23 Low-Cost Tips for staging your home & getting the best price when you sell

Presented by APP Kirrane Auctioneering

Use this guide to help make your home stand out & to help to increase its potential value.

 

Home Staging

Home staging is the art of preparing your home to be sold. It’s what you do after you’ve cleaned, decluttered, painted and made any minor repairs.

It’s all about dressing the house for sale.

The idea behind home staging is simple; potential buyers aren’t looking for house, they’re looking for a home. It shows off the houses best features and can help you to get a better price.

Why Stage your home?

A Staged home:

  • Helps buyers visualise it as their own: 79% of buyers say that staging makes its easier for them to imagine the house as their future home.
  • Reduces the time spent on the market: Surveys have found that staged homes spend up to half the time on the market compare to non-staged homes.
  • Increases its perceived value: Staged homes can sell for 6-10% more than a non-staged, neighbouring house. 45% of buyers say it will positively impact the value of the home if it is decorated to their tastes.

It’s important to remember that’s the way you sell your home is very different from the way you live in. Most people form an opinion within 10 seconds of seeing a property. If there’s another house for sale close by, it’s human nature to view the better looking one.

How much does home staging cost?

Most sellers don’t want to spend a lot of money on a house that they are leaving. This guide aims to get the most bang for your buck while keeping costs low.

Each tip can be carried out on its own so you can choose how much you want to do or spend.

Factors to consider when deciding to stage your house:

  • You can do a lot of the work yourself, keeping the costs down.
  • A staged house can sell for more than a non- staged house.

If you do not stage your house, it may spend more time on the market while you’re making mortgage repayments.

In order for your solicitor to prepare contracts they will need the title deeds.  If you do not have a mortgage you will need to locate the title deeds which may be with your solicitor.

If your house is mortgaged the title deeds will be held by your bank.  You will need to give written authorisation to your solicitor to obtain the title deeds from the bank.  This process takes approximately two weeks to get these from the lender.

Your solicitor must order an up to date map from the Land Registry which takes approximately one week to arrive.

Any residential property constructed since October 01, 1964 requires planning permission.  Your solicitor will need to make sure that the planning documentation is in order. This will involve an architect’s certificate.  The architect confirms that the conditions of the planning regulations have been complied with. This should be with the title documents.

If you have renovated or extended your property since purchase, you will need to obtain a copy of the recent planning permission together with an architect’s certificate of compliance with planning permission and building regulations or exemption for planning permission.  If there are any development charges referred to in the planning permission you will need to obtain a letter from the county council confirming these charges have been paid.

It is very important that your boundaries on the ground correspond with the site map.  We recommend this is checked prior to offering the property to the market.

You will need to obtain a BER Certificate.  It is a legal requirement to have a BER Certificate. This BER rating must be included on all advertising material and brochures.

If any furniture, white goods, light fittings or fixtures are included in the sale you will need to prepare a list of these items.

You must have a valid PPS Number in order to sell any property.  If you do not have a PPS number you will need to apply for one to the Department of Social Protection.  This process can take 8-10 weeks.

You will require clearance from Revenue that the LPT is paid.  In most cases clearance can be obtained by accessing the LPT online system.  To do this you log onto: www.revenue.ie using : The property ID and Property PIN, Your PPS number or Tax Reference number.

You should select the Property History Screen to view the relevant LPT details which can be printed off and used to satisfy the purchaser that the property has no outstanding LPT issues.

If your house or apartment is in a housing estate which is managed by a management company you will need to obtain a receipt for the payment of service charges.  A copy of the most recent management accounts and the contact details of the management company for your solicitor.

If the property is situated in a housing estate a letter from the local authority confirming whether the roads and services in the development have been taken in charge by the Local Authority must be obtained.  This letter from the County Council can take up to 8 weeks.

If there is a burden on the Folio comprised within the Land Registry instrument the instrument should be ordered by the solicitor without delay as this can take approximately 6 weeks to issue instruments.

If there is a septic tank or treatment system serving the property a registration certificate under the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 must be furnished.

The contract for sale is drawn up once the solicitor has received all the documentation.  

Your solicitor can then send the contracts and title deeds to us by electronic mail and we can upload the contracts and title deeds to our website.  This information is secure and not in the public domain one needs to register to gain access to such information.

Prospective buyers may want to check the title documents before purchasing and this will speed up the process.  Their solicitor, surveyor or architect can register with us and obtain access to these documents.

Once a sale is agreed the contracts can be sent to the purchaser’s solicitor the same day the sale is agreed.  When this process is followed and commenced prior to a property been offered for sale the sales process runs smoothly, giving rise to no issues and can be processed in a timely and controlled manner for the betterment of Vendor, Purchaser, Estate Agents, Solicitors, Financial Institutions, Engineers and Architects.

That’s it!

Just 10 simple steps to follow for a
successful sale of your property.

Please get in touch with us today!