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5 things to do before marketing your home to sell.
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We have created a little guide to help you prepare your home and most importantly yourself for selling. Putting your house on the market can be a daunting process and sometimes its hard to know where to begin. We recommend you start here with this guide before you start talking to agents.
Why is getting your property prepared important? It all comes down to first impressions. Buyers will usually lose interest in a property within the first 30 seconds or so of viewing a property and this can be down to something as simple as clutter or cleaning. In this guide we will go through a few simple and cheap steps to get your property ready for valuation.
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Declutter The first step would be to declutter your home. The boxes storing those items you never use need to be gone. Be ruthless with it; things build up over time and we naturally hoard things thinking that we will reuse them in the future. However it makes your property look smaller than it actually is. The more spacious the property feels, the better the feeling the potential buyer will experience. We usually buy based on our feelings and this doesn’t just stop at the shops or online websites, it extends to buying a house, probably the biggest purchase of our lives. So, if a property makes us feel claustrophobic or appears too dark then we will subconsciously feel negatively to that space. Simply removing the clutter would help make any space appear spacious and lighter. It will also help the buyer see the space as a well-ordered tidy environment, just what they want. You also have the benefit of preparing yourself for the move too. By removing personal items, it allows you to see your home as just a property that you are selling and will help you take more of a business approach to selling your property. Our homes are where we build our memories but this can sometimes cloud our judgement when selling.
By removing these items, you will be able help the potential buyer see your property as their future home.
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Deep clean throughout Once you have taken the time to declutter your home, we then advise that you carry out a deep clean throughout. We mean, clean EVERYTHING. Everyone’s standards of cleaning are different. We recommend that you go way beyond the level of your normal cleaning regime. Clean inside and out, top to bottom. You can do all of this for next to nothing. However, you may wish to bring in a professional for a one-off deep clean. We certainly recommend a professional to clean things like carpets and curtains. Do not stop inside the property, make sure things like windows and driveways are all cleaned as well. These will make a big difference on first impressions. You need your property to stand out from the crowd and cleaning will help you achieve this. Many sellers will do a half-hearted job of this and stop at a basic clean.
You need to go the extra mile. This will then help you achieve a higher level of interest and secure a buyer quickly.
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Redecoration - keep it neutral By spending a little time redecorating your home, you’ll be able to make the space feel more spacious and bright. Now is not the time to paint a feature wall an unusual colour thinking it will help sell the property. Most people looking to purchase your home will more than likely wish to put their own stamp on the property. One person’s Sistine Chapel is another person’s crime scene. By spending a little time redecorating your home will feel spacious and brighter. This will come across to potential buyers and help them feel at home too.
Keeping things neutral will help buyers to visualise a future in your property.
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Take time to repair things We all do it, the door doesn’t shut properly, add it to the list of things to do. The light switch is cracked, add that to the list too. Now is the time to find that list and start ticking things off. Repair the little bits and pieces that you never got round to doing. There’s nothing worse than viewing a property with doors hanging off their hinges and things not working correctly; it shows that you have not looked after it and therefore leads to lower offers. This is not necessarily based on the actual cost of the repair, it usually goes way beyond that. This all leads to a subconscious valuation and the overall feeling that the potential buyer gets from walking round your home.
If you don’t have the skills or time to do it yourself, then hire a professional. It will make you money in the long run.
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Depersonalise We all have the family collages dotted on every wall throughout the house, No? Just my wife then! However, we suggest removing these to help sell your home. Any potential buyer will want to visualise themselves and their family living in this space and your pictures could prevent this. This is why, when you visit new build plots, the show homes don’t display any family type pictures. Also, you may want to remove or box up the darts trophies or stamp collection. These will detract from your property and may not present it at its best. While these may be great achievements for you and your family, they won’t help sell your home.
By removing these items, you will be able help the potential buyer see your property as their potential home.
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Stewarts Estates Limited 77 Withermoor Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH9 2NU 01202 805050 www.stewartsestates.co.uk