Home Staging, once again, leads the list of home improvement projects with an almost 300% return on investment. Increase a home’s resale value with staging, the key to selling success.

The following is reprinted from HomeGain’s most recent survey. (HomeGain is a US site that offers free online services and resources to help make the process of buying and selling a home easy and efficient)

HomeGain reveals new survey findings of top 10 do-it-yourself home improvements for home sellers; cleaning and decluttering ranks as highest return on investment, followed by lightening and brightening

HomeGain surveyed nearly 600 real estate professionals nationwide and configured a list of the top 10 do-it-yourself home improvements that cost under $5,000 and benefit sellers most when they sell their homes.

According to the HomeGain survey, the top five home improvements that real estate professionals recommend to home sellers based on average cost and return on investment (from highest to lowest ROI) are:

1. Cleaning and decluttering ($290 cost / $1,990 price increase / 586% ROI)
2. Lightening and brightening ($375 cost / $1,550 price increase / 313% ROI)
3. Home staging ($550 cost / $2,194 price increase / 299% ROI)
4. Landscaping ($540 cost / $1,932 price increase / 258% ROI)
5. Repairing electrical or plumbing ($535 cost / $1,505 price increase / 181% ROI)

Cleaning and decluttering continue to rank as the top suggested home improvement (since the survey was originally conducted in 2000), recommended by 99 % of real estate professionals, costing less than $300 and returning a value of nearly $2,000 to the home’s sale price, or a 586 % return on investment.

“Sellers need to prepare their homes for sale before putting them on the market,” said Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain. “Homes that have initial appeal have a better shot at selling faster and closer to the asking price than homes rushed to the market with no improvements.”

Rounding out the top 10, low cost, do-it-yourself home improvements includes: updating electrical systems and/or plumbing, updating the kitchen and bathrooms, replacing or shampooing carpets, painting interior walls, repairing damaged floors, and painting the outside of the home.

The home improvement projects with the highest price increases to a home’s resale value are

• Updating the kitchen ($1,265 cost / $3,435 price increase), followed by
• Painting the outside of the home ($1,467 cost / $2,222 price increase) and
• Home Staging ($550 cost / $2,194 price increase).

To see the complete survey results, visit the HomeGain Real Estate blog

Contact Charyn Youngson on 0411 44 1038 or Charyn@HousesToImpress.com.au to learn how an investment in home staging will help you sell quickly and for top dollar.

Discounts available for Real Estate Agents including the cost of home staging consultations in their marketing strategy.

Here are my 10 Top Tips for achieving a successful sale of your property

 1.    Time the Selling Period Carefully

Avoid slow periods, which include major public holidays, major sporting and festival events, Easter and the whole Christmas/New Year period when most people (including most real estate agents) are in holiday mode. Sometimes out of season listing, when there is less competition, can be a better choice

2.      Research the Market

People spend more time researching the latest gadget they are going to buy than they do researching their competition in the current real estate market. Be smart and put in the same effort to find out “Who is my competition?”  and  “What will it take to sell my house easily?”

3.    Remove yourself emotionally

Prospective buyers are not buying “your stuff”, they are buying “your space”. How you live in your house and the way you sell your house are two different concepts.  View your house like a prospective buyer.

4.    Identify the things you love most

If you expect buyers to fall in love with your home you need to rediscover what attracted you in the first place. Once you have identified your homes most endearing features, focus on showcasing these areas to their best potential.

5.    Declutter your home

Your home is a reflection of you. Take a good look at the real picture you will be portraying to your potential buyers. De-cluttering and minimalizing your stuff will create the appearance of a home and lifestyle that functions well. Space sells!

6.    Fix it

If it is broken, faded, out dated, dying, dripping, rusty, then remove it, replace it, paint it or renew it. No buyer wants to buy your maintenance problems. Ever!

7.    24/7 Street Appeal

Ensure you are “open” for business 24/7 and have a stunning street appeal high on your priority list. Keep your front yard spotless throughout the marketing period so you attract the highest amount of your target buyers.

8.    Give your home some “wow” factor

You can’t change the location or size of your home but your can greatly enhance your best features with some home staging techniques that will give buyers a positive experience and induce them to “fall in love”.  Purchase some contemporary accessories to accentuate your existing furniture and décor.  If you don’t have an eye for styling or you don’t have time, hire a professional home stager who will quickly transform your ordinary home into a show home.

