We have decided to move to a new house and finally started getting reasonable offers after adding value to the property. Before that we spent all of last year getting low offers, which were few and far between. This year the interest levels have spiked even though the price hasn’t been reduced. Here is what we did…
Landscape the garden
We hired a proper landscape gardener to come in for 3 days to prepare the front and back of the house. He planted “impact” flowers which bloom early. He neatened up the shrubs and trees by cutting them back. This generated more light in the mornings.
Clean exterior surfaces
We had a roof and driveway cleaning company come in and power wash all the concrete at the front, side and rear. Plus they got up on the roof and did the roof tiles too. They then applied a sealant which gave the concrete a newer look. On the roof tiles they added a sealant with colouring so the original orange/red appearance was restored. They also re-fitted a few loose paving slabs.
Redecorate inside
We got a local decorator to paint walls which had flowered wallpaper before. Flowers can be a big turn off for prospective buyers and we discovered this after reading up on the matter. So we simply painted the walls with a nice off-white colour. It was fairly cheap and helps bring light into the rooms. We also removed a few items such as an old lamp which buyers may not want to see. Basically we tried to neutralise the décor.
The above cost us less than $5,000 and we are already getting offers on the house more than $10,000 higher than the best from last year. We are biding our time at the moment, until we are sure we have got the best offer possible. So far the changes we carried out seem to be working brilliantly, when people are looking around we get the feeling they are now more impressed and open to moving in.
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This post was submitted by Carl Jones, on behalf of Sale Exterior Restoration.
