There’s not been a more perfect time to concentrate on getting your home ready for sale.
Preparing your home for viewers, or “staging” as it’s called, is important. It will not only ensure your property is sold faster, but can potentially add thousands of pounds to its value!
There are 6 main things that we recommend you use your time at home to tick off.
1. Kerbside Appeal – What is kerbside appeal? This is the first impression of your property as potential buyers arrive at your address. What needs your attention most will depend on the type of property you live in. If you are living in a house, you might want to think about trimming the hedge, painting the front door or maybe clean the driveway or path. If you live in a flat, perhaps have a quick tidy up of the common areas and make sure the communal door is clean and the buzzer is working correctly.
2. Repairs & Maintenance – Now is definitely the time to repair and fix those things you’ve been putting off for the last year! Broken gate, wonky curtain pole, blown bulb in your light. It might be time for a fresh lick of paint in some of rooms. Pick a bright and neutral colour. Even consider white, our friends from across the pond always paint their homes white on the inside before bringing their homes to market. Makes them brighter inside and like a fresh canvas for potential buyers own style and choice. All these things could get picked up by your buyer and you don’t want to give the impression you were not on top of the house maintenance. Instead make the best version of your home, you can.
3. Keeping the Garden looking tip top – Make sure you keep your grass mown as often as possible, you never know who will pop over for a quick look in the evening! Make sure the hedges are well kept, remove any kids toys from the garden and pack them away out of sight. Maybe paint the fence? Repair the gate? Maybe weed those beds. If you have a pressure washer, how about clean the patio. Once the worst of this is done, it’ll be easy to stay on top of it whilst you come to market and start to have viewings.
4. De-Clutter your home – We suggest you put away nik naks and and keep a temporary minimalist look for the time being. Ideally you would thin out little personal items that make the home personal to you. Instead allow the viewer to imagine their own personal items in the house. Give to charity or dispose of as much stuff as you can otherwise you’ll have to pay to move it all. If you haven’t used it in 12 months, it’s got to go! The loft is another hot spot for hoarding. You can’t leave anything up there once sold so get on up there and have a massive clear out!
5. Clean, clean, clean – The whole house will need to look the cleanest it’s ever looked. Some things won’t need doing constantly, instead one deep clean and it’ll be done for months. For example, make sure you clean all limescale off taps, showers and baths. People love clean bathrooms and kitchens. So much so, if these are not clean, you could turn a buyer off your property. Make sure all rooms are vacuumed and we recommend having one or two windows open during a viewing to accentuate the bright and airy feel the viewer will get.
6. Make a list (or spreadsheet) – of all your suppliers (utility companies, Sky, pensions, Amazon, Council Tax, Food delivery companies, broadband, banks etc). Go through your bank statement and list out all the direct debit suppliers and put them on this list too. This’ll be a working document as you’ll continue to remember new ones as you go. Once the list is complete, you can use the list to tick off the change of addresses once you are set to move.
I need more info
If you would like more advice and help with bringing your home to market, please give one of our friendly sales team a call on 01264 366611 or complete this simple form below
Do you know how much your home is worth?
Did you know we can still value your property, even remotely? Head to our Valuations Page to learn more and to arrange a free valuation during the coronavirus