9.    Price your house realistically

If you have fully researched the market (my No 2 Tip), you should be in the position to accurately gauge the right price point for your home.  It doesn’t matter what it could have sold for 12 months ago – times have changed. Over priced homes WILL not sell no matter how good they look.

10. Choose the right Real Estate Agent

Don’t choose the cheapest agent. Choose the best agent. Interview prospective agents as if you were employing them to work for you in your  business.  Ask for their results over the past few months.  Did they sell fast and for the price the vendors were seeking or did their listings sit on the market for months and only sell after a drastic price reduction? If they advise to sell “as is”, show them the door!

Charyn Youngson

Author “Sold for Top Dollar”

As a Professional Property Renovator, Home Stager and Home Selling Strategist, Charyn Youngson from Houses to Impress delivers high-impact, low cost, customised property transformations that Sell for Top Dollar.  Charyn works with Real Estate Professionals and Vendors who are willing to do whatever it takes to get their properties SOLD.

Embracing a little bit of ancient Chinese wisdom into my house transformations generates the invisible energy or chi that creates a home environment that attracts buyers (if my client’s are selling) or expands the lives of existing clients homes who are simply looking for a lifestyle upgrade and seeking to create their own dream sanctuary.

A few months ago I travelled to Bowral in NSW to spend  a day with renowned Feng Shui expert George Birdsall. He shared some of the techniques that he uses to enhance the harmony in homes, gardens and office surroundings which leads to an increase the health, wealth, love and prosperity and he has kindly written an article to share with my readers.

How to Attract more Potential Buyers to your Front Door with a little Feng Shui.

How do you attract more potential buyers to your front door when you are selling your home, and then turn this flow of people to your financial advantage?

Some ways are just commonsense like advertising the home, employing a professional real estate agent to advise you and help you with the selling process; however from my experience the most important factor in selling your home and maximising your return is to get the presentation of your home right.

Newer Homes often have more appeal to potential buyers than older homes. These often require renovation or remodeling to modernise them. Some of the ways to add value to the sale of a home are to home stage the property, fix all the maintenance issues and last but not least apply commonsense Feng Shui principles. All these actions will make the home more appealing to any buyer.

There are numerous renovation and property television shows confirming these techniques can make a difference to the financial return you get when selling a property. Every seller wants the sale of their home to happen quickly, easily and for the maximum financial benefit.

Selling your home can be a very emotional time and is often spoken of being one of the most stressful life experiences other than a loved one dying or divorce .

Whatever the reason it takes some time and effort to sell your existing home and buy another one. It is also a costly exercise with legal, bank, government and agents fees adding significantly to the financial pressures of the home move.  People buying a property are influenced by their first impressions and improving the street appeal is vital when selling.

The first recommendation on any Feng Shui Practitioners Consultation for any property is to remove the clutter, fix the maintenance and to make the front of a property look like something to love, not something that repulses you day after day when you arrive home.

Make the front of your property and the path leading to the front door very appealing to potential buyers, as consciously and unconsciously they will have     almost made up their mind about a property before they walk in the front door. They need to be enticed out of their car and into your home to even start the process.  Commonsense Feng Shui principles start with getting the path leading to the front door and the area around the front door, clear and energised to allow the chi to flow gradually into your home. Wherever possible it is good to have a curved path to your front door lined with plants with circular leaves. Get rid of any plants with spiky leaves along this path, as they are seen as repelling potential visitors to your home. Having been involved in Feng Shui, building, renovation and property for over 25 years it has surprised me, and many of my clients at the difference this simple trick makes to getting potential buyers to your front door.

If the home is badly maintained with rusted gutters, moss covered roofs, paint peeling off the walls, has weeds in the garden or the front lawn is not mowed will have a significant bearing on the potential sale and price achieved. While these may appear common sense items, it is surprising how often one small part of them is overlooked and has a subconscious influence on achieving a maximum potential sale of your property.Get rid of any rubbish; repair all maintenance items no matter how small and clean the front of the house either by repainting the painted surfaces or washing down other areas with a high pressure water cleaner.

The front door is seen as the “mouth of chi” just like the mouth in our body is where all the energy and chi enters. Make sure the front door is clearly identified by colour, plants or garden ornaments clearly defining your front door. The more difficult it is for people to find your door, the more difficult it is for the opportunity to knock!

Yes these are all common sense items and yet they are also based on basic Feng Shui Principles which make the chi flow smoothly and easily to your front door.

