In the depths of winter, it can just take a little more effort to secure a good house sale.
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However, it can be worth the additional hard work.
If you are preparing to sell your property over winter, there are a series of relatively inexpensive ideas that could help turn your open house into a sold house.
TAFE NSW Wollongong building and construction teacher Gavin Priest offered tips for sellers to make their home more appealing to prospective buyers.
*Street appeal is vital. "It will really help if everything looks nice and neat when they walk up to the front of the house," Mr Priest said.
*Keep your house at a comfortable temperature.
"If people walk in and it's freezing cold, they're going to think it's hard to heat, and if it's too hot they're going to think it's hard to cool. If you've got air con, turn that on and get it close to the right temperature."
*Heating up. "If you've got a heater, like a woodfire heater, flames look great. I'd always have that running at a low level. Even a gas heater; they still look nice in the winter."
*Put some light on the subject. "If you've got dark rooms, make sure all the blinds are wide open. It'll make the place look larger, and light and airy.
"Depending on what type of windows you've got, I would have the windows open. Although if they're double hung I probably wouldn't, because double hung, depending on the age of the house, they can drop, which then people pick up that they need to fix.
"Put an LED into your bathrooms, especially the bright, white ones, because you get the warm light and bright light. I'd be putting the bright LEDs in bathrooms and laundry, and in the bedrooms, put the warm light.
"Any trees close to your windows, cut them back so you can get more light in."
*Preparation for pets.
"If you have pets, I would be hiring a cleaner to clean everything out properly. And while you're doing the open houses, try and find someone to look after the pets."
*Bathrooms. "If you've got a couple of bathrooms, only use the one bathroom until you're done. This means you only have to keep one bathroom clean because the other one's spotless."
*Final touches. "Bake something in the oven before your open house; especially some nice bread."
TAFE NSW Wollongong painting and decorating head teacher Ian Squire also offered tips on using colours to your advantage.
*In south-facing rooms which don't get much sunlight, use light and warm colours. Psychologically it can make people feel warmer.
*When considering new colours, it's key to work in with the use of a room. For example, in a child's bedroom you might want calm and soothing tones.
*You've also got to work in with whatever the fixed colours of an area might be.
For example, flooring, window coverings and furniture. Try not to select a colour that clashes with these features of your home.
-TAFE NSW is offering courses in interior design and property services during semester two. More details: www.tafensw.edu.au.
Brendan Crabb
I'm a member of ACM's national property team, covering the Illawarra and South Coast. Based in Albion Park, NSW, I write about exciting, interesting or just downright quirky properties that have been listed for sale, major sales, market trends, auctions and more. One of my favourite aspects of being a journalist is I believe everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?
I'm a member of ACM's national property team, covering the Illawarra and South Coast. Based in Albion Park, NSW, I write about exciting, interesting or just downright quirky properties that have been listed for sale, major sales, market trends, auctions and more. One of my favourite aspects of being a journalist is I believe everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?
