'The first impression is gold': Expert advice on what really sells a home

We all know the old trick about baking a cake in the oven on the day of a house sale in order to woo prospective buyers, but what are the design elements that actually help sell a house? Three experts weigh in with their top tips.

Consider the front (and rear) of the property

With the internet playing a more important role in showcasing houses than ever before, it’s imperative that the front and the back of the home – which feature prominently in listings – look appealing.

Builder Luke Williams, of the Mornington Peninsula’s Williams Group, says some people won’t even bother getting out of the car if they front up to a property and don’t like the facade.

“Everyone says they don’t judge a book by its cover, but they do,” he says. “The first impression is gold.”

Williams says this can be achieved through inexpensive measures like brightening and opening up the front area, landscaping the garden and ensuring the driveway is well maintained.

Interior designer Anna-Carin McNamara adds that you should put yourself in your visitors’ shoes and consider the whole entry experience – you might place a stool for them to sit on while they remove their shoes at the front door, for example. 

Create an open and functional kitchen

Real estate agent Nick Ptak, from Marshall White Hawthorn, says the first thing buyers look at inside a home is the kitchen, and that these days most are looking for open-plan meal areas with island benches.

He also says luxe and innovative appliances are popular – think Miele’s integrated fridges, freezers and dishwashers.

Williams says the kitchen should not just be aesthetically pleasing, but also functional. This means having a big and adequate sink, space for a decent-sized fridge, plenty of pantry space and enough storage.

“People want storage, and storage is cheap. It’s easy to make cabinets. Same with storage generally in a house – make sure you’ve got storage,” he says.

Ptak echoes this sentiment, pointing out that lack of storage can be a deal-breaker for many – especially downsizers.

If you’re re-doing your benchtops, Williams says you don’t need to break the bank by using marble as Caesarstone is a sleek and practical option.

Brighten up the bathroom

Ptak says after the kitchen, the bathroom is the most important room in the house. Buyers love main bedrooms with en suites, and the more bathrooms, the better – as long as you don’t have more bathrooms than bedrooms.

When it comes to creating a “wow” factor in a bathroom, Williams says the most important element is natural light, and the best way to achieve light in a dark bathroom is by installing a skylight.

“I’d spend $1000 on the Velux skylight and buy $30 tiles rather than buying the $80 tiles for the whole bathroom.”

Another tip? For around $750 you can install under-floor heating in the bathroom, which buyers love for its luxury factor.  

Strike a balance between neutral and trendy

While Williams and Ptak stress the importance of appealing to as broad a buyer base as possible, they also warn against falling prey to trends that might only last 12 months.

Ptak says features like the wooden bath you saw on TV can be just as polarising as a pink bathroom, while Williams says something like black fittings, which have been all the rage for the past 18 months, are giving way to the new brass trend.

McNamara emphasises that clutter must be removed, but says that styling a home for sale doesn’t mean you have to obliterate every sign of human life.

Instead, she advocates for maintaining a spark of personality.

“Ultimately, you’re selling your life to someone when you show your home. So I would say show your life,” she says.

“It doesn’t mean that you show your dirty washing …There might be a board game on the coffee table … or a book, there might be family photos or heirlooms or things like that, which show, ‘Here’s a life well-lived’.”

Furnish appropriately

As far as decorating goes, furniture and soft furnishings can make a huge difference to buyer interest and sale price.

McNamara often uses mirrors to make a place look more expansive, artwork to imbue a space with character (or distract the eye from less desirable details), and rugs to add warmth and improve the acoustics of a room. “A rug is one of the most transformative things to put in a room,” she says.

If an interior designer is outside your budget, Williams suggests calling on friends or connections with industry experience to help, while McNamara believes there’s a lot you can do yourself simply by taking the time to sit in each room and asking yourself, “How do I feel in this room at the moment? How do I want to feel? And what’s in the way of that?”

For more tips on how to get your property ready for sale, read Domain’s ultimate guide to selling your home.