Once inside your home Feng Shui principles again dictate that chi should flow easily to make the potential buyers feel comfortable and relaxed. Again clear the clutter, fix maintenance items and repaint as necessary with neutral colours. Give your home some fresh new energy, and allow buyers to see how they can put their furniture and decorations into your home.

Look at your artwork and furniture, and remove anything controversial or which makes rooms look more cluttered or crowded. Create a sense of space. Feng Shui is all about the intuitive feelings people have when they are in any home. You want them to feel happy, relaxed and comfortable and not want to leave.

Other ways to freshen the house up using more esoteric and energetic Feng Shui ideas is to light candles or incense, have fresh flowers in your home, bake some bread or pleasant smelling food in the oven so that you appeal to all your buyers senses, not just the visual. They will become more attached if you can get their sense of smell, hearing and feelings engaged.

All of these changes will affect the Feng Shui feeling and flow of chi in a house, and ensure it is sold faster and for a larger financial return.

George Birdsall wrote the best selling book “Feng Shui – The Key Concepts”  in 1995 and has sold over 50,000 copies so far. More about his feng shui books, consultations and speaking can be found by clicking this link to his  personal website .

He also writes a blog on planning your home improvement projects to save time and money at ”his Renovation Plan website “. He lives in Bowral Australia and loves organising anything in ways that Save Time and Money for himself and his clients. His business focuses around Project Management and Client Advisory Services to clients ranging from home owners to multinational corporations.

I attended a great networking function today and in one of the first conversations I joined in on we were discussing our 30 second elevator speeches – you know the one you are always encouraged to work on so you can quickly describe your business and what service you provide in a very succinct and memorable way.

Through this process earlier on this year I started describing myself as a property transformation specialist. I transform homes for sale and lifestyle. I thought I was onto a winner with that description and now use it on my business card and as part of my rebranding on the website.

Today, however, a consummate networker, who had cleverly distilled his elevator speech down to “I am a Laughter Therapist”, enlightened me.  Now I have known Peter for a few years and he is a Magician, a Clown, a Professional Speaker, a Coach and yes the umbrella that sits above all these talents he has is definitely Laughter Therapy.  A light switch went on in my head and I immediately responded, “well I think I am a “House Therapist” to which Peter responded “yes you turn sad houses into happy houses”. Indeed I do and that was my catchcry for the rest of the afternoon.

Whenever I was asked what I do, I replied, “I am a Houses Therapist – I transform sad houses into happy houses that make people fall in love with them”. It was certainly a great way to start a conversation and I felt impassioned about what I do for a living when I described my business to new people I had never met before.  Thank you, Peter for the inspiration.

I am not about to rebrand but I am going to continue use this new theme moving forward.

If you want to book in for a home therapy session where I can diagnose your house problems and recommend some simple and easy to implement remedies, then call today for an appointment. It will be pain free – I promise!

 Click here to Contact Us Today

I think the sense of smell is one of the most vital senses that evoke either a positive or negative reaction from people. Studies have been done on the effects of smells of our brain chemistry and its tie to our moods and emotions.  Researchers concluded that sense of smell and emotion come from the same areas of the brain.

When I smell the lovely sweet fragrance of gardenias, I always think of my Grandma who is no longer with us.   She lived in a big house with a beautiful garden and when I visited she would pick some of her colourful gardenias and float them in a shallow bowl of water.

Walk past any bakery and I am taken back to being 4 years old and summer holidays staying with my Aunty in a country town. We used to walk together to the bakery every morning to buy fresh bread for the day. It is very hard to walk past a bakery with those yummy smells and not enter.

Cinnamon donuts instantly remind me of our annual visits to the Royal Adelaide Show when we drove from our distant country town and stayed in the big city for a few days while Dad competed in the Shearing competitions. Hot cinnamon donuts were a big treat on those special visits.

The power of smell serves as an almost magical time machine.

Unpleasant Smells

Unpleasant smells can also affect our perceptions and evaluations. In one study, the presence of an unpleasant odour led subjects not only to give lower ratings to photographed individuals, but also to judge paintings as less professional.

Every household gets their own smell but most household odours go unrecognized by the occupants as we tend to block out unpleasant odours in our own homes. When you experience the same smell every day, the brain doesn’t register it, but take a two-week vacation and you soon become aware of the everyday aroma in your home!

The worst offending smells are stale cooking smells and pet odours including pet food and kitty litters. Walking into a house that reeks of last nights curry or smelly dogs does not give a visitor a great first impression and can make them want to leave the house in a hurry.

