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Achieving top price for your St George home in this market

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the real estate market in recent months, you’ll be aware that things are slowly starting to change. It appears that the buyer frenzy has eased off a little and prices are remaining more static now. In fact, the latest figures from CoreLogic show falls in Sydney, though not across all suburbs.

Then there’s also the recent interest rate rise which is likely to make some buyers a little nervous into the future. So, if you’re thinking of selling, now is the perfect time to put your house on the market. The election is over and buyers are once again out and about.

And, if you present your home in the best way possible, you can still achieve top price. Here are some tips on how to get your house in tip-top shape for a quick and profitable sale.

Make your home shine from the street

It’s no secret that kerb appeal is paramount when you put your home up for sale. You want to ensure that your home is simply stunning when viewed from the street.

Although most buyers start their shopping online by perusing all the ‘for sale’ websites and the sites of local real estate agents, they’ll still want to do a drive-by once they’ve narrowed down their choices.

For this reason, your home has to stand out from the competition because you really only have three seconds to make a first good impression. Here are some quick tips to give your home premium kerb appeal:

• Clean the front of your home including the windows, guttering, front entrance, driveway, paths and garden areas.
• Consider painting your front door a nice bright colour. It’s amazing the difference that this can make.
• Replace your old letterbox with a trendy new one. You could even add a light and a planter box filled with colourful annuals.
• While you’re adding some colour, why not place a couple of large pots at your front door filled with the same colourful annuals.
• Of course, it goes without saying, that your lawn should be nice and trim, your garden beds free of weeds and your shrubs nicely trimmed.

Engage a stylist to give your home that wow factor

If you’re short on time or you don’t have the eye of an interior designer, consider engaging a stylist. These professionals know exactly what will appeal to buyers in your area and how to give the interior of your home a facelift without having to take out a second mortgage.

To give you an idea of how the interior of your home can be made to look magazine-worthy, here are some tips from professional stylists:

• Declutter every single room. There’s nothing worse than looking at a photograph of a room that is absolutely dripping with the occupant’s personal clutter. In fact, when you look at numerous photos of homes online, the clutter seems to stand out and it’s hard to visualise what the home would look like without it. Ideally, you want to keep the decorating as minimalistic as you can. More often than not, empty space equates to luxury.
• Make sure that your interior colour scheme is limited to three complementing colours. There’s nothing worse than looking at photos of a home where every room has a different coloured feature wall. While the owners may be in love with all those colours, potential buyers will not and will often be turned off by all that busyness.
• If some of your rooms are looking a little drab and dark during this colder weather, consider a few well-placed mirrors and table lamps placed in the corners to brighten them up.

Consider the two most important rooms: kitchen and bathroom

Both the kitchen and the bathroom will get the most attention from potential buyers. So, if you want to get top dollar for your home, these rooms need to really shine. But, this is not as difficult as you may think.

First and foremost, remove as much clutter as you can. While you may not consider kitchen appliances and bottles of shampoo as clutter, they really can clutter up those lovely professional photos. So, put everything that you can away into your cupboards. Then, take a step back and see how much cleaner your rooms look.

For some expert decorating tips to freshen up your kitchen and bathroom, try these:

• Replace the handles on the cupboards with more stylish ones.
• Place a simple bowl of lemons and a vase filled with fresh lavender on your kitchen bench.
• Purchase some inexpensive but stylish (and matching) dispenser bottles for body wash, handsoap, shampoo and conditioner and place these in your bathroom.
• If the tapware is a little outdated consider replacing it with some more stylish ones.

Can we help with your home?

If you’d like no-obligation expert advice about your St George home or elsewhere in Sydney, please get in touch with our team. We’re here to help.