Selling Your Home? Here Are Some Tips From The Pros

Archived article. People, relative dates, sale status and availability below belong to the original story; this is not a current property listing or offer.

Where do you start when you’re getting ready to sell your home? Do you focus on the living areas, the bathrooms, or do you go outside and tidy up the garden?

We spoke to Suzanne, one of our photographers who cover inner-city Melbourne as well as Mick, who covers Sydney’s Northern Beaches, to get an insider’s perspective on what makes a property pop.

1. First Impressions

Whether it’s a house or a flat, the first thing your buyers see can influence how they remember the rest of your home. If the garden path is dirty, leaves are unraked or spider webs look pretty comfortable in window corners, prospective buyers will be on high alert when they’re going through your laundry, bathroom, and kitchen.

“If you’re tidying up your front garden for a sale, you’ll more than get your money back by planting established trees and lawn,” says Suzanne. “If the garden looks established, it doesn’t look like it needs work to keep it up.”

Suzanne’s comment about recovering garden expenditure is her view in the original interview, not a guaranteed financial return.

Large pots with a low-maintenance palm at either side of a front door make a statement at the entrance that’s hard to beat, especially when it’s clear of any other distractions (like gumboots or sporting gear).

2. You’re selling a home, not your stuff

“One of the biggest mistakes people make is over-decorating their homes,” says Mick. “No-one’s buying throw pillows or toothbrush holders or even your cookware.” Make it easy for buyers to imagine how their own things will look in your home by keeping benchtops, tables, sofas, and bedrooms as clear as you can to create the impression of plenty of space.

Even if you’re selling the home furnished, the same advice applies. A dining table with a full setting looks great in a magazine, but you’re not selling to readers and decorators. When you’re selling a home, people are buying a shell and need to be able to see their own tables and sofas, desks, and beds in each room. Make it easy for people to walk around and even measure if they need to.

3. Channel a lifestyle

What’s it like to live in your home, and who does it appeal to? Is it a low-maintenance inner-city flat? Or a home surrounded by parks close to the beach? “Depending on who you’re selling to, creating moments in your home that capture the imagination of your target buyer increases the chance they’ll love the home for all the right reasons, says Mick.

Now that many of us are working from home, an office and/or study areas are a key feature. Setting up dedicated rooms and nooks are essential if you’re selling to families and professionals.

If you have a 3-car garage, park a sports car or watercraft, or a couple of large inflatable swans in a pool can have the children of a family talking up the home days after an inspection. Adding a jar or tray of cutlery to an outdoor dining table with a BBQ (along with an ice bucket of cold beers and champagne) will make the home look like it’s a ready entertainer. Be mindful of how much of a lifestyle you create – keep things as simple as possible.

4. Clean and fresh

A coat of paint, especially on high-traffic areas has a double effect: clean walls and a fresh scent. Carpets, too, can be revived and any pet smells eliminated with a steam clean. And of course, make sure the kitchen cooktop, oven, and sink are clean. It all helps to make your home look move-in ready.

5. Bring the outdoors indoors

“The Aussie lifestyle is all about the outdoors,” says Suzanne. “Even if you have a tiny patio, opening up your sliding doors to a small table and a couple of chairs creates the appearance of another room.”

The clutter rule still applies: if you have a small outdoor living space, don’t crowd it with a BBQ or too many plants. For living areas that spill out to alfresco living, create some harmony between your indoor and outdoor furniture with easy access between the two. Sofas and tables should be clear of direct pathways.

Got a specific problem you need help with? Call us on 1300 144 255 for advice on staging and styling.

For the downloadable preparation guide, see our photography checklist. Booking and retouching guidance is on Help and FAQs.

What we will and will not retouch

Preparing the home is the part a seller controls. Where a request goes beyond presentation, our published policy applies: removing permanent exterior features — power lines or poles, signage, trees and landscaping, and fences — requires written client acceptance of full legal responsibility for that specific removal before we proceed, because such edits can misrepresent a property.

That acceptance does not establish that an edit is legally permissible, nor that it is appropriate for every use, so consider where the image will be published before asking for it. Our standard retouching inclusions are listed on Help and FAQs.

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