty surfaces make a bad one on a potential property buyer. Before listing your home (and throughout the selling process), give your home a deep clean. This means cleaning toilets, wiping down surfaces, mopping floors, cleaning rugs and scrubbing bathrooms. Consider calling in the professionals to ensure that your place is in pristine condition.
• Declutter the home
Decluttering and organizing your space will go a long way in appealing to potential property buyers. When a home is clutter-free, property buyers are able to focus on the actual home instead of on the junk, knick knacks and overflowing closets.
• Stage your home
According to multiple studies, staging a home really can help it sell faster and for more money. Fortunately, staging your home’s interior is easy and affordable. Don’t forget to also spruce up your home’s curb appeal when staging the home. After all, the outside of the home is the first thing potential buyers will see when they pull up for a showing. So make sure that the grass is cut, the yard is landscaped and the knick knacks are gone (think: gnomes and children’s toys). If your home is looking a bit rundown, you should also consider adding a fresh coat of paint to the exterior walls.
• Rent a storage unit
Selling a home successfully will involve some decluttering and purging of your belongings. For this reason, go ahead and rent a temporary storage unit before selling your home. Having a self-storage unit nearby will give you somewhere to temporarily place all of your extra stuff when staging and showing the home.
• Depersonalize your home
When selling a home, you want to strike the perfect balance between depersonalization and creating a warm, welcoming home. This means putting away the majority of framed photos, bulletin boards and personal items (think: photo albums, magazines, toys, equipment, awards, etc.) throughout the home. Leave a few nice, framed photos around the house to make the home appear inviting and lived in.
• Professional photography
Given that many potential property buyers search for homes online, it’s crucial to include high quality, professional photos in your online listing. Without excellent high resolution images, potential property buyers may (sadly) overlook your home. So before putting it on the market, our professional photographer will snap photos of your clean and staged abode.
Start preparing your documents:
The normal process is that only after the offer to purchase is signed, will the seller “get around to dealing with” the Conveyancer’s requests for paperwork. This can drag out the transfer considerably – already a 2- to 3-month long process, calculated from the date of sale. The property seller can be faced with an astonishing amount of paperwork; which could include the items listed below. Of course, not every property has the same history and unique circumstances and therefore not all these items will apply.
Giving the 90 days’ Notice to the existing bondholder for cancellation of the bond.
Having an Access Bond frozen, before cash can be drawn therefrom.
Obtaining building plans for the house.
• Incorrect rates and taxes accounts, especially where a previous subdivision took place;
• Lost original title deed and the long delay in having a duplicate original issued,
• Failing to have had conveyancing documents or a Power of Attorney signed before travelling overseas.
Arranging Electrical Certificates of Compliance, Gas and Fence Certificates, which are valid and beyond reproach,
• Making sure that the Company or Close Corporation Seller has not been de-registered by the company’s office.
• 75% of Shareholders, Directors and Members in a Close Corporation to authorise the sale of its property.
• Trustees in a Family Trust must first be updated.
• Making sure that the property, if built within the last 5 years, has the obligatory NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council)
• Not having paid Engineering Services and Endowments, that were raised when an application to subdivide or rezone the property, was submitted to the Council.
• Deceased Estates: Only an Executor appointed by the Letters of Authority is allowed to sell the Deceased’s property.
Ready to move?
• So you’ve spruced up your home, put it on the market and sold it. Congrats! Now it’s time to start planning your move. Find a reliable and trustworthy moving company. Best of luck and happy moving!