There is convincing evidence that pleasant fragrances can improve our mood and sense of well-being and that is why I believe that having a house smell good is vital when you open it up for potential buyers.  I always give my clients a yummy smelling Yankee Candle to burn during open house inspections. Yankee Candles come in an amazing range of fragrances and I especially love the food and fruit fragrances. Just imagine the scents of Cinnamon and Spice, Creamy Caramel, Kiwi Berries and Strawberry Shortcake.

If you want to enhance the emotional connection your potential buyers have to your home, banish the smelly sneakers and get yourself a Yankee Candle to evoke the smell of a country kitchen or a flowers market.

For the first 5 people who write to me in 50 words or less about the memories one of their favourite smells conjures up or the smells that turn your stomach, I have 5% off vouchers to give away from Aroma Living who stock Yankee Candles.

My local real estate agent, Jim, referred me to my latest project management client. The vendor Jeff had just accepted a new job in Sydney and had to relocate in 2 weeks.

Jeff’s problem – he needed to sell his home and he needed to sell it fast! Jeff’s biggest problem – his 1970′s house was still in its original condition and he didn’t have time to get it ready for market.

So I met with Jeff and told him how Houses to Impress could take care of his whole house renovation for him, eliminate the stress and leave him free to concentrate on the big move.   I assessed the property while I was there and gave Jeff my expert opinion on what needed to be done to bring his 1970′s home into the 21st century so we could attract some serious buyers in this very tough market.

Jeff was willing to invest some money in some home improvements as he hadn’t done any upgrades since he moved into the house in 1983. He was well aware that it would be very difficult to sell the house in its present condition, in the current slow market.  Jim, the real estate agent, appraised the house “as is” at $280,000 – $300,000. I did a quick calculation on the upgrades that were required and estimated that to fully renovate and style the house for sale would cost about $20,000 – $25,000. Jeff was prepared to spend that amount to ensure he could sell his home fast and for a higher price. I discussed my planned renovation ideas with Jim, the agent, and after doing some comparisons for the area we both agreed that the market price “after reno” would sit in the range of $330,000 to $350,000.

Jeff was happy with these estimated figures and gave me the go ahead to project manage the cosmetic renovation. I immediately got to work with a plan that would enable me to get the whole job done in 30 days.

Step 1 – Renovation Plan

Kitchen

• Remove old narrow style kitchen
  Get electrician to install new power points
  Install new kitchen
  Remove old freestanding stove and replace with new oven, cooktop and range hood
  Install new sink and modern flick mixer tap
  Install tile splash back

Bathroom

• Remove and replace old shower screen
  Remove old style vanity and replace with a new corner unit
  Resurface existing wall tiles
  Resurface existing floor tiles
  Get electrician to install new 3 in 1 heat/lamp/light and replace power points

Toilet

• Resurface existing floor tiles
  Replace cistern and toilet seat

Laundry

• Resurface existing floor tiles

Paintwork – Interior

• Repair minor cracks and gaps in cornices in most rooms
  Paint all ceilings
  Paint all walls
  Prime and paint wall paneling in main lounge room (same colour as walls)
  Paint all door and window trims

Paintwork – Exterior

• Spray Paint old galvanised fences
  Spray Paint shed
  Paint some areas of timber gables at front and rear of property where needed

Main bedroom

• Remove old doors from built-in robe
  Install new doors, frame and return on built-in robe

Bedroom 3

• Remove built in desk and bookcase to open up the space

Flooring

• Remove 70′s shagpile carpet from bedrooms, lounge/dining and hallway
  Replace with new Godfrey Hirst textured loop stainmaster
  Lay new vinyl (over top of old vinyl) in kitchen

Gardening and exterior improvements

• Remove weeds from old garden beds
  Place bamboo screening on one section of fence to hide ugly fence
  Add low maintenance plants to rear garden beds
  Add eco mulch to all garden beds over top of existing scoria
  Trim back all shrubs in front garden
  Repair small sections of wood rot in front windows and paint
  Remove amber glass from front courtyard area and replace with timber slats to match existing features in courtyard
  Paint letterbox

One of the main keys to success in project management is great planning and organisation. Next step will be gathering my dream team of tradies and coordinating the work to fit in with my home makeover schedule.

See some teaser photos below!!

I like to keep track of what is happening in the home staging industry globally and the following article by American Home Staging Expert, Alice T. Chan arrived in my inbox today on this very topic so I would like to share it with you.

