Thinking of selling your home, but unsure where to start? Wishing you could get the low-down from an agent before you take it to market?  Then find out about the things most agents won’t tell you, so you can be better equipped for the sale

1. Your family memorabilia is cramping your style

Your latest skiing holiday in Aspen, or the time your Labrador had puppies might be very exciting memories for you and your fridge, but your agent really wishes you would put them away.

No agent is going to be too forceful with you and your private things, but they really wish you would take down all your photos and put the personal memorabilia in the cupboard.

Potential buyers are trying to imprint themselves on your home and need to envision their lives in your personal space. It’s an emotional purchase. They are trying to create a story on top of your story. For this reason alone, it really does help to depersonalise and declutter your space. Remove the frames on top of the piano and hide the large family portraits lining the stairs. Your family memorabilia is cramping your home’s style.

2. You are not objective about your home’s bad points

While you might think you know your home inside and out, you are not objective about your home’s pros and cons. Most agents wish you would let them run the show.

A kind agent won’t tell you to be quiet, but if you’re smart, then let the agent guide you to a better understanding of the market.

This holds true with taking advice in de-emphasising your home’s bad points. While being present at the first open inspection might give you great anecdotal data about buyers’ ‘chipping points’, agents know how to combat these in verbal communication and are adept in pointing buyers to the best investment aspects of your home. You are not objective about your home’s bad points.

3. Your house is knock down job

Great corner block, rambling verandahs, good nearby transport and schools? Your home that’s been in the family for three generations could be a knock-down job.

Any agent who understands local council permits and thinks you will gain more from a owner/developer or commercial developer, will actively seek out this category of buyer for you. Staying open minded, entrepreneurial and somewhat detached about your home is critical. Your house could be worth more to you as a knock-down job.

4. You don’t know what your house is worth

An agent won’t outright disagree with you about the value of your home, or make you feel silly about your estimates. But they might be thinking you are totally clueless. Remember it’s the job of a good agent to know market value.

While some owners can be a touch arrogant about their home’s value, thinking it to be higher than it is, others will miss the mark completely and undervalue it. Savvy agents have their finger on the pulse and make it their business to know the impact of infrastructure changes, as well as market activity and suburb records.

Be mindful that you could be detouring a conversation away from greater market insight, if you don’t listen to the agents pitching for the sale. You don’t know what your house is worth.

5. Don’t sweat the small stuff

While you might want your apartment to be photographed at sunset and shown at 2pm on a Friday, sometimes these elements stressing you out, are 100% irrelevant.

While most agents trust the expertise of professional stylists to consider a home’s best attributes, they’ll be far less enamoured with listening to you wax lyrical about the candles you will be burning, the cake you will be baking or the brand of peppermint oil you might use to wash the cellar floor. If you are taken up with all of these details, any sane agent might really want to tell you to “be cool and don’t sweat the small stuff”!