Focus and discipline are two essentials when seeking to purchase your next home.
While the seller is trying to impress you with their sparkling interior and manicured gardens, a good buyer will focus on the core value proposition: location, structure, space, and features that meet your criteria for your next dream home.
As a buyer, you must resist the temptation to fall in love with the quality of the presentation. That’s easier said than done, of course. Even professional valuers can be swayed by the quality of a property by the way it’s been presented.
That’s one reason why it’s essential to have the support and experience of an agent to help you stay focused on what you believe to be the essential elements of your next home.
Your ability to be a cold-eyed buyer can be tested by a seller who has had their home “staged”, storing belongings and using an interior designer to hire furniture that impresses prospective buyers.
It’s a legitimate sales strategy and often generates greater buyer interest and a higher purchase price.
Be aware of these design tricks when house hunting.
Minimum furniture
An apartment or house with a minimalist approach to furnishings suggests the designer is trying to make the property feel larger than it is. Watch out for the two-seat sofa ploy.
Room to move
Ask yourself if the furniture has been arranged in a way that makes the property livable. If its positioning makes no sense, it’s probably because the arrangement makes the room feel bigger.
Fresh paint
A new coat of paint is a cheap facelift for any property. It can also hide sins, such as watermarks from leaks, mildew, and cracks due to shifting brickwork.
Cover-up
A rug on a carpet could be hiding a nasty stain. Don’t be afraid to check what’s underneath.
Curtain raiser
Heavy curtains often cover watermarks where the rain has come in around old, rotten window timbers. Pull them back to see what’s going on.
Mirror, mirror
Designers love mirrors because they reflect space and light: the two essential ingredients to making any property feel light and bright. If you think the owner has gone over the top with the mirrors, that’ll be why.
Darkside of lighting
Many agents have all the lights blazing in every room even when the sun is pouring in. Again, they’re using light to make rooms appear larger.
Flat note
If music is playing throughout the home, it won’t be for your enjoyment. Most likely, it’s masking traffic noise or the neighbors.
Cookies in the oven
Smell often determines if a buyer pursues a purchase. Musty, damp smells suggest problems with drainage or leaks. That old trick of baking cookies or lighting scented candles to mask odors should be a red flag.
Smell often determines if a buyer pursues a purchase. Musty, damp smells suggest problems with drainage or leaks. That old trick of baking cookies or lighting scented candles to mask odors should be a red flag.