Most home sellers probably know someone who has ‘staged’ their property for sale even if they haven’t done it themselves. Making the home look good in order to sell it is becoming more common and is certainly a way of getting more sales dollars, especially when an empty house is furnished and decorated to have the wow factor and camouflage unattractive areas. But some people overdo it, thinking that any staging (even bad) is better than no staging at all. When does staging go too far?

There are obviously risks and disadvantages for purchasers buying off the plan, but most of these can be minimised by doing some research while some can even be turned to the purchaser’s advantage. 

Research shows that about 40% of day to day energy use comes from heating and cooling the space we live in. In these days of climate change awareness, passive solar building design is not just a do-good feel-good gimmick – it means measurable day-to-day cost-saving which will also be reflected in higher sales prices when the property is eventually sold. 

Many home owners realise that by the time they sell (homes sell on average every seven to ten years), energy-savvy design will be even more highly sought after as energy prices come to match environmental impact concerns. 

Click more to find out what’s involved in incorporating passive solar design into your building or renovation project.

In the US, eight out of ten people (in Australia and New Zealand seven out of ten) make their initial foray into the market via the Internet. After all, the net is convenient, inexpensive and wide-ranging and it allows purchasers to be anonymous until they are ready to buy. What do the Internet and other technologies mean for the more traditional advertising vehicles and how does a vendor work out how to get the best value for advertising dollar with so much out there to choose from?

Buying a new home? Here is a checklist that will help you remember all the things you need to assess to be sure you are making a good buy.

Many home sellers forget that their home is more than meets the purchaser’s eye. They no longer remember that behind the smart décor there is attention to detail and quality workmanship. But these features often cost a lot even though they aren’t immediately apparent to purchasers. Could they add value to a home?

Most locations have a lot of real estate offices. This means there are plenty of agents to choose from and it shouldn’t be too hard to choose someone to sell your home. But many report that it’s very confusing making that ‘who’ decision, especially when they don’t see the results of the service they are securing for days, weeks or even months. How to decide, especially if this is your first foray into selling real estate?

These days there are so many different lending products on the market that it’s very hard sometimes to work out which loan offers the best solution to your own financial situation. 

Reducing the energy use of your home and thereby its environmental impact is likely to add thousands of dollars to the re-sale value of your home, especially further down the track. Some prospective buyers may even be put off by homes which have not kept up with energy awareness and where money has been spent on flashy consumer fittings instead. Click more to read the rest of this article for some tips on how to improve the carbon footprint of your home before putting it on the market.

New listings generate a lot of excitement amongst purchasers who have been looking around for some time without finding what they want. Eager purchasers converge hopefully on the first few Opens held for any new listing and the property is more likely to attract an offer in the early stages of marketing than at any other time. Yet this is the time a vendor is least likely to take an offer seriously. What does this mean for the sale of the property?