The Real Estate Agency of Curacao tells: Prepare selling your house on Curaçao
Prepare selling your house on Curaçao
The Real Estate Agency of Curacao tells; You have decided to sell your home on Curaçao. So what do you have to think about so that you present your property as attractively as possible to a potential buyer? Keep in mind that not everyone can ‘see through things’. Below we give some tips.
Preparing the house for sale
Look at your home through the eyes of potential buyers. They should be able to see it as their potential home and not as your home. Make a conscious choice, believe us, it helps with sales!
The first stop in getting your home ready for sale is ‘de-personalizing’
We have already stated the reason, let a potential buyer see your house as his potential home. Therefore, minimize personal items and family photos.
Remove clutter
This is the trickiest part because it doesn’t seem like a clutter to you those piles of books and magazines, the pile of toys in the corner, or the collection of jars and bottles in the bathroom. After years of living in a house, you have built up ‘piles’ of one or the other that you no longer notice. Stand back and look with a stranger’s eyes, or ask a friend to do this for you and remove these items, or if you have no other option, keep them in a cupboard during a customer visit. Special attention always demand the kitchen and open shelves, cabinets. Be merciless to yourself! Some people also have too much furniture in certain rooms. Not too much for your personal enjoyment, but too much for a potential buyer who needs to get the feeling of space. Get rid of what you don’t necessarily need, even if it’s just temporarily.
Bathrooms and taps
Before viewing, scrub the faucets and sinks to make them look shiny and new. Repair any leaking faucets or buy new ones if they’re no longer worth it. This does not have to be expensive and gives a good picture of good maintenance. The same applies to taps that are difficult to open and close. Close toilet seats and make sure the bathrooms are well ventilated.
WALLS AND CEILINGS
Sometimes old stains are still visible after a leak has already been repaired. That gives a bad impression! The customer will think it is still leaking. Of course, any leaks must be resolved, but old stains must also be painted over. Painting is one of the best things you can do to get your home ready for sale, both inside and out. Your house will immediately look fresh and tidy. We recommend that you use neutral colors. White is always good because it makes the rooms look bigger.
FLOORS AND CLOTHING
Unless your rug looks old and worn, you don’t need to do much more than a good cleaning, either at home or at the dry cleaners. If you decide to replace the rug, choose neutral colors again. Replace broken tiles but spend as little as possible on them. You want to sell, you are not refurbishing the house for yourself. Your goal is simple: to remove all negative impressions so that there are no purchase barriers of overdue maintenance.
WINDOWS AND DOORS
Check all windows and doors and make sure they are easy to open and close. Replace any broken windows. Lubricate hinges and scrape doors and windows so they don’t jam. Knobs and doorknobs should turn smoothly. Make sure it all runs smoothly to create a positive impression.
SCENTS
If you smoke, try to smoke as little indoors as possible during the sales process and air your home daily. You can also buy ozone sprays that remove bad odors without adding another artificial fragrance. Pets also always leave a smell behind. You are used to it but to a potential buyer it can smell bad. If you have cats, make sure the litter box is clean when there are veiwings and if you have dogs, try to leave the dogs outside as much as possible. The smell of a wet dog is a sales killer. If necessary, spray the rugs and dog beds before visiting.
THE GARDEN & SWIMMING POOL
What does your garden look like? Well maintained, with lots of flowers? If not, buy a few full plants that flower regularly or buy pots where you regularly put new flowering plants. Buying seeds does not make much sense. The garden should immediately look more beautiful. Before a visit, sweep the terraces and remove dead leaves and pruning waste. Keep up with the garden and don’t let hard-growing plants overgrow everything. Don’t forget to clean the pool. Although the customer understands that a green swimming pool can be cleaned, it does not contribute to creating the dream!
TO PAINT OUTSIDE OR NOT?
The big question is always whether to paint or not. Does your house look tired from a distance? Then it is no longer a question. This applies to walls as well as to wooden frames. Anything that seems to indicate overdue maintenance should be avoided. Just put the paint brush over it!
DETERMINING THE SALE PRICE
Beware of pricing your home too high. If you start too high in the market, you can miss out on the first buyers. Selling is stressful enough, we don’t have to add to that the loss of customers. You can always have an appraisal carried out to gain a better understanding of the fair value. Expectation management for yourself is very important in this phase. We always recommend that the valuation be carried out by a recognized, independent valuation agency. So NOT by a broker who also carries out valuations. These are often not independent and can be colored by any clients they already have in mind looking within a particular budget. Sometimes they also make it seem that they have a customer, while later it turns out that this is not the case, in the meantime you are tied to a party and you may have an undervalued valuation. This is the main reason why International Fine Living does not carry out valuations and always works with independent parties that we know do thorough research at the Land Registry, have market knowledge and are accepted by the banks in Curaçao, the latter is important if you want the valuation report shared with a buyer, then they can use it right away. This will certainly speed up the sales process.
VIEWS
During the first viewing it is most pleasant for the buyer if the owners are not present. They can roam freely and express their opinion. As a broker, we can therefore take the lead and bring those plus points that we know are important for this customer. As a seller you tend to focus on what you have always liked, but that does not necessarily have to match what the buyer is looking for. It is therefore better to keep aloof in the beginning, or even to be absent.
If you have pets, we recommend that you keep dogs on a leash or even better, take them with you and lock cats in a room if possible. Even though we know that your pets are harmless, not everyone likes them.
We wish you every success with the sale of your home and invite you to contact us in case you need any advice. We are happy to serve you!
This article was published in the series : The Real Estate Agency of Curacao tells.
Categorieën: Curaçao Real Estate
Tags: internationalfineliving
