The sun is out, the flowers are in bloom, and your house is looking its absolute best. The days are longer, making it easy to schedule inspections. The sun is stronger, streaming into your home in a celebration of airy lightness. Your garden is green from the winter rains and blooming with spring colour. And with fair weather almost guaranteed, you’re far more likely to draw a well disposed crowd to your auction.
Unfortunately, every other seller is thinking the same thing as you are, making the Australian spring selling season the busiest of the year. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that you need to think a little harder to stand out from the crowd.
Play up your points of difference
With more houses on the market in spring, buyers can be a little more discerning. Your location might be a strong selling point, but if there are other houses for sale in the neighbourhood – or even the same street – you’ll have to go a little further to make sure yours is the top of the list.
Your real estate agent will be able to help you identify what makes your property unique, as they know what buyers are looking for in the area. Your marketing strategy should focus on those areas, but you can help by presenting them well as well. If you have a brand new renovated kitchen, for example, make sure that it’s spotlessly clean and styled to catch the eye of every buyer. If your garden is larger than those of your neighbours, hire a gardener to help you get it beautifully blooming. And if you’re boasting original character details, consider lighting tricks that highlight them.
Be generous with inspections
Open inspections do represent disruption to your family life, but they’re a necessary evil if you want to attract a range of buyers to your property. With several homes to choose from, buyers are less likely to wait around to see inside yours. Consequently, the more times you can make available for your agent to show prospective buyers round, the better your chances are of landing a generous offer.
Weekends are an ideal time for buyers to see your house in the sunlight and get the full effect of the garden as well. But not everyone can make a daytime, so consider vacating for an evening or two as well to allow your agent to offer more options.
Spring clean
After a winter spent largely indoors, it’s easy to overlook how much cleaning needs to be done to get your place ready. But in the new spring sunlight, every dust mote and window smudge is going to show up, so make sure you spend some time getting the house spotless.
Put away those winter throws and blankets in favour of light, airy decor and sparkling floors. Make sure the windows are spotless to maximise the sun, and air the house out thoroughly: odours do build up inside a house during the winter. If you live there every day you might not be able to notice them – but your prospective buyers will!
Wash and dry your linens and towels, hanging them outside so that when you bring them in, a little bit of that fresh spring air comes with them. And while you’re in the garden, cut a bunch of flowers for the table.
Style the garden
Your buyers are just as tired of being stuck inside as you are, so they’ll be paying special attention to the garden as summer approaches. Make sure your flower beds and bushes are in immaculate condition, and your lawn is well watered. We all tend to neglect our gardens in winter, so you might want to put aside a few days to make sure straggling plants are tidied up, old leaves are raked and disposed of, and dead foliage removed.
Spend some time showcasing the outside entertaining areas, too. Scatter outdoor cushions and throws on garden furniture, place a tray with some flowers on a coffee table, and scrub any paving clean. If you’re selling a townhouse or apartment, style your balcony or courtyard similarly. After a chilly winter, the prospect of long lazy summer evenings outside is a tempting one, so make sure they’re on offer.
The best thing about the spring selling season is that there are lots of buyers looking for a new beginning, so fling those doors open wide and get ready to welcome them in.