“…There are two parts to it. The first part is: Determine the ONE single biggest risk or constraint that would stand in the way of a typical buyer making the decision to buy your home. Then fix it. The second part is: Determine the ONE single biggest selling point that would clinch the sale for you. Then make the most of it. That’s all there is to it.”

I thought back to when I purchased my home.  While the location is excellent and the house had been recently renovated, I felt the small living room and having only a single garage held the value back for me.  Now I am wondering how much it will cost to push the living area out a couple of metres and how to position a double garage on the section (this is in the “one day” plan!)

Often buyers will look for reasons not to buy a home, so eliminating or fixing obstacles is worth considering and is not always expensive (I have seen houses that buyers are turned off because of gaudy feature walls or pink carpet)

Sometimes when I get home I imagine if my house had a “for sale” sign out front, and wonder if I was looking to buy in the area and saw my house whether I would be interested in my house (crazy how the mind of a real estate agent works isn’t it!).  We have been working on our garden recently and the hose was strewn across the lawn, a bucket was on it’s side by the front step and about 5 pairs of shoes were at the front door….if I didn’t know better I would assume the inside of the house was likely to also be a bit messy.

When I go to do an appraisal at someone’s home, the first impression I get is obviously from the road.  I have often been surprised once I get inside a house to find it is better than I expected.  Unfortunately, buyers are likely to get the same first impression and in any market, the more people who make the effort to get out of the car and get inside your house, the better!

A few things that I have noticed and thought I would pass on are:

• lawns – are they tidy and recently mowed?
• Letterbox – is it in good condition, straight and without piles of junkmail bursting out of it?
• Fence – painted if timber, make sure gate is secure and preferably doesn’t squeak when you open it!

Have a good look at your house when you get home and ask yourself if it says “welcome home” to you!

With the internet (and in particular the www.realestate.co.nz website) becoming such a powerful tool for buyers to find a house, is it still necessary to advertise in print media?

I think when it comes to marketing your home, it is important not to miss any buyers and especially the one who is going to pay the most for your house!  I often ask buyers how they found the house they have enquired about and I haven’t been able to get a consistent answer.  For some, (and probably more and more so) it is the internet as it has the most up to date information, but for others they still race down to the dairy first thing Saturday morning to look through the property section with a highlighter and make a list of houses that appeal, while others drive around the area they like and phone of the For Sale sign.  So, my advice is that in order to be confident that you have told all the buyers in the market about your house, you need to cover all the bases!

Anyone with their house on the market at the moment knows how quiet open homes have been of late. It is easy to get discouraged when you have spent half your weekend preparing the house for that important 30 minutes, only to come home and find that the agent was the only one to appreciate your hard work.  However, it is true that it only takes one buyer to walk through the door and love your home to make it all worthwhile! 

So, what can you do to maximize the opportunity an open home offers? Here are my top 5 tips:

1.      Ensure the lawns are freshly mown and the garden at the front of the house is tidy.  Quiet often I see a car slow down outside an open home and then drive away – make sure you give your home every chance to encourage buyers to park the car and come in!

2.      First impressions count. I have had buyers tell me “this is the one” just from the entranceway of a house before they have even seen the rest.  Open your front door and pretend you are entering the house for the first time – what do you see? How does it feel? Does it smell nice? Get a friend to do this exercise as well and get their honest feedback. 

3.      Show your Agent how to work your stereo and have an easy listening CD handy or download some suitable songs to your IPod.  Silence is golden but for buyers walking through a house it can feel a bit uncomfortable.

4.      If you have a dog, take it with you when you go out for the open home.  Even if a dog is tied up, buyers can be put off exploring the back yard and a barking dog doesn’t make people feel at home!

5.      If you have any valuable artwork, jewelry or cash in the house – take them with you!  While it is extremely rare to hear of a theft at an open home, don’t give thieves an easy opportunity.

Well after the nerve racking/exciting experience of buying a home through auction, we have now moved in and LOVING IT!  Packing seems an endless task and it amazes me that two adults and one cat need so much stuff, but we are slowly finding a home for everything and now just have that last one box with “things” that don’t seem to fit anywhere and I just move it from room to room.

I used Reliable Removals once again and have to say they always do an excellent job.  I asked them to provide a few tips on packing to make their job easier and the client’s posessions move more safely and they have suggested the following:

• Boxes to close flat with lids and be named with client surname and room you wish them to be put in at your new address.
• Tape bottom of heavy boxes.
• Books etc. use no bigger than a banana size box.
• Disassemble beds and especially bunks prior to truck arrival.
• Use rubbish bags to pack linen and towels.
• Use suitcases to pack clothes from wardrobes.
• Clothes can remain in bedroom furniture drawers unless going into long term storage.
• Do not water pot plants within two days of your pickup date.
• Don’t mow lawn if it needs to be walked over, to avoid traipsing grass into house.
• Disconnect and unplug TV, stereo, washing machine, computers etc…
• If freight going to storage do not store food unless in airtight containers, tins or bottles.

