Whether you’re looking to sell, be the best-looking house in the street or you have an upcoming baby shower to prepare for, it is important to keep onto the things that makes your house a home and for it to stand out (in the right way). Although they may seem obvious, you can be sure that not everyone does these things, and some may have never thought of them. Not all of us are as keen on “The Block” or “Selling Houses Australia” as I am.
1.) Curb appeal: how often do you walk out onto the road and stand back and take a good look at your house – I know I don’t! After a long day at work (sometimes getting home after sunset) the last thing I want to be doing is looking for more work. I cannot, however, stress how important this one is.
Do it. Stand back and look. Are the gardens overgrown and blocking windows? Do cobwebs hang from the eves and window frames like old Halloween decorations? Is your letterbox all rusted out and in desperate need of a facelift?
If so then it might be time to give the hedges a prune, mulch the gardens, give it a quick once over and for goodness’ sake replace the letterbox and you’ll be the best-looking house on the street in no time.
2.) Blinds and carpets; I recently renovated my house and after getting a couple of quotes for window treatments and floor coverings it was pretty clear that there is a huge difference in price between companies, brands and products.
Shop around. You might find that replacing the old tatty & frayed verticals or the curtains from when ABBA was cool could be just the thing your place needs to bring it into the 21st century.
Same goes with carpets. High traffic areas can become noticeably old and worn. Look into what products should go where. Carpet in hallways can easily be replaced with vinyl planks or even just vinyl, at quite often, not a huge expense. With a few YouTube tutorials and chat with the attendant at the hardware store, you might even want to give it a go yourself.
3.) Paint: This one is pretty obvious; however, I would say it’s one of the most important things when preparing your home for sale. Take your time. Prepare the area first. Patch. Sand. Mask up. Painting is all in the preparation. Once there is already paint on the walls it is then just a matter of changing the colour or putting on another coat on to freshen it up. Most local paint stores or hardware shops are always keen to give out free advice.
Go on. Give it a go and you might just surprise yourself.
4.) Presentation: It’s no good having the newest, modern, on-trend, spacious home in the street if you are going to fill it to the ceiling with furniture, plaster every wall with photos of your kids and doggos and have “stuff” laying around everywhere. Presentation is one of the three “P’s” of selling Real Estate and this one can cost you just about nothing (unless you want to visit your local discount department store ending in “-Mart” for a nice vase, plant pot, throw or cushion for the bed). If you’re not sure – ASK! Any decent Real Estate Agent should be able to give you advice on how to best present your home or at very least refer you to a professional who can.
5.) Clean it, once again this one is pretty obvious to most. I won’t say too much here except for things like windows, eves, wet areas and high traffic areas are extremely important in my opinion. There’s nothing worse walking into a bathroom and the shower screen is covered in calcium and there is soap scum all over the vanity. Savvy buyers will even do things like open the oven or dishwasher to see the overall cleanliness of the appliances. Stay on top of these things and it won’t be such an issue when you go to sell (or host that baby shower).
Hopefully this has given you some confidence to go out and try some of these things yourself or given you an idea for something to spruce the place up a bit. I think the key is just to be always chipping away at something. I personally find it therapeutic slowly ticking things off the list and adding new things as I find them. It also gives you a great sense of pride and just makes you feel good. Before you know it, it will be Spring, but why not use Winter when we are all stuck at home to make a start.
