August 2016

The art of successfully selling real estate is so much more sophisticated than just tidying up a house and garden then sticking a ‘FOR SALE’ sign in the front yard; professional agents know it requires the science of sensation.

Falling in love with a home stems not only from what we see, but also from what we hear, smell and feel, even though we may not be conscious of these influences.

While any competent real estate agent will recommend improvements to the physical appearance of your property, an outstanding agent will work with you to use ‘invisible’ factors to help your home sell for a better price.

As a vendor, why wouldn’t you take advantage of the science of sensation, whereby sensory organs can be stimulated to send positive messages to the brain?

Unless you have a personal recommendation, choosing the right real estate agent to sell your home — likely your most valuable asset — can be daunting.

Making a good choice requires quite a bit more effort than Googling ‘real estate agents Adelaide west’.

When you have a feel for the likely contenders in the local area, make appointments to speak to them in person to ascertain their ability to do a good job for you.

Some real estate agents keen to list your property may impress you with their confident presentations, but you need to assure yourself that they are actually skilled at selling property and not just themselves.

Obtaining a dream job interstate can induce euphoria, quickly followed by anxiety — How am I going to sell my house fast?

If you ever find yourself in the situation of needing to sell your home in a hurry, don’t panic!

You can increase your chances of selling your house within a tight timeframe without attracting less than its true worth, even though the market forces of supply and demand are outside your control.

Should you ever have to consider selling your house when you have pets, it's important to realise having pets in the home is a lifestyle choice that can polarise, with people either enthusiastically in favour of it or vehemently against it.

If you are selling your home and fall in the first camp, DO be mindful of the prejudices and sensibilities of prospective buyers who fall in the second one.

Even some animal lovers baulk at the idea of inside dogs, while those with allergies to cats (which are twice as common as allergies to dogs; WebMD.com, 2016) have good reason to want feline-free environments.