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Tips to help you sell your house
If you want your house to sell quickly, and at the best price, consider some of the tips below.
First Impressions
First impressions are important, so make sure that the approach to the property that any prospective buyer is likely to use is inviting and pleasant. This may involve asking neighbours to move rubbish and tidy the fronts of their properties, or perhaps even doing it for them. If it helps to sell your house it will be worthwhile. Sonnic cleaning (246663) can clean your windows easily and Best Property Services can help in a number of ways to improve the approach to your property including pressure washing, painting, or general maintenance such as fixing broken gutters. Buyers – whether consciously or sub-consciously – will be looking for faults in your property, so it will pay dividends to mend those bits and pieces you’ve never bothered doing previously.
If you have garden to the front of your property make sure it is presentable – call Greenfingers on 255534 to see how little it could cost to make a big impact with your garden.
First impressions extend to the hallway, so make sure it is well lit, clean and tidy.
De-clutter and de-personalise
The intention with removing clutter and depersonalizing your house is to allow the buyer to imagine their own personal space in the house, rather than being bewildered by yours. They need to be able to picture their own personal belongings (and clutter!) in each room. Too much of your own clutter will make it difficult for the buyer to view the property as ‘theirs’.
Life still goes on, and there is bound to be ‘signs of life’ in the house. Get the major things done early, and at the last minute before the buyers arrive remove the everyday mess temporarily (e.g. throw the dirty laundry in the boot of the car until the buyers are gone).
Cut back on ornaments, family photos, nik-naks that the grandkids made you, childrens’ drawings, magazines, video collections etc. Sort through every drawer in every room and sort the clutter into piles:
for storage. Things that you won’t need until you move into your new home, or which are currently excessive. This includes clothes (crowded wardrobes give the impression of insufficient storage space). All of this should be boxed up and stored. Face facts – you would have to do this at the point of moving anyway, and it is far more sensible to do these things earlier rather than later. It will make the process of moving much less stressful.
It may be worth finding storage facilities away from your property to store all of the clutter until the property is sold.
Before viewings it is worth removing pets and children (and all signs of them!) and leaving the windows open to remove pet smells before the buyers arrive.
Clean and repair
During viewings buyers will be casting a critical eye over every aspect of the property. Make sure it is clean and in a good state of repair. Wipe painted surfaces or get the paint out if it needs touching up. Best Property Services will make short work of routine maintenance.
Create rooms
Give each room a purpose, and decorate it accordingly. Try to create a single feature in each room such as a bay window or fireplace, or in the absence architectural features have a beautiful dining table with a single vase of flowers in the middle – uncluttered and attention grabbing. Use artwork and accessories cleverly.
Concentrate on the kitchen and bathroom – these are the most important rooms in the house. Study these carefully for ways of improving their look: de-clutter the cupboards, remove fridge magnets, clean, tidy, and make sure they are well lit. Put new folded (unused) towels in the bathroom (and clean tea towels in the kitchen). Consider buying a new shower curtain, or new bedding – inexpensive replacements can make a big difference.
Treat the garden as an extra room, and give it the care and attention it deserves. If you do not have time call Greenfingers Gardeners on 255534. Remove childrens’ toys and clutter, including the washing line. If you have gardening tools that are not going to be required (e.g. leaf blowers in spring) then sell or store them. Make the garden shed look bigger.
Neutralise
Get rid of clashing colours by putting throws on sofas and rugs on busy carpets. Remove excess furniture that does not fit in with a rooms theme. It may even be worthwhile purchasing or borrowing some small items to finish a room.
Price realistically
No matter how much cleaning and de-cluttering you do your house will not sell if it is over priced. Make sure you have realistic aspirations based on at least 3 valuations from professional valuers/estate agents. Perhaps you could even do some research yourself on what other properties sold for. Bear in mind that selling price and asking price are two different things!
INDEPENDENT OPINION!!
It is truly amazing how little of our own clutter we can actually see. If you have a broken gutter, and it’s been broken for a number of years, I’ll bet you don’t even notice it any more. Invite as many non-interested parties to give you their honest opinion of your property. Invite friends of friends around to pretend to be critical buyers – the more honest the better. This will give you excellent feedback and you’ll be amazed at how many obvious things you missed.
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