 There are also lots of other hints regarding insurance, keys etc on their website www.reliableremovals.co.nz

1. New Zealand‘s largest inland city, and 4th largest urban area by population but smallest by geographic size – tens of thousands live on the fringe of the city
2. Is at the centre of one of the richest agricultural and pastoral areas in the world which is predicted to boom as the economy moves from being consumer spending driven to export driven
3. City is NZ’s leading area for hi-tech innovative manufacturing and engineering industries
4. More than 40,000 tertiary students at University of Waikato, Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) and Te Wananga o Aotearoa and all are starting to grow again
5. Home to national Agricultural Fieldays – largest agricultural trade show in the southern Hemisphere (generating $290 million sales)
6. Home of V8 Supercar street race in New Zealand for 7 years (generating $28.3 Million into the local economy each year)
7. Home of Rally New Zealand the longest running World Championship event in the Southern Hemisphere (generating around $12m to the wider Hamilton economy).
8. Home of the World Rowing Championships in 2010
9. Council’s 2006-16 Long-Term Plan makes funding provision of $25.845m over the plan’s10-year period to enable the redevelopment of the CBD

One of the reasons I wrote my previous post about bidding styles at auction is that I was trying to work out my own strategy for a house I was bidding on last week.

Firstly, bidding at auction when you are spending your own money is a lot different to being there supporting your own buyers and sellers – I can honestly say I was more nervous than on my wedding day!  I know a lot of people are apprehensive about buying at auction and now I know how they feel.  Some common concerns include the fear of having to compete with other buyers, of getting your hopes up and then feeling the loss if you miss out to another buyer and the financial investment needed to get yourself in a position to bid on auction day.

However, on a positive note, it is all over with very quickly (less stressful than long period of negotiation between buyer and seller), when the hammer falls the house is yours (as you have already done your due diligence including LIM report, building inspection etc before the auction), and as it is a transparent process you don’t need to worry that you have paid too much (as usually there is another buyer prepared to pay just a little less). 

So, after experiencing the process myself I would definitely buy through auction again – although I am not going to want to move from our fabulous home for a while! Here are my top 5 tips for buying at auction:

1. Have 3 figures in mind – your “would love to get it for that” figure, your “I am happy to pay this” and “if the price really skyrockets then this is my absolute top dollar and I won’t pay a cent more” and stick to these!
2. Get to the auction rooms early to get a feel for the atmosphere and if you are able, visit a couple of auctions prior to the date your property is up to get an idea of how the process works
3. talk through your bidding strategy with your agent and ask them to bid on your behalf if you are more comfortable doing it this way
4. ensure you have your finance in place and check that your solicitor is happy with the conditions of sale – if the hammer falls and you are the highest bidder then there is no going back!
5. be philosophical about the process – if you don’t secure this house then another one will always come up

I am always fascinated by the different strategies buyers employ when bidding at auction.  For some (who tend to sit in the front row), they open the bidding and bid strong from there until they either reach their top price and stop or successfully buy the house.  The strategy here seems to be to give the impression you are not going to stop so everyone else may as well give up.  Another approach is to sit back (usually at the very back of the room) and wait until the bidding stops before placing a bid.  I guess this strategy is based on letting everyone fight it out and just as the highest bidder thinks they have it, you jump in and offer new competition. And finally, the one I enjoy the most, is the bidder who throws in a high bid (ie someone might bid $300,000, then someone else bids $310,000, then this person bids $400,000!) this strategy always gets a “whoo, Aaah” from the crowd and stunned looks from the other bidders!

Whatever the approach, I personally love the theatre of auction and there is such a great buzz in the auction room when the bidding is going strong.  While it can be a stressful way to buy, it is also a very quick process and usually within just a couple of minutes it is all over and you are either popping the champagne cork or going home to jump online to www.realestate.co.nz and start the search again!

However, I also believe that reducing the price isn’t always the best approach. I am marketing a house at the moment that looked great when the owners will still living there, it really felt like a home and buyers felt emotional attraction to it.  However, after the first 2 weeks on the market the vendors moved out of town, taking their lovely furniture with them.  It is one of those houses that really lacks appeal when it is vacant.  After reviewing the marketing campaign with the vendor and looking at what else is available in their price range and what has recently sold in the area, we decided that rather than reducing the price by $10,000, we would do the following:

1. Get the house staged.  It is a neat first home for a family so dressing two of the bedrooms as children’s rooms will really set the scene for buyers, and the living area looked much bigger when furnished.
2. Invest in professional photography.  This will give us a great selection to post on www.realestate.co.nz , www.lodgereal.co.nz and www.trademe.co.nz and use on the open home flyers/signboard/window card
3. Order a photo sign – the house doesn’t have great road appeal but is a lovely home inside with a fantastic deck and section at the rear which we need to show off to those buyers doing a drive by.

These marketing suggestions will cost the vendor less than $3,000 and I believe they will give the house the best chance of selling close to the asking price. I’ll keep you posted…..!

I suggest that if your house is currently on the market, take a good look at the photos the agent is using to promote your house and if you aren’t happy with them, ask for new ones to be taken.  Also, if you feel that a key feature of your house has not been highlighted (eg the sunny deck, modern kitchen, large section, views etc.) then request photos of these features be included in the marketing.

I encourage my clients to use the services of a professional photographer.  This costs $90 incl GST and you receive a CD of all the photos taken which I think is a great momento of your home to keep – particularly as your house generally looks its best when you are selling it!  The photographer can also “airbrush” the photos if required (insert a blue sky in the background if it is a dull day, remove rubbish bins etc from view). 

And if you are looking for a laugh, I suggest you view some photos of houses for sale as some are quite entertaining – I particularly like the bathroom shots where the agent is reflected in the mirror, or where a photo of the house has been taken from the agent’s car and you can see the rain on the dashboard…classic!