3 reasons your Surfers Paradise property isn’t selling (and how to fix it)

Are you having trouble selling your Surfers Paradise property? Closing the sale on a house doesn’t always happen overnight, and can get discouraging for those who have been on the market for a while. Right now, market data from Property Value, powered by CoreLogic, has the average Surfers Paradise home on the market for about 102 days, with 138 homes being sold so far this year.

If your home has been on the market longer than that, it’s easy to feel panicked. So, how can you make sure your home is among those sold in a reasonable time? Don’t fret – let’s investigate three common reasons it takes homes a longer time to sell than others, as well as how you can best sell a house in the Gold Coast.

1. It’s too expensive compared to other Surfers Paradise properties

This is, of course, the most common reason houses sit on the market longer than others. It’s normal for homeowners to over price, as it’s the house they’ve loved for so many years, but you have to think a little more practically. Property Value currently has the average house selling at about $1.4 million. However, this varies as you move around neighbourhoods in the Gold Coast area. You can get a better understanding of what you home value is by getting it appraised, and by looking at the auction results of the houses closest to you.

If you need help repricing your house, just talk to one of our knowledgeable real estate agents who can maximise the value of your property and find a fair asking price for your area.

2. You’ve added too much pizzazz to your interior design

You might find that lime green paint in the bathroom to be fun and exciting, or that quirkily themed room to be unique, but these interior designs could be scaring off potential buyers. Once you’ve decided you want to sell your home, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer and think about what they want. Unfortunately, it might not be brightly painted colours. Buyers will have a hard time picturing how they will fit into your home, but they don’t want to have to do too much work once they’ve moved in. This means you’ll want to do a little bit of redecorating while your home is on the market.

Here is a list of some of the major interior design turn offs that you should avoid:

• Vibrant paint colours
• Obnoxious wallpaper patterns
• Unpractical bathrooms/kitchens
• Themed rooms
• Pendent lighting

3. You aren’t displaying it properly

First impressions are everything, and in this case, they start with the photos of your home online. Photos that are taken in bad lighting or low resolution can make your home look drab and dreary – and therefore, not attractive to potential buyers. Not only will they not show up for a viewing, but bad pictures might not even get your home a good click through rate online, making your home even less likely to sell.

You don’t necessarily have to hire a professional photographer to take photos of your house, but you can follow these easy steps to take quality images on your own:

1. Use a tripod for stability – this reduces shake in the picture, making the end result much crisper
2. Take low shots (below eye level) – this is how magazines shoot, so your images will have an editorial feel
3. Shoot straight on – tilting the lens distorts the composition of your room making it feel unnatural
4. Use natural light – wait to shoot during a day with good natural light both on the inside and out, as this is your home’s best light.

If you have any questions about what you can specifically do to better sell you home, talk to one of our real estate agents. We’re specialised in selling homes in the Gold Coast area!