Selling a home, especially for the average joe, may find the process stressful, time-consuming, or worse – in perpetual limbo, seemingly never attracting the right buyer or the desired price. Luckily, Ohmyhome’s very own highly recommended agent is here to dish out on the top few common misconceptions he encountered in his many years of industry experience to help soothe your home selling journey. Break out the drawing board homeowners and let’s get schooled.
1. Buyers will be willing to pay for a well-renovated unit
Granted, a gorgeously renovated home – we’re talking slick Peranakan-tiled bathrooms and a decked out open concept kitchen straight out of Pinterest – plays a huge role in enhancing the viewing experience, but at the end of the day it is entirely up to the buyer whether they’re willing to keep the renovation once they’ve purchased the unit. The bitter truth is that the renovations you’re hoping the buyer will fall in love with will ultimately be secondhand after the property changes hands. Buyers may rather go for the cheaper unit that still has its original fixtures intact, and remodel it to their fancy with the savings earned.
2. Buyers will prefer a bigger unit
Does size really matter? It all boils down to the layout of your home. A spacious 5-room unit goes from good to great when the layout allows for an additional bedroom to be built as this gives the buyer the luxury of options. However, this is not necessarily the case for all big 120+ sqm units as some may not have the ideal layout for that extra bedroom to be possible. Unfortunately, buyers may not be as willing to pay more when that option is off the table.
3. Buyers are willing to fork out a premium
Whether your home sits on the highest floor or it’s big enough for that additional bedroom to be installed, those factors do not necessarily equate to a reasonable incentive to overvalue your property. Especially within today’s property market, units that fetch a premium price – and even with those glowing features – are still not impervious to depreciating factors such as dwindling balance leases and increased supply of flats with fulfilled MOP, indicating a Buyer’s market in 2019.
4. Blaming home’s lack of buyers on bad luck
When an unfortunate unit is stuck in limbo, homeowners could fall into a bad habit of blaming everything under the sun such as the weather, the location, Mercury in retrograde… Ultimately it’s up to market forces, not luck. Our reputable agent advised homeowners to take a more realistic and proactive role in increasing the property value of the home to make it more attractive to buyers. Follow our handy article on home staging for simple yet effective changes to tackle such as decluttering the home and keeping highly used areas organised. It’s definitely worth a shot.
At the end of the day, striking the fine line between over-valuing and under-valuing your unit is key. One good rule of thumb to follow is to peg your price against other units in your area. If you’re not sure where to start, a handy tool you can use is Ohmyhome’s in-app valuation calculator that gives you an instant estimation of how much your unit is valued today. Download Ohmyhome app now! Simply open the app, scroll to Services, tap the Valuation Calculator to key in the required information and voila! Have a smooth selling journey!
Want some professional in-depth market insights instead? Call 6886 9009 to learn more about our HDB resale agent services.
Source: Straits Times