Advice on Best Ways to Prep a House for Sale?

Halo375 on 12/03/2022 - 22:16

My wife and I have decided its time to sell our investment property as we’re looking for a bigger place for ourselves and our growing family.

We inspected the property for the first time in too long and the place was a mess. To sell this place we’re gonna need to do a lot of work cleaning, painting, weeding, grouting, decorating, etc.

I was curious to hear feedback and advice from others that have prepped houses for sale. What worked for you? What was a waste of time? How did you save money and what advice would you like to share with this community?

Thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Hybroid on 12/03/2022 - 22:20
    +1

    You might want to look at the current market for the "bigger place" you're after and that'll put an abrupt halt on things pretty quick.

    Otherwise, talk to a couple of agents to get a free appraisal, they'll give you an idea what it's worth and some tips on what you can do to add value.

    • Halo375 on 12/03/2022 - 22:29

      I agree, house prices are quite ridiculous in our country. We’ve found an agent we want to work with and come up with a long list of recommendations for work they’d like to see done to the house. They suggested putting $40,000 worth of work into the house which is pretty horrifying. A lot needs to be done but I’ll try to do as much as i can personally such as painting the house inside and out to reduce costs.

  • TheNewBargainer on 12/03/2022 - 22:21
    +1

    If you're in Sydney you could probably just sell it as is. When my wife and I were looking, generally the more unkempt the place was the higher it sold

    • Halo375 on 12/03/2022 - 22:32

      Melbourne property, I’ve heard the Sydney market is a whole different ballgame. This property is in Sunshine West so not close enough to the city to be desirable in a decrepit state. I’ll need to put in some effort to get a decent price.

    • apsilon on 13/03/2022 - 07:10

      That's because so many people are buying purely for the land and will do a knock down rebuild they don't care about the state of the house.

      • popsiee on 13/03/2022 - 07:56
        -1

        Do you mean Dummies that don't know how inflated building supplies have become .

        • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 09:44
          +1

          A lot of people seem to just want that perfect new house. They’ve no idea that building is incredibly stressful and can still have plenty of issues too.

  • aoeueoa on 12/03/2022 - 22:24
    +2

    Declutter and depersonalise.

    • Halo375 on 12/03/2022 - 22:33

      Has been a rental property and there is crap everywhere! Will certainly focus on the decluttering and tidying up. Personalisation won’t be an issue - try to give a tired property a new look on life will be key.

    • Chakko on 13/03/2022 - 10:36
      +1

      Yeah declutter and depersonalise. Maybe someone will buy it to knock it down, but maybe someone will buy it to live in it.

      Making it neat and tidy allows them to see potential.

      Perform basic DIY repairs, paint, yard work and cleaning where needed. This gets it to a point where someone could potentially move straight in. And if they knock it down you haven't invested too much.

      Anything more than that and you will need advice from your agent on what is worth your while.

      • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 11:01

        Thanks Chakko.

  • AustriaBargain on 12/03/2022 - 22:26
    +2

    Just bake some cookies when people are inspecting.

    • Halo375 on 12/03/2022 - 22:35

      Ah the old cookie trick. I heard they made a fake spray that smells like baked cookies. I wouldn’t believe such a strategy would ever really work but I guess it must have worked somewhere. I’d rather just give away free food at the house openings if it made buyers feel more welcome.

      • AustriaBargain on 12/03/2022 - 22:46

        Well I mean the realtor probably isn't charging people for the cookies.

        • Halo375 on 12/03/2022 - 22:51
          +1

          The realtor will damn sure find a way to charge me for the cookies!

          • AustriaBargain on 12/03/2022 - 22:51

            @Halo375: I guess ultimately it is whoever buys the house who is buying the cookies for everyone. And then ultimately it is the tax payer who is helping the buyer pay for the investment property in the first place.

            • Halo375 on 12/03/2022 - 22:58

              @AustriaBargain: Sadly true. I have benefitted from a government that has turned a blind eye to the struggles of people buying their first home. I’ll be selling this place to upgrade my own residence, probably won’t invest in property ever again.

  • altomic on 12/03/2022 - 22:34
    +4

    some relatives of mine in melbourne spent ~$150,000 renovating their home before sale.

    the house had been extended back in the 90s and was looking tired.

    they got an excellent price for it.

    a month after settlement it was bulldozed and a shitty box house was built in its place.

