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Sep 1, 2020
3 Mistakes Sellers Make (That Costs Them Thousands)
Selling a home is complicated. Getting top dollar is a mixture of price, presentation, and promotion. Some homes sell in less than a week. Others might sit on the market for months and months. It totally depends on the pricing strategy, how well the property presents and the marketing plan. It's easy for sellers to be subjective about the place they have called home for such a long time. So here’s a quick list we made of the 3 biggest mistakes that can make the job of selling your home more difficult. Dropping The Price A Little (Instead Of Updating The Interior) This is a really common mistake. Thinking that instead of upgrading the outdated bathroom or kitchen, you can just drop the price a bit….and let the buyer use the extra money to upgrade it themselves. Now, I can see how this logic makes sense to them, but the truth is that it is exponentially harder to sell a home that doesn’t “show” well. Most agents know how to manipulate the photography to highlight a home’s strengths, and downplay its weaknesses, but you can’t hide an entire room! If the kitchen is outdated (old cabinets, old countertops, old appliances, etc), no amount of creative photography or “staging” can make up for that! Rather than dropping the price $10,000, it makes much more sense to just FIX THE KITCHEN. Homes with updated kitchens sell much, much, much faster than homes without updated kitchens. The same is true of bathrooms. Here’s the bottom line: if you want your home to sell in a reasonable amount of time (30 to 60 days), don’t be lazy when it comes to updating the kitchen or bathroom! It’s easy to just drop the price a little bit and save yourself the hassle, but it almost guarantees your home will take a long time to sell. Failing To Stage The Interior The old cliché is true: a little paint goes a long way! Even simple upgrades like fresh paint (neutral colours are best), new carpets, tile flooring, etc make a BIG DIFFERENCE. The average home can feel like a completely new house for about $5,000 or less of cosmetic upgrades. And while I’m on the topic of maximizing the interior, make sure to properly “stage” it. If you can, hire a professionally certified home stager. They will maximize the price you get for your home by making sure everything is strategically arranged. In almost every case, the small fee you pay the home stager is far less than the extra money you get by selling your home for more money than you would have otherwise received. If you cannot afford a home stager, make sure the home is always in pristine condition before showings. Get all the carpets professionally cleaned, dust everything, remove as much of your “personal” stuff as possible (family photos, etc). If you have to store it in the garage, then do so neatly in boxes. Taking Amateur Photos Or Video In the age of the Internet, there is simply no excuse for not having professional photography and video. Recent statistics show that over 90% of homebuyers begin their house-hunting search online. Honestly, I don’t believe that statistic! I’m guessing it’s 100%. I don’t know ANYONE who didn’t start their home search online. When the first impression of your home is almost certainly going to be online, don’t you think it’s a good idea to invest a little bit of money to make sure you make a good first impression? The difference between amateur photos and professional photos? Usually a couple of hundred bucks. It costs about the same amount of money to film a video tour of a home, yet most agents don’t invest the time or money to do this! Personally, I always invest in top-notch marketing for my listings. It helps the homes sell faster, AND for top dollar. It’s not an expense. It’s an investment. If you’re considering selling your home, make sure that your agent is willing to invest resources into promoting the listing with photography and video. If you’re thinking about listing your home for sale, speak to your local expert at RealWay who will take a look at your home and advise you so that you get a great price with a minimum of fuss. Good luck!
Aug 24, 2020
10 Reasons People Move Home
1 minute read Moving home can be a stressful, time consuming and costly process. This begs the question: "Why do so many people choose to move?" We explain the top 10 reasons why people decide relocating is the best option. 1. Need more space First time home buyers positioning themselves on the property ladder often outgrow their starter home. This means they might need to upsize to a larger house with plans to start a family. 2. Upgrade Deciding whether to improve your property or move to a new home entirely can be difficult. Becoming restless at home is a common problem, with many people getting itchy feet to upgrade to a bigger, more desirable home. 3. New job A new job can mean relocating to a different area if the commuting distance is simply too long. Maybe travelling from your current home to your new job is completely unfeasible. 4. Empty nest When the kids are all grown up and have moved out of the family home, many choose to downsize. Usually, they choose a smaller place as they no longer need all the extra space or the upkeep. 5. Relationships Choosing to move in with a partner is typically a significant stage in any relationship and is one of the main reasons people relocate. This often means that one partner needs to sell their house if both owned homes prior to the decision. On the other hand, break-ups can also result in moving home, as one person’s income may not be able to support the price of the home or one individual may need to buy the other out. 6. Visit family more often Living closer to the family can be very important and can be one of the key reasons people choose to move. As the family unit extends to several generations, parents want to be nearer their children. Grandparents want to see more of their children and grandchildren so they move closer. 7. Catchment area for schools More and more people are shifting to catchment areas where their children will be a higher priority for admission to their school of choice. Parents who are keen to send their child to a particular school may not fall within the specific catchment area in their current home, meaning many decide to relocate. 8. Change of scenery or lifestyle Those feeling unsettled in their current home or searching for a fresh start are most likely to uproot and move to a different location. Whether you want to move from the bright lights of the city to the peaceful countryside or vice versa, many decide that a change of scenery is the ideal option for them. 9. Cost of running a house A change of income or need to save money means many choose to relocate to an area where the running costs of a house are much lower. From the price of the house itself to rent or bills, the expense of owning and running a house can cause many to move to a different area. 10. Changes in the surrounding area Since originally moving into your current home, the neighbourhood might have significantly changed. This might be due to economic, social or physical reasons. You may choose to relocate to an area where you feel much happier and more comfortable in your surroundings.
