Small Fixes Can Pay Big

Today's real estate market is booming. More and more South Africans are entering the real estate market. And this trend may continue for a long time, because statistics show that less than 20 percent of South Africans own their own homes. More and more South Africans are looking to fulfil the ideal of having a property they can call their own.

With that in mind, sometimes selling a house in South Africa's real estate market today can be trickier than you would think.

Of course, if you live in a highly desirable area, you will probably have no problem finding a buyer that will be willing to pay your asking price. Houses in certain towns and city suburbs will often sell no matter what the condition of the property. And these properties often sell quickly too; because people aren't paying for the house- they're paying for location, location, location. For these properties there is a constant demand and healthy competition.

But what do you do if your house isn't all about location? What if your house is just one of the millions of houses out there on the ever-expanding market South African real estate market? You can give your property an edge, by making it one of the few attractive houses among those houses for sale.

If you're feeling a little overwhelmed, don't despair. There are some easy and inexpensive tricks that can give your home the extra edge it needs to make a sale quick and painless.

Know your real estate market

The first thing a home seller should do is to get to know your real estate market. This is hardly even a trick, but amazingly, some home sellers skip this important step.

The real estate market is constantly changing. Supply and demand for different types of properties and different property features constantly change. What sold well yesterday might not sell that wonderfully today. Okay, maybe what sold a property yesterday will not exactly change over night, but the point remains, if you were in tune with the real estate market a year ago, things could have changed. So, get to know the current real estate market.

This step is especially important for home sellers who choose to sell privately. If you don't have a real estate agent with healthy market knowledge, who can give you some pointers, you will have to do some research on your own.

Check out comparable houses in comparable neighbourhoods, and price your property accordingly. The fact that your parents built the house themselves forty years ago isn't going to matter to a potential buyer. House buyers tend to pay for what they see, if they like what they see.

If homebuyers in your real estate market is looking for an area where they can put the computer equipment that have recently become part of our lives and homes, and your house does not have such an area, you may have a harder time at selling your property, than a seller with a property that does. Is there a way to create such a space in your house without breaking the bank? Then do it!

Make the property attractive

Assuming your house is priced correctly and is in good condition, there are a few things you can do to draw potential buyers and get your property sold at or around your asking price.

Before we start, you have to let go of your house emotionally, as much as possible. You are selling your house, moving to a new home, and leaving it in the hands of strangers. Deal with it now. Don't let your emotions negatively influence the sale of your house.

Now take a good objective look at the property from an outsider's point of view. If necessary, get an outsider or two to give you their impression of the house. But don't get defensive. Facing the facts about your house is the first step to getting your property ready for the real estate market.

The cracks in the concrete driveway might not matter to you, but perhaps it will matter to a potential buyer whose spouse uses a cane. Your daughter's pretty rose-pink bedroom might be just fine in your eyes, but what if your potential buyers have three sons? Will they be able to imagine their rough and tumble rascal living in a pink palace?

Remove buyer objections before they come up

You will want to address any objections a potential buyer might have against buying your property, as far as humanly and financially possible. Don't go overboard, though! Fixing the small things will probably be enough to get potential buyers to offer to purchase your property. You can negotiate about concessions in the purchase price for big expensive fixes, if you want, once you get an offer.

Prepare to invest a little time, effort and money into giving your house some general appeal. If it is possible to fix a problem for a small investment, then fix it. A few Rands spent on paint, or the small expense for cleaning up the yard and carting the junk off to the dump, can make a huge difference when it comes to the purchase price for the property.

Of course, real estate is sold "voetstoots", or "as is", in South Africa, provided that the buyer is made fully aware of whatever conditions or defects may be present in the property. Some repairs or alterations to the property might simply be too costly for the seller to do before putting the house on the market. These defects will come into play when it becomes time to negotiate the actual purchase price for a property.

You do not want to cover up those big problems in a property. That would just be dishonest. But you do want to catch the relatively small things before the buyers start looking for reasons to pay you less for your house, and use them to your advantage.