    • Halo375 on 12/03/2022 - 22:38

      That’s just brutal. I guess it comes down to understanding if the buyers are interested for the land or the building but who can say? This is likely a house for a first home buyer or someone upgrading from an apartment. I could imagine putting in $20,000 to get an extra $50,000 maybe.

    • AustriaBargain on 12/03/2022 - 22:46

      Lawl.

    • May4th on 13/03/2022 - 09:50
      +1

      it may feel like a waste but without the update you won't get underbidders willing to inflate the price for what it sold as. such is free market

      • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 09:58

        I agree, gotta make those big bidders earn it!

    • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2022 - 13:11

      do you think they would have got the price they did without the 150 k in renovating? if so, did they make their money back?

      • Euphemistic on 13/03/2022 - 14:00
        -1

        Unlikely to have made their money back. If the person bought it for only the location, they would have paid the same amount if it had a pile of garbage on it.

  • orangetrain on 12/03/2022 - 23:19

    Best way to sell is in the future. Second best time to sell is now.

    • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 07:50

      I agree, sadly I need the funds now to buy elsewhere so can’t hold onto this property to capture more gains.

  • Cave Fire on 12/03/2022 - 23:26
    +2

    When my family sold our last house, we: packed or put everything into storage and dumped the rest. A small skip can make this easy. We could now see the surfaces properly and what to clean. Our regular cleaner accepted this larger job and cleaned for two weeks on and off. You can buy cleaning stuff in bulk to save going to bunnings a few times. After this, we got the garden detailed for $400. Probably good to do this around the time of photos. Also found that if you ask an agent for "their people" the quote can end up being really high.

    • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 07:49

      Great advice, thank you!

  • Euphemistic on 13/03/2022 - 06:51
    +2

    It’s a hot market. Clean and tidy inside and out and all functional. Paint if you think it’s necessary. Nothing else. It’s not worth investing big in a bathroom or kitchen unless they are not functional, eg cupboard doors off, drawers broken etc. Plenty of new owners looking to save a few $ by doing kitchen themselves. In a slow market you need a house that looks better than everything else.

    • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 07:51

      Totally agree - no plans for a major renovation at this stage.

      • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2022 - 13:18

        i don't think re grouting costs that much and it would go a long way to making the bathroom look nice. i've seen some houses of an occupant i know and i know they are a clean freak but there was nothing they could do about the grout and it made the bathroom look dirty

  • barge-in hunter on 13/03/2022 - 07:56

    Sounds like some work needs to be done, but $40k souns over the top.

    Painting? Something you can do yourselves, just try to limit the scope to things that need doing, and are achievable diy. Just remember though, it's pretty simple to paint tiles/grout and laminate benchtops etc for a cheap fresh look

    Cleaning? Make a claim against the tenants bond (assuming it was clean when they moved in). We got someone in to 'acid wash' all the tile floors along with steam cleaning the carpets - $500 made the tiles and grout look new again.

    Gardening? Again, just do what you can diy, and make sure RE photos are taken as soon as possible. Plenty of gardeners around who will do it for you if you can't/are on a tight

    • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 09:43

      Thanks BIH - kitchen looking good atm but the bathroom is a different story so maybe will meed to paint there. Definitely will focus on ensuring tenants clean the place properly in order to get their bond back. Gardening i can do but it might be faster to get someone else in.

      • barge-in hunter on 13/03/2022 - 09:49
        +1

        Makes sense. Fwiw, regrouting something like a shower is a pretty easy diy task that can be knocked over in a few hours - quotes we got were somewhere near $1k, but materials and tools cost less than $100. Definitely not worth trying to do a whole bathroom yourself though.

        Flip side, if the tiles look ordinary or out of date, just tile paint a neutral colour over the top of both tiles and grout - hides and seals any dodgy grout anyway.

        Best of luck.

  • Derrick Crane on 13/03/2022 - 11:14
    +2

    Why not put it up for sale as is and see what you get offered?
    If you are not happy with offers then worry about what to fix up.

    • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 11:17
      +2

      Because there’s a cost to that. We’re selling without tenants so we have to pay the home loan without receiving rent during that period. If its on the market for a month and don’t get an acceptable offer we’ll lose $5000. This would be the rent plus the marketing fees of the agent. We’d then have to pay another $5000 when we try to sell again.

      • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2022 - 13:19

        what about putting it up for sale without an agent, just to see the kind of offers you get?

        • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 14:17

          Not a crazy idea but would take a lot of effort managing leads, open houses, paying realestate.com.au fees, etc. Something to consider but I still need the place presentable.

          • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 14:20

            @Halo375: And a new point - individuals can’t advertise house for sale on realestate.com.au without being a real estate agent! Damnit - guess that’s how they keep their fees so high. Agents need to sign up for a 12 month account and can’t do one off listings.

            • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2022 - 14:31

              @Halo375: gumtree? lol

              • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 16:47

                @[Deactivated]: That or facebook marketplace - just throw a few extra $100k’s on top and I’ll be in business.

  • GourmetFoodie on 13/03/2022 - 12:15
    +2

    Get 3 agents to walk through and ask each of them what you need to do to sell for the best price.
    Make sure they are familiar with the local area - pick the 3 highest performing agents based on $ sales for your suburb.

    • knasty on 13/03/2022 - 12:48

      Second this. They may have ideas on the type of buyer you may not have considered which can guide how much time and $$$ you put into it.

    • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 13:22

      Yup, we’ve done this and secured our agent and negotiated the rates and marketing plans. All gave similar advice - tidy garden, paint inside and out, paint the roof (old tiles), brighten inside, polish floorboards (currently carpet) and basically work out how to get more light in there.

  • donga100 on 13/03/2022 - 13:50
    +1

    Lawn and garden is usually best value for money as just a $500 makeover can make a huge visual difference. Fresh coat of paint also does wonders.

    • Halo375 on 13/03/2022 - 14:04
      +1

      Certainly going to focus on the gardens for street appeal. Currently a jungle in there and I’m looking forward to getting that cleaned up so i can paint the outside of the house.

      • BubbleMum on 14/03/2022 - 12:46
        +1

        As a gardener, I agree wholeheartedly! The first impression is made from the street, so having a neat lawn and/or front yard is a worthwhile investment.

  • macfudd on 13/03/2022 - 22:05
    +1

    Been helping my sister look for a place in the West. I would advise having a think about who your target buying group is and focus on that.

    If you think the most likely purchasers are first home buyers, have a look at what the current caps for any first home buyers schemes or discounts. Those are going to be the cutoff points where you'll get a drop off in interest.
    e.g. If the cap is $700k and your current estimated value is $650k its going to be much riskier to put $40k in to try and get more than $40k back.
    It's also not a bad idea to have a bit of personality in there for this group - the garden is a good place for this. You want something that helps your place stand out from the 10 others they saw that day and for the buyer to have an emotional connection.

    If you're just selling to investors who'll rent it out then it only needs to be livable. Clean & paint, make the garden low-maintenance and you're done.
    If you're aiming at a developer then all you need is a listing with the size of the land and how high they can build.

    • Halo375 on 14/03/2022 - 07:58

      Really great input, thank you!

      • Euphemistic on 14/03/2022 - 08:48
        +1

        Talking to some local agents will help determine what the buyer demographic could be. Although, you need to remember that their vested interest is in getting your listing, so try to filter their responses accordingly.

        • Halo375 on 15/03/2022 - 20:05
          +1

          Real estate agents can be amazing…….. but mostly they can be terribly greedy lying sods more than happy to take their 1.5% and do a minimal amount of work for the job.

  • cupcake on 14/03/2022 - 14:57

    Empty out the property. If curtains are dirty, you can just bin it.
    Get a cleaning company in to do a deep clean.
    Buyers prefer a clean empty shell so you don't have to spend too much renovating unless things are broken.
    You can list jobs that need to be done on Air Tasker. Like, ask for someone to spend a weekend tidying up the yard, mow the lawn and do some weeding, or painting window frames.

    • Halo375 on 15/03/2022 - 20:04
      +1

      Good advice, I’ll give airtasker a go for some of the simpler jobs

  • lgacb08 on 14/03/2022 - 22:24

    You're overthinking it, in this hot market even a hot potato will be sold before it cools. Your best spent will be painting and garden plus any obvious damages that need cover up like wall cracks and missing tiles. If carpet is old just get new one. Definitely you'll get more than the amount spent. My mate bought his home for under 400k near Campbelltown and sold it less than 2 years later for $209k more a couple of years ago, all he did was just repainting the thing. And don't just sit there scratching your head, do bean counting how much you lose a month without renting it out because a few grand is nothing over the scheme of things.

    • Halo375 on 15/03/2022 - 20:03

      Thanks for your advice - i am definitely overthinking it because there’s a lot of money at stake here. Will certainly try to get it sold and move on to worry about other things!

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join