Apr 29, 2020
What's Happening to the Real Estate Market?
Are you confused about what is happening in the property market, perhaps even scared? It’s a pretty normal reaction to have. After all, our world has been turned upside-down with restrictions imposed to flatten the curve and protect the vulnerable from Covid-19. In the past six weeks, we’ve seen the ASX plummet (and recover somewhat), witnessed empty shelves at the supermarkets from panic buying, and have read little other than bad news stories. We’re missing lots of things like having a coffee at our local cafes, dinners with friends and family, and even trips away to the coast. There’s no wonder that we are wary of what impact it will have on real estate. The number of properties selling across Australia is considerably less right now – it’s about 30% less than this time last year. However, sellers are still getting strong prices due to the lack of property available for sale. This is not a time when buyers can name their price and make lowball offers. In fact, with fewer houses to choose from some buyers might find they miss out if they don’t take a level and reasonable approach. When will it be ok to sell my house? If you are a vendor who needs to sell, you don’t need to be afraid. You should give your property the very best chance by showing it in its best light. You are still very likely to get a good price now and with the latest technology that RealWay offers, it is possible to manage inspections and negotiations and hold auctions virtually so the risk of Covid-19 infection during the sale is significantly minimised. Most recently, we have added new technology such as 360˚ virtual walk-through tours as well as a private inspection booking tool. What should I be doing now? Like many others you might have used the extra time on your hands to make a few home improvements. That might have been cleaning, decluttering, gardening, or painting. This is an excellent time to show your newly refreshed home to the online world, whilst buyers have more time to look. As isolation restrictions lift - even if it is gradual - market activity will increase. If you have been thinking of selling, now is the right time to prepare for sale. RealWay can help. Your local experts at RealWay can provide you with a Property Price Report. We offer virtual consultations to help you make the most of your house without us needing to step inside. Our Property Price Report will provide you with a house evaluation and price range, a suburb guide and current market trends. We will advise you on what you should do now and in the coming weeks to improve your home so that it is ready for sale. Individually we may not be able to control all that is happening around us, but we can control our decisions around property. Knowledge is power. Contact your local RealWay agent today. [siteloft_form id=11 add-background="true"]
Apr 18, 2020
How Much is a View Worth?
Reposted from Matusik Property Insights April 16, 2019 2 minute read One of the things we do at www.projectadvice.com.au is to review a new project’s asking prices and often suggest that they should be changed. There is some science behind what we do and often there isn’t enough ‘light and shade’ between individual prices, resulting in some product selling quickly and other stock remaining unsold. Getting the price right, across the board, is often hard and an independent set of eyes (or in our case, two sets of peepers) is well worth the effort. One of the things that is often misjudged, when it comes to pricing, is factoring in how much a view is worth. To that end, we have undertaken a study in 2018 to help provide us with some guidelines and we found that certain types of view added a different value to a property. Our work identified the different views available and then we looked at how much they can increase a dwelling’s value. Our investigation was also based on an identical new dwelling built in the same area (but with differing views) with a base price of $500,000. The five major view types: 1. Ground level, unobstructed view (3% to 5%). This type of view means that you are located at the same level as many of the other properties around you, but you have the advantage of having a view that allows you to see a large, non-residential space, like open space. Such a view increases a property's sale price by between 3% and 5% and the new sale price could be as high as $525,000. 2. Rooftop, partially obstructed view (6% to 8%). A view from above would suggest that you can almost see over all of the other properties around you but there may be a few buildings that partially obstruct your view. Generally, the higher you are, the more value a view can bring to your home, so a rooftop’s partially obstructed view can bring in an additional 6% to 8%, lifting the potential sales price to $540,000. 3. Unobstructed view from a medium elevation (9% to 12%). This category is primarily reserved for homes that reside on the top of a small hill. This particular view can see areas all around a home without any obstructions but aren’t high enough to see far beyond the house’s small community. Having an open area will always command more money than if you can only see a few houses down, so this type of view has the potential to add between 9% and 12% to the value of your home, so the new sale price might be $560,000. 4. Unobstructed view from high elevation (15% to 25%) Doing much better than the previous view, being able to see a wide vista from the comfort of your own home can add significant value to it. Our estimates here have a wide range because much depends on what you see. Still, the value of the real estate can increase substantially, with the new sale price as high as $625,000. 5. Unobstructed water view (30% to 80%). The biggest attraction of a view continues to be a large body of water, with the higher premiums being given to saltwater. Also, at the upper end of the premium range the water view needs to be unobstructed and the more rooms it can be seen from, the better. Depending on the body of water, the residence can increase in value up to 80%. This would mean that our $500,000 base house has a potential price tag of $900,000. In summary, pricing a view is certainly not an exact science but as more and more properties are constructed in an area, the chances of finding a great view are becoming increasingly difficult. Hence, properties with a view command a range of premiums now and these bonuses are likely to rise further in the future.