If you’re planning on selling in 2022, you need to make your home look good to buyers, without spending money to the point of over capitalising. 

Here are some mindset shifts that will help make the transition easier:

Stop thinking of your home as ‘yours’ 

Making your home look appealing to a buyer requires a mindset shift. It needs to stop being ‘your place’ and start to become neutral territory. While this may take some time to adjust to, you’ll find that if you begin to let go emotionally, it will be easier to move on from your home when the day comes.

Most homebuyers begin their search online and want to be wowed. Home styling and professional photography, as well as a large mix of photos is essential, when you list your home on real estate portals and social media sites.

Your home needs to be styled to look like your target buyer could own it. This may mean presenting it as a family property or the ideal starter home for a young couple. 

Pack away your photos, trinkets and other personal items. If you have the budget, you can hire a stylist who will recommend you remove some of your furniture or hire some modern pieces so the home is more appealing. 

After many years of living in your home, it can be hard to ‘depersonalise’ it and lose the feeling it is your own. However, committing to this will help you to achieve a faster sale. 

As you go through this process, think about the following:

• Why did you buy the home?
• What kind of lifestyle have you enjoyed here?
• What areas of the home and backyard do you enjoy?
• What is it you like about living in the area? 

Answering these questions with your agent will help you to figure out what the next buyer will love about it, and prepare the home for sale together. 

How to avoid overcapitalising

Some sellers get so excited about upgrading their home before listing it on the market that they adapt a renovator’s mindset rather than a seller’s mindset. This can lead to budget blow-outs. 

It needs to be said that when you upgrade your home ahead of a sale, you’re not creating your dream property. You’ll need to say goodbye once the job is done, after all. 

A presale property upgrade shouldn’t cost the earth. Work with your real estate agent, who will explain that a $30,000 kitchen upgrade may only add $30,000 to the value of the home. In this case, it’s not worth it. You may be able to spend $10,000 to increase buyer appeal and add $20,000 to the final outcome. This is a very simple example but it gives you an idea of how pre-sale upgrades should be planned. 

You also need to be strategic about which parts of the home you spend money on. A new deck, for example, may be worth investing in, rather than updating cabinets in the kitchen that are still in decent condition. 

Once you get into this seller’s mindset, you’ll start to look at your home differently. Here at Complete Real Estate we know what buyers are looking for and can be your best resource to give you ideas and let you know how to upgrade your home without overcapitalising. 

Think like a vendor

A seller’s mindset needs to be rational. 

We can explain roughly what your home is worth and why, and we will let you know when we believe a good offer has come in. 

Every now and then, we have clients who reject great offers because it turns out they are not ready to let go of the home. In this case, we need to stop, take stock and rethink what’s going on. 

If you’re not comfortable with an offer, that’s fine. But if it does reflect market value and your real estate agent has shared the reasons why you should take it, you might need to think about whether you have a seller’s mindset. 

Get excited about your next move

Selling your home is a time to look forward, not back. 

To get into your seller’s mindset, start thinking about all the benefits of moving on from your home. You are potentially moving to a new area, freeing up cash or upgrading to a larger property which is very exciting, especially as the market is currently performing so strongly.

Your current home has a lot of memories and you will always treasure them, but the next place has the potential for fantastic new adventures. Keep this in mind while you go through the steps to prepare and sell your home, and you will enjoy the process more. 

Want help to get into a seller’s mindset or simply find out more about the current market? Contact us at Complete Real Estate today – we’re always happy to chat.