Some elements may be out of our control, but it is worth paying attention to the following factors that could affect the sale of the house.

1 Undesirable surroundings

Property prices will be considerably lower if the house is located in a seedy neighbourhood with a bad reputation. Worse still if the house has weeds growing all over the lawn, rubbish is left uncollected, and the area has bad security ratings.>

2 Lower prices of nearby houses

While sellers are free to set any asking price they want, property agents and valuers will often base the value of a house on the surrounding property prices. Buyers will do the same. If neighbouring houses fetch a lower price on average, the estimated worth of your house in the market will be affected.

3 Losing out from bad location

Connectivity, traffic, infrastructure and facilities in the area are important keys to unlocking the potential of your house as a potential good buy. For example, a house that is located too close to noise sources or far from a good educational institution will look less appealing to buyers.

4 Optimise the living spaces

While local buyers are slowly coming to terms with smaller living areas, space optimisation is still a big consideration. Bad space arrangement will turn away buyers while limited lighting will always be a minus.

5 Bad structural integrity

If there's a problem with the foundation of your house, having the best marble or stainless steel will not help you. Cautious buyers are weary of houses that need structural fixing because the cost is hard to measure.

The article was first published in Chinese in Property Trends e-mag. To celebrate the upcoming two-year anniversary of Property Trends, StarProperty.my is holding a movie ticket contest.

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