To think some little things make a house look expensive?

Wow, bit much 😆

There is a whole business around property staging so it obviously works on some level - even if it apparently doesn’t on you!

1. Right location.
2. Good price.

I’ve been viewing houses recently with my son, and I’m quite surprised by the factors that subjectively influence me. Although I like colour and use it in my home, badly decorated houses look a lot worse if they aren’t white or neutral. Grey really does suck all the life and light out of a house. Patchy dark blue also steals the light and will very obviously be hard to cover. Decluttering is crucial, stuff all over the place seems to twin with inadequate cleaning. Keep worktops clear. I don’t want to buy a house that will be filthy when I turn up with all my stuff in a van. Clean your paintwork and windows . Clean your carpets and floors. Clean your toilets and sinks. Have a banister. Invest in beautiful bedding and make the beds properly.
Too many paintings can confuse the eye, just have one or two per room. We viewed a lovely house, walls covered in nudes. They were everywhere. It wasn’t just distracting, it was uncomfortable, although there were also other issues. Artificial grass and plastic flowers really upset me. I’d rather see a jungle than a desert. Hang curtains properly or take them down. Bad DIY is infinitely worse than dated but good quality stuff. We’ve seen half painted walls, missing tiles, weird combinations of floors, doors that don’t open, showers and extensions only suitable for people under 5 ft tall, and grimly unappealing home bars and hot tubs. The house he is buying is clean and bright , painted white with tasteful furniture and unobtrusive fixtures. My home is colourful, cluttered and full of books. I’m planning some changes.

Agreed. Things like - I moved the laundry basket out of my DS’s room (it was one of those Ikea plastic folding ones with no
lid, no-one needed to see his food-covered babygros!), put a good-condition teddy on the chair and swapped out the knackered plastic toys for some wanky wooden things he’d been given and never played with😂

Have a look at what developers do with their show homes. Loads of examples on line.

People wanting doer uppers is fine. But for me, clean matching fresh bedding and towels, nothing on ANY surfaces ( I had a car full of crap ahead of viewings)

Clean and fresh smelling. No clutter.

It worked for me

And No one wants to look at other people’s messy stuff.

for people who will be influenced, you are selling a dream. if they're looking for a country cottage then its things like a beautiful quilt, a basket of freshly picked veg with your gardening gloves and a nice outdoor seat with a cushion and a freshly put down book. (hard in march, but a greenhouse can be staged too)

if its a seaside home then a bowl of shells/seaglass and a pair of binoculars on a sea facing windowsill. Family home? then playroom or great storage solutions or make the kids rooms look amazing even if you take it all with you.

I know people are all saying they would never be swayed but some really are, the people who bought our old house contacted us 6 years later to ask what the colours were so had clearly never redecorated (weirdly they didn't want the leftover paint when we asked, but there you go) so I think some people do buy what they see, even though I personally always just want to rip stuff out and start again.

I tried to put myself in the shoes of ideal buyers and what would appeal to them aesthetically (ours was very much a first-time buyers’ home!) and so staged it accordingly - lots of house plants, no dated decor, each room clearly showing its intended function. Bowl of lemons and limes on the counter, (empty) coffee pot on the stove, fresh flowers in clean water on the dining table, making sure the outside table and chairs were set out. And then no clutter anywhere, no dressing gowns on backs of doors, scuff marks cleaned off