Any advice on showing my house?Newbie to selling.

[Mirage]

Our house goes on the market this weekend & we have already got a viewing booked for Sunday,despite none of the photos or details being available yet.

This is our 1st house & we have never sold a property before,so does anyone have any hnits or tips on how to make it go smoothly?

We are very keen to sell,as we are buying an empty property & can move in as soon as this house is sold-plus I am due to have a baby in 11 wks,so anything that helps would be welcome.
TIA

[TracyK]

Are the agents showing it or are you?

[Blackduck]

Clean the bathroom and kitchen (put loo seat down!) Fold towels, make beds. Get any clutter off of the floors (shove it under the duvet if nec).

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

There's a thread entitled "How to get the women?" under Other Subjects. There's lots of advice on there.

[Miaou]

If you are showing people round yourself, let them into each room first, then follow them in. They are then entering an "empty" room which will make it feel bigger.

Agree with Pamina, declutter as much as possible - pack away all kids toys and paraphenalia, take down kids paintings etc. On your kitchen worktops, keep out only the essentials (kettle, toaster).

If you have a separate dining room and it's quite grand, you could consider setting it for a dinner party (might be a bit OTT if your room is small).

Look at your front door. If it needs painting, do it now. Front doors have a lot to answer for!

Make sure there are no wires trailing around. We haven't got enough sockets in our house and have extension cables everywhere - bad idea!

In your bathroom, clear out bath toys and big bottles etc - just leave out one or two expensive looking bath oils that match the decor of your bathroom.

When showing people round, talk about how friendly a neighbourhood it is/how good the schools are/how easy it is to park/how close the local shops are etc - anything you can sell to them as a bonus.

Plants. I have none because I kill them frequently! But make sure you have one in each of the main rooms, or possibly some fresh flowers.

Beware of cramming all the stuff you have put away into cupboards - many viewers will want to look inside to see how big they are. Put stuff in the loft/car or take it round to a friends!

Keep the rest of the family out of the way whilst a viewing takes place. The less people in the house, the bigger it will seem.

[Mirage]

Ohhh thanks-this is great stuff.

I have read the other thread & will post dd & dh in the garden with Sunday papers ect if it stays sunny.I can then show them around without dd clinging to my legs.

I have cleared out my only remaining messy cupboard & had my parents over today to help with all the odd jobs that we never got around to before.I even accosted a window cleaner in the street & got him to do all my windows for me too.

I have had a major declutter-our house is a big victorian one,but the more space you have,the more stuff you accumulate.Sadly some has never come out of the boxes from when we moved in 9 years ago! As we are moving to a smaller house,I think I should just bin most of it-if I haven't needed it before now,I'm unlikely to in the future I suppose.