When the time comes to sell your property, whether an investment or the family home, there are a number of small things you can do to achieve the very best result you can.

The most important thing to consider when you are trying to sell you home is that if you want to get a price above what the market might consider its fair value, then you need to get multiple buyers competing.

So what can you do to ensure your property appeals to as many people as you can?

The best type of buyer who is willing to compete on price for your home is an owner-occupier. All your efforts need to be directed towards doing as much as you can to appeal to this market.

You’re looking for someone to walk into the first home open and fall in love with the place.

Follow these tips to give yourself the best chances of success.

1. Declutter

The first thing you’re going to need to do is to present your home in the best possible light. That means you’re going to have to give it a spring clean and start the process of decluttering.

Getting rid of excess clutter and junk serves two purposes.

Firstly it makes it look far more appealing - a neat and tidy home is what most aspire too. But it also makes things look more spacious.

If your kitchen benchtops are covered in appliances they look smaller. If your bedrooms are filled with furniture and clutter, they look less spacious. Space is at the heart of what most owner-occupiers want.

2. Paint and Floors

While we all know, that if you renovate your home, it will be more appealing. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible based on the costs and what you have to work with.

However, there are a number of things you can do to dramatically improve the appeal of your home, for only a small outlay.

At a minimum, you should look to paint the property. If you have old wallpaper or worse, painting will make a huge difference.

Even a freshen up can make the place really stand out to potential buyers.

If you’ve got a bit more money to spend, putting in new flooring goes a really long way. The cost of laminate or even new carpet isn’t all that high but makes a property for more livable and even more spacious.

3. Fixtures and Fittings

We know that putting in a new kitchen and bathroom is going to appeal to a lot of buyers, but again that’s not always possible.

A very cheap alternative is to simply replace the fixtures and fittings. This can make an older basin look like new again.

If you want to get more creative it is even possible to paint over tiles and really freshen things up.

Similarly, new window coverings that are neat clean sure beat the dated old vertical blinds or faded curtains.

4. Landscaping/Garden

Many people focus all their time trying to improve the interior of a property but completely forget about the outside.

The garden and exterior of a home is the first thing you see when you go to a home open and an overrun or dead garden not only looks bad but is also more work in the eyes of a potential buyer.

Tidying up the garden and making it appear neat and manageable, will appeal to your preferred end buyer which is an owner-occupier. It also helps create that instant connection.

A young family will love the look or a nice neat lawn for their kids to play on.

5. Light

One of the most underrated elements of an appealing home is how light and bright it is.

Even if the property is facing the wrong direction, consider a solution like a skylight to help brighten up the internal living areas. Similarly, choose window coverings that still allow plenty of light in.

This is especially important in the main living areas where families will spend the majority of their time.

6. Staging

Just because you love your old La-Z-Boy doesn’t mean a potential buyer will.

If your old furniture has seen better days, it might be worth considering hiring furniture for use during the sales process.

Of course, you won’t be able to live in the house at the time, if you’re trying to keep it immaculate.

Staging is one of the most underrated tools that you can use to present your home to potential buyers.

Your old furniture is not likely to be very appealing or even the best fit for your home and most buyers aren’t really creative enough to imagine what an empty house looks like with their furniture.

A few thousand dollars invested to stage a property can reap a large reward when it ultimately sells.