Is It Time For Your Parents To Move Into A Smaller Home Or Retirement Community?

A lot of people get to the age whereby their home is too big and too lonely for them. This happens to a lot of people when they reach retirement age. If your parents have reached this point, you can help them to sell their property as quickly as possible. Here are some crucial pieces of advice to assist.

How to find the estate agent that will sell your parents’ home

You don’t need me to tell you that finding a great estate agent is everything! You alone are not going to be responsible for marketing the property; your estate agent plays a huge role in this. You don’t want an agency that has not updated the property listings on their website for the past three months!

You need to take the time to find the right estate agent for you and your parents. Ask them to show you some examples of properties that are similar to yours that they have sold recently. You could even conduct your own mystery shopping and view a property they sell.

One of the best things to do is speak to previous clients. What do they have to say about the service they received? Did their property sell quickly? Did the agents do all in their power to ensure this was the case? This is the best way to gain an honest insight.

Browse their website thoroughly! You want to be sure that it is updated on a regular basis. It needs to be easy to use so that potential buyers do not have a problem finding your home. If you have to scroll to the bottom of the page and click a million different links you can be sure no one is ever going to see your property!

Get a floor plan put together

Floor plans are fantastic! Don’t overlook how crucial it is to provide potential buyers with one. There are three major benefits to be gained by presenting a basic diagrammatic representation of the footprint of the main floors in your property…

1. Size matters! A floor plan allows potential buyers to see a true reflection of the size of the rooms in your parents’ home. When they view your property it is very likely that some rooms will look smaller than they actually are because of furniture pieces and any clutter you have in there. A floor plan helps to showcase that these rooms are actually bigger than they may seem.

2. A floor plan is a great visual reminder. You have to remember that buyers are going to be viewing a wealth of different properties and therefore they may forget certain key elements. A floor plan helps to jog their memory.

3. A floor plan offers an easy and effective way for the buyer to determine whether the property matches their needs or not. Room size and layout are two very important factors. A floor plan gives the buyer an easy way of seeing the fundamentals and thus ensures that they do not waste their time or yours.

Three killer tactics to tempt buyers by sweetening the deal

If your parents are looking to get involved in one of the over 55 communities available around Australia, you will want to get the sale completed quickly to fund this. Struggling to get a deal over the line? Make it sweeter! There are ways you can make the deal and consequently your home a more attractive proposition for buyers. By offering certain perks you can tempt them to buy your property. The buyer wants to feel like they are getting a great deal, and there are great ways you can do this without lowering the asking price. Here are a few examples…

Transferable home warranties – If you offer a transferable home warranty, the buyer will feel more comfortable knowing that their appliances are covered against any potential issues. This may make your property more attractive than another one they are considering.

Credit towards closing costs – You could offer some credit towards the closing costs or you could even pay these fees entirely.

Short close-in time – You may wish to give buyers the opportunity to benefit from being able to close in a short amount of time if possible. This is something that will set your deal apart from the rest.

If you can find one or two little perks that are going to make your deal standout from others, you can be sure you will generate a greater amount of interest. Buyers will feel like they are getting a better deal from you than other sellers, and this can be the difference between getting a contract and not.

Final blunders to avoid when trying to sell your parents’ home

When trying to sell your parents’ home there are some major blunders people make without even realising. So, let’s take a look at what you shouldn’t do…

Don’t leave problems unattended to – You need to make repairs to your parents’ home – whether it is tending to a crack in the wall or a leak. If you don’t, the buyer will assume your home is in bad condition and that they will need to spend a lot of money on it.

Don’t assume your estate agent is doing their job ­– You need to ensure your property listing is easily accessible via their website. You could even get a friend to call up and pretend to be interested in your property to see how the agent handles it.

Don’t make it difficult for viewings to be arranged – If you are not flexible with regards to viewings you are going to miss out on a wealth of potential buyers. Another mistake is making the buyer give you e.g. a month’s notice before a viewing date.

Don’t overlook the importance of stunning photographs – Impressing the potential buyer begins way before they arrive for their viewing. You need to actually get people to your front door and stunning photographs will ensure that this is the case.