Don’t Make Your House Appeal to the Masses

By Alice T. Chan – Setting the Stage

On a recent episode of HGTV’s Designed to Sell they said something that really made me think about the mis-perceptions and old school and ineffective guidance that surrounds the home staging and real estate industry.

The person said, “you should make your home appeal to the mass market”

Let me be the first to tell you that that is 100% WRONG!!

You don’t want to appeal to the masses because that’s not who is going to buy your house.

Think about it. A young family is not going to be interested in purchasing that 1 bedroom condo in the city. In fact, they are probably the sellers of that property, so “staging” that condo to include child friendly features would not make any sense at all. In fact, it would be confusing to buyers and may even be a turn-off to most.

What you need to do is appeal to your ideal target buyer. Who is most likely going to purchase your home? Based on your neighborhood, your price range, your school district and many other factors, who is your home going to appeal to? Is it a young family? A bachelor or bachelorette? A wealthy executive family? or is it seniors?

What has been taught and preached over the years is that you need to depersonalize your home, you need to make it appeal to the general public, and the list goes on.

Unfortunately, what’s happened is that we end up with a flood of boring, cookie cutter, generic houses on the market.

Yes, you should remove YOUR personality from the home, but your home still needs A personality.

Consider this, white or beige walls, white cabinets, white countertops, beige flooring, no photos, no color…BLAH!!! How memorable is that? It’s not! And remember, when buyers are out seeing 10, 20 or hundreds homes, what is going to make your house STAND OUT from the rest and be memorable…it’s not the boring vanilla box you created that’s for sure.

Also, neighborhoods tend to attract a specific type of crowd. Homeowners generally know what that demographic is because they are that demographic or was at one time. Design a lifestyle in your house to attract that specific demographic.

Don’t get trapped in the other mis-perception which is that you just need to make your house pretty. Sorry to burst your bubble again, but pretty doesn’t sell.

Your home should tell a story about the ideal homeowner…make that story count!

So…for a truly effective home sale, really consider who is most likely going to purchase the home and upgrade and showcase your home with the features that will attract those buyers – appliances, flooring, colors, room use and more.

Oh, and one last thing…get away from the mindset that you’re going to put the cheapest products in the home to get it ready to sell. I hear it all the time…you don’t care because you’re not living there. When that is the energy that you’re putting into preparing the house to sell, you will invite the same type of energy back with home buyers who give you lowball offers. It’s an energetic exchange..be careful what you put out there.

I would love your feedback and welcome your comments on this article.

After winning everything in the first few weeks Josh and Jenna totally lost the plot with the living room and hallway challenge.

‘Share accommodation for students” -  that was the opinion of the The Block judges John McGrath and Neale Whitaker.

Tacky, old school wall paneling – I cannot believe Josh and Jenna installed this.  Without a doubt wall paneling is the most out dated thing I find on a regular basis when assessing  clients properties for  pre-sale home makeovers.  I always recommend either removing them or painting the paneling exactly the same colour as the walls so they appear unobtrusive and just blend in.  Of course painting is the quickest and most cost effective solution to this seventies feature of the decade – just don’t forget to prime them first.

And what were they thinking when they used a Chinese checkerboard as artwork!

“The chairs are foul” said Amie.  “Yeehaa” commented Rod on spotting the rawhide covered chairs. The Block’s other contestants weren’t impressed either when they had their walk through.

Where did Josh and Jenna go wrong? Once again they were decorating to their own personal taste. And potential buyers are going to have the same sort of repulsive reactions that the judges and other contestants had.

All of the couples have been guilty of putting too much of their own personality into some of their rooms and frankly it is going be the undoing of them come auction day.

Josh and Jenna were gutted by their low score and the judges criticism but to their credit they took it on the chin and immediately started changing the things the judges hated.  Thank goodness the wood paneling is going along with some of the other kitsch accessories.

Hopefully Josh and Jenna will be back on track for the kitchen and dining room challenge.

