Online House Hunting – Tips for Sellers

Normal Post, Property Sales

Our world has been confined to a couple of inches of an LCD screen. As much as we still go out for coffee with friends (when lockdowns allow it), go jogging in our neighbourhood, meet up at farmer’s markets and more, most people cannot cope without access to a screen – be it your cell phone, tablet, or computer. When we need information, when we want to make a big purchase, when we want entertainment – it’s all at your fingertips on a screen. Whether we like it or not, it is what it is and COVID has only enforced that as we had no other choice but to use our electronic devices to connect and try to live life.

 

This is true for the property industry too, and more people are buying homes without physically viewing them. If they do view houses, they rely heavily on photos and virtual tours to eliminate their choices so they can view as few as possible before buying. The technology to do this has been around for quite some time and we have already mentioned it – photos and virtual tours – but with more and more people relying on it, it is all the more important for sellers to include high-quality media and show off their property in the best way possible.

 

Tips to Remember

You need to get your property and house photo-ready before (a) taking the photos or (b) having your realtor take photos. Either option is fine as long as the photos adhere to certain criteria (which we’ll discuss in a moment).

To get your property photo-ready, make sure that:

  • The property is clean
  • The garden has been tended to and the lawn is mowed (if you don’t have a gardener, consider hiring one for a day)
  • If your yard does not have a lot of grass and is dusty, wet the soil – it will appear less dusty and wet soil look more promising than hard, dry ground.

To get your house ready:

  • Declutter completely – put away every non-essential item including photos, toys, ornaments, etc – it creates more of a blank canvas for potential buyers to imagine their own belongings in the house and the rooms look more spacious.
  • Rearrange – your furniture is arranged so you can live comfortably, but it might not be maximising the space. Rearrange to that it does and if you need to move one or two odd items of furniture out of the house while the photos are taken, then do so.
  • Add some furniture – if you have already emptied the house, you could consider staging it a bit, so the rooms are displayed at their best. It can often be easier for potential buyers to judge the size of the room when there is furniture that they know the general size of.
  • Clean it all up – make sure the house is spotless. Clean every surface, polish all the fittings, clean the windows. Potential buyers might not mention how wonderfully clean the place seems to be but if it looks dirty, they will definitely take note.

 

So, you have made sure that the property and house look great, but now you need to make sure that it translates to the photo and virtual tour. It is not necessary to have a professional take the photos, but you do need to make sure they are just as good as the property itself.

What can you do:

  • If you are taking them yourself, make sure they are crisp and clear – not grainy and not blurry. Open the curtains to get more light in and take some test photos throughout the day when the light is different. Choose to take the photos you will use at the time of day that gives you the best light and best results.
  • Ask a friend for help – chances are that you will have a friend that has a good quality camera and knows their way around it. If you are not that person to your friends, ask for some assistance
  • Take many photos – the more photos you add to the listing, the more info a potential buyer can get about the home and the higher the likelihood that they will want to view it if it meets their requirements. So, take many photos and choose the best ones.

 

Follow these tips and your listing will stand out among all the others online. If you have a reliable and dedicated realtor by your side, it will make the process of getting your property and house listed and sold easier and less stressful. At Karis, we are dedicated to our clients and will do everything we can to ensure the selling of your home goes as smoothly as possible.