Property sellers guide: what you need to know if you want to nail a sale this spring

Property market experts have warned homeowners springing into a gear this selling season that it’s set to be a buyers’ home game. But sellers can still win if they take on some key advice.

Getting a sold sticker on your board this spring might take a bit of forward planning.

Australia is headed to its first unrestricted spring selling season since the turn of the decade, but it’s expected to be unlike any we’ve seen before.

Even with the pandemic in the rear view mirror, rising interest rates and inflation are expected to drive yet another unprecedented market as we head to the end of 2022.

We’ve asked the experts what prospective vendors need to know.

RELATED: Lowest interest rates on the market for borrowers

Tom Panos reveals the biggest real estate trends to watch out for around Australia this spring

State of the market: How spring selling season is shaping up

UNDERSTAND YOUR BUYER

Real Estate Institute of Australia president Hayden Groves said sellers should be aware investor activity has fallen since interest rates began rising, which meant this spring most vendors will need to tailor their home listing to attract owner occupiers.

“Make it warm and homey, make sure the gardens are looking great,” Mr Groves said. “Owner-occupier buyers will want to see themselves living there, and all of that helps. If your property is vacant, don’t leave it that way — make sure you stage it.”

Families will be driving many of the sales across Australia this spring.

While your agent should be across the staging points that have the biggest impact in your area, the fundamentals here include accentuating natural light and space.

Mr Groves also advised some nice music playing as well as some essential oils infusing the home could give it a more inviting atmosphere — or at the very least cover the smell of last night’s dinner.

QUICK TIPS FOR SPRING SELLERS

STAGE IT:

A well staged home can help tug at owner occupiers heart strings.

GET IT RIGHT:

Don’t rush in to beat interest rate rises, or home value falls, giftwrap your home for buyers first.

DON’T DELAY:

Once you’re on the market, long delays selling your home usually mean you will sell for less.

ACCEPT ADVICE:

A falling market can bring bad news, but taking tough advice on early could save you long-term pain.

PREPARING FOR SALE

Despite the prospect many home values will fall and interest rates would rise this spring, Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said sellers would be better off getting their place into the best state it could be, rather than rushing to market.

But Ms Conisbee warned against any significant renovations as supply and trades shortages meant it was likely you would not have these completed before the end of spring.

“You should try to get your property in the best looking condition you can and make it stand out, you don’t need to rush into it,” she said. “If your home isn’t renovated, get a really good stylist.”

However, with difficulties and delays in the building sector, those with a recently built or renovated family home were likely to do very well this spring, Ms Conisbee added.

A well-styled home could help buyers see the potential of your home, even if it does need a bit of work to be done on it.

WHAT BUYERS WANT

Latest realestate.com.au data shows at least 70 per cent of all searches in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide are for houses, with a three-bedroom floorplan the most popular.

For units, the most popular layout is two bedrooms.

PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said for sellers with such a home this was a sign the biggest group of buyers would be looking at your home this spring.

Ms Creagh noted the same stats were also present for rental data, so such homes were also likely to attract any investors active this spring.

In Sydney and Melbourne the highest percentage of buyers are searching for homes in the $1.5m price band, while the highest proportion of buyers in Brisbane are looking for a $1m home. In Adelaide the sweet spot seems to be $750,000.

Sellers hoping to maximise their chance at a sale this spring should be aiming to giftwrap their home so buyers can see very little that needs to be done with it.

Each state has its own list of most-searched keywords, and sellers should pay attention to these, according to Ms Creagh.

“The most popular keyword searches give us a good indication of what buyers are really looking for … so a seller that ticks all of those key word searches could find that their property garners more eyeballs,” she said.

LISTEN TO THE ADVICE

Mr Groves said more stock hitting the market could accentuate slowing price growth and even falls in Sydney and Melbourne, but it was likely Adelaide and potentially Brisbane would absorb the extra supply.

“There will be some outliers, there’s enough demand to drive some big results,” Mr Groves said.

“There should be an expectation that agents will be able to more accurately predict the level of demand.”

He advised all sellers to listen to their agents this spring, and not to ignore “market evidence” if recent comparable sales suggested their home might not bean “outlier”.

If that turns out to be you, Mr Groves said you might have to be willing to “meet the market” and lower your expectations. “If you are not, you need to ask why your home is on the market,” he said.

If your real estate agent looks like this after meeting with you, it might be time to reconsider why you’re selling your home.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said sellers should be aware this spring would be “very much in buyers’ favour” and it was less likely their home would soar past reserve at auction this spring compared to last year.

“But there are some early signs that sentiment is starting to stabilise,” Ms Conisbee said.

The clearance rate has improved in most capitals in recent weeks, and while she said Sydney appeared to be the hardest hit capital, Ray White’s average active bidder count there had risen from 2.1 in June to 2.3 in August.

Sellers who go to auction are also, on average, now getting better results above their best pre-auction offer.

Ms Conisbee added that in any market it was important to ensure you sold in good time, about a month, after listing a home for sale.

“There’s a direct correlation between days on market and discounting,” she said.

COUNT YOUR COSTS

While the price you get this spring might be below what you would have earlier in the year, the costs of selling your home should be quite competitive.

Mr Groves said while home prices might be a little worse off in some cities today than earlier in the year, the upfront costs of selling could be relatively minimal.

While the number of homes for sale would rise in spring, numbers would still be tight enough most agents would still offer competitive rates and vendors “should get a good and fair deal” when listing.

Similarly, even if your home takes a little longer to sell, most agents factor in a few months of advertising for a home, so Mr Groves said it was unlikely vendors would need to pay more for marketing.

However, he did advise all sellers not to scrimp on staging.

Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.

MORE: Champion jockey Damien Oliver saddles up for new spring race

Builder’s own warehouse has World War II cred

Joe Ingles: Australian Boomers and NBA star puts his Salt Lake City home on the market