Ten ways to sell your home faster

Many people have sleepless nights, because their house simply will not sell and they do not know why.

According to Tony Clarke, managing director of the Rawson Property Group, there are really only two options to sell an “unsellable” house; either drop the price to a new, lower level or rejuvenate the house.

Dropping the price is often a hard pill to swallow, but spending a fortune on revamping the house is not always possible time or budget wise.

Salt Rock based interior designer and owner of Interior Edge, Ilsa van Niekerk, explains what she recommends to her clients when it comes to getting the house market-ready on the lowest possible budget.

“Buyers make a sub-conscious decision within the first 30 seconds of the viewing,” she says.

For this reason, the house needs to make a clean, fresh first impression.

Here are 10 tips she would give to struggling or new sellers:

1. De-personalise

Personal tastes and items often do not appeal to everyone, so remove excess personal photos and accessories, as you want the buyers to imagine themselves in the house. Also, paint the walls in neutral, clean colours.

2. De-clutter

Remove any unnecessary items such as magazines or books stacked on a table or too many scatter cushions.

Create a clean, minimalist look, not a busy mess and arrange storage for wanted items.

3. Create space

Rearrange your furniture if necessary to create a more open and clearer space and remove large or unneeded furniture, so that you only leave what is needed to show the purpose of the room and not how much you can fit into it.

4.Create light

Bring in natural light and use mirrors or light paint to lighten up a room.

5. Show that you care

Do the necessary repairs and arrange household items neatly, such as checking that the ears of teacups all face the same directions.

6. Create focus points

Fresh flowers always create a beautiful focus point or put some aloes in glass bowls.

7. No noise

Lock up your pets during the viewing, as not everyone likes pets and play some soft background music, to create a calm atmosphere.

8. No smell

Smell is a big selling point, so brew fresh coffee or put some rusks in the oven during the viewing, to create a homely, inviting smell or use air fresheners, but take care not to use too much.

9. Get your gardening gloves out

Make sure the garden is neat and presentable.

Remove dead leaves and branches and clean the pool.

10. One final check

Check every room to make sure it is neat, clean and inviting before the viewing.