AS REPORTS roll in about the Australian property bubble deflating and the struggle for sales in the current climate, it's an uncomfortable time for those in the market to sell.
While the number of first-home buyers is again on the rise, SQM Research shows house prices are falling right across the country as the market digests a glut of more than 360,000 properties up for sale.
On top of that, Australians are unwilling to increase their debt while the banks are reluctant to expand their lending.
It all paints a pretty bleak picture for sellers who need to adjust their thinking and tactics to optimise their chances of a sale. Selling in tough times needs a different mindset.
1. Get the price right
The single most important factor in selling any property in any market is getting the asking price right.
Property expert and managing director of SQM Research Louis Christopher says no matter how good a property or the agent is, if the price is out of touch with the market then it won't sell.
"The price must be right from day one," he says.
It is absolutely imperative to spend the time putting in the research to identify the value of your property and price it accordingly. Take the emotion out of it, be objective and, if you can't, then hire someone else to do it for you.
"There's always a buyer in the market for every property," Christopher says. "If a property doesn't sell, it's because it hasn't been priced correctly."
2. Don't list for too long
If a house sits on the market for too long, people start to wonder what's wrong with it. The obvious tip to avoid people asking questions of a long listing is to not have one.
That is, if your property is on the market for 60 days without selling, take it down and re-list it another time. Most buyers are found in the first three or four weeks of a property being on the market, so if it hasn't sold by then, it's time to reconsider the sale.
3. Stay out at inspection
Nobody wants to view a property with the homeowner around. It's uncomfortable.
When making the biggest purchase of their life, buyers want to be able to ask any question and look anywhere.
They won't feel they can do this with you whistling in the kitchen or rambling on about the great memories of the place, so make sure that you're not around when they are.
4. Don't overcustomise
Don't try to make the property stand out by adding quirky colours or doing customised renovations. Keep the paint neutral, the rooms theme-less and the pool rectangle.
Having a neutral property helps buyers create their own vision for the house and means less work for them to undo your quirky Mexican shower mosaic. Staying neutral has worked for Switzerland and it can work for your property too.
5. De-clutter
Take out any piece of furniture that dominates a room, remove any large or obscure pictures and generally clear the place out. It'll make the place look bigger and uncrowded.
But don't shove it all in the closet or storage spots - get it off the property. Buyers need to see space and envisage what they can do with it. Hopefully, it's no longer even your place to decorate anyway.
To be clear, that clutter includes any pets too. Allergies, odours or unease about dogs, cats and guinea pigs are very common and your pet being around should be the last reason to turn a prospective buyer away.
6. Keep up the kerbside
How a property appears from the kerb plays on the vanity of buyers and can have a huge bearing on their final call.
Trim the trees, weed the garden and lick the house with paint. Buyers often make a decision on buying after seeing a house from the outside.
There's always a cost-benefit trade-off to putting in the time and money to chase the best price for your property. Spending money will always be at the risk of not recouping the cost at sale time.
Regardless of your strategy, the sale of a property comes down to tip No.1 - getting the price right. Do this and you're 90 per cent of the way there.
PROPERTY TRENDS
* Knocking down an old house and replacing it with a project home.
* The closer to the city, the better.
* Medium density more popular as Baby Boomers look to downsize.
* Increasing demand to rent rather than buy.
* A move away from auction to private sale.
TAX REFORM
IN ALL the discussion about a tough Federal Budget, the focus seems to be on slashing Government services rather than savings from tax reform. Remember the Tax Forum late last year came up with a lot of ideas.
The forum showed up a range of tax issues, which are plain stupid and should be solved quickly.
Why is it so much cheaper for a business to buy an electric hot water system than a solar one when depreciation and operating costs deductions are taken in to account?
Why are tax concessions on capital gains and negative gearing so much more attractive than investment interest earned? There was strong support for a cap on negative gearing tax advantages for non-productive assets.
Maybe put a five-year limit on it for each investment or don't index it.
Another key plank of the forum was the harmonisation of state taxes so that more businesses can efficiently trade across borders.
Hopefully this Budget will take serious steps in bringing fairness, clarity and efficiency to the tax system.