I had no renovation experience when I started out as a property renovator so the most an important criterion for me was “Can I do it myself?”  Of course for my first renovation I couldn’t build and install a kitchen myself and I needed a plumber, tiler and electrician to assist with the kitchen installation. However,

• I could pull up Masonite sheeting on the floors and prepare them for the carpet install
• I could clean and scrub ceilings and walls, fill holes, sand patches and prepare all surfaces ready for painting
• I could paint – I got advice from my local paint store and found out the best paints for each surface, what brushes and rollers to use and I chose the same neutral colour paint to use throughout the whole house
• I could weed the garden, cut back dead and overgrown plants, plant new plants and add some mulch to tidy the back yard

I set myself a time frame to complete the renovation (5 weeks) and had a budget of $12,000, which included the brand new kitchen with new appliances.  Kitchens don’t get built in a day so it was vital for me to make the kitchen my first priority so that I could select the kitchen cabinets I wanted, get quotes from a few kitchen suppliers and source the appliances, tapware, tiles to ensure the kitchen would be completed within my 5 week time frame. I used the weeks leading up to settlement to get the kitchen planned and ordered which helped me to achieve getting the renovation on time.  While the kitchen was being built, I was busy cleaning, fixing preparing

I bought the property for $109,000 spent $12,000 on the renovation and sold it for $155,000.  An increase in value of $46,000 in 5 weeks. My actual profit after all buying and selling costs was $30,000 – not bad for my first renovating for profit project.

6 years and many renovations all over Adelaide later, I would like to share my simple tips for a successful “cosmetic” renovation

1. Great planning and organisations skills – getting the job done on time and within your budget will depend on it. Keep accurate records and receipts through the process. (see our Renovator’s Organiser in the product store)
2. Identify which jobs you can do yourself and hire licensed tradespeople to carry out work that needs specialised skills and compliance. How to choose a great tradesperson is a topic all of itself however I do recommend getting word of mouth referrals from friends, colleagues and relatives is a great start.
3. Be on hand to supervise the tradespeople as things can easily go wrong and result in cost blowouts.  Give clear directions to tradespeople about the work you want done (I write a checklist that can easily be followed and ensure nothing gets missed), communicate well with them and show appreciation like making them a coffee or giving them a beer at the end of a good days work.  A happy tradie is a good tradie.
4. Allow some padding in your budget for unexpected problems that may occur. Renovating is all about problem solving!
5. If you don’t feel confident in any of the above areas or you simply don’t have time to supervise the work yourself then consider hiring a project manager. A project manager will ensure that the “cosmetic” renovation is done quickly, takes responsibility for hiring and coordinating all the necessary tradespeople, sources products to get the job done and makes sure it comes in under budget.  People managing their own renovations can take months to complete the job instead of weeks, which not only costs more in the long run but it means quite a bit of disruption to the family environment.

Houses to Impress specialise in Project Management and with an office in the north and an office in the south we have all locations in Adelaide covered if you need assistance with a home renovation.

The latest issue of Australian Property Investor magazine has hit the stands and in this issue it unveils its fifth Hot 100 list of suburbs set for property price growth in 2011 and beyond.

The Property Professor, Peter Koulizos, is also featured this month and he reports on the latest good news and bad news he has gleaned from RP Data Market Update.  Peter is a property educator at UniSA and TAFE and the author of The Property Professor’s Top Australian Suburbs – a guide to Australia’s top suburbs for property investors and homebuyers

Read some of Peter’s article below

Reading some of the newspapers or watching the evening news, you’d most certainly be excused for thinking that Australia was in an economic recession. Much of what we hear in the media is doom and gloom; rarely is there a positive story about the property market nowadays. However, when you dig a little deeper, you can also find some very positive news, which can give us a little bit more confidence in the market. Yes, it may sound strange, but there definitely is positive news out there!

First, the bad news.

• Canberra was the only capital city in Australia where property prices increased
  during the three months to April (and that was by a miserly 0.8 per cent).
• The number of properties selling is well below the five-year average.
  The average time taken to sell a house has increased from 41 days last year to
  55 days.
• The average time taken to sell a unit has increased from 36 days last year to
  51 days – that’s an increase of over 40 per cent!
• Vendors have to drop their asking prices for their houses more than they did last
  year; from a discount of five per cent to 6.5 per cent.
• Vendors have to drop the asking prices for their units more than they did last
  year; from a discount of 4.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
• Auction clearance rates have been trending downwards since the beginning
  of the year.
• The number of properties currently on the market are at almost all-time highs –
  there are 280,000 properties currently for sale!

Consumer confidence is dropping.

If you want to read Peter’s good news this month we have a special offer for our readers!

Bundled The Property Professors Top Australian Suburbs & Sold For Top Dollar for a bargain price and FREE postage and handling! Limited stock so don’t miss out!

To read Peter’s full article click here

Charyn Youngson
Professional Home Stager | Property Renovator | Author