how much tarting up do I do before putting house on the market?

[workshy]

living room was decorated last year so no issues there but the rest of the house has not been decorated for 3 years

is a good clean enough or should I be looking to repaint?

it's all neutral but 'lived in'

[Primafacie]

I think if it is neutral, you probably don't need to paint - our EA said we shouldn't and our place was last done 4 years ago.

How lived in is it? Can you make it more impersonal, remove photos, art, buy nice cushions (or better yet, take mine! I hate cushions but bought some for the photos and viewings), remove clutter, go for light coloured bedspreads so the rooms look bigger?

[workshy]

it's not very lived in in terms of personal possessions except the kids rooms but they both have plenty of drawers for me to hide cuddly toys in lol

my master bedroom has a kingsize bed but I have got new bedding and cushions for it so the room looks fresh

it's more things like the paint work on the stairs is worn where everyone spins round the banister they don't literally spin, just put their hand on it when they are cornering edges have been knocked etc etc

previously I have done a house up and then sold it straight away and then repeated the process 3 times so I have no experience of selling a home rather than a property development!

[LesserOfTwoWeevils]

You don't have to repaint the whole thing, you can just freshen up the worn bits. It makes huge difference.

[Gonzo33]

My house is going on the market in February. It is currently let and I am sprucing the place up a bit. Kitchen and bathroom haven't been done in 4 years so I am going to get them repainted and the hall, landing and bedrooms because they look a little tatty.

[Melindaaa]

We did all the bits that looked worn, so hallway, all downstairs door frames that were chipped due to children quizzing around on ride on toys, and up the stairs.

Our house has been on the market exactly a month and we are anticipating an offer today.

[Amaris]

I touched up paintwork that was obviously tatty (not all of it) and painted rooms that had paint testers all over the walls in various colours we'd never got round to repainting. Other than that EA didn't think we needed to do anything, and some of my painting is over 6 years old. I got three offers in four weeks.

If you have the EA round they will tell you what needs to be done.

[minipie]

I think it depends on whether you're trying to appeal to the sort of buyer who wants to move straight in without lifting a finger and will only look at super shiny freshly done houses. If so then worth repainting. If not, then patch up the worst bits and leave the rest.

Unfortunately there are quite a lot of that sort of buyer round where I live (people with young children and lots of money who don't want the hassle of doing any work). But may not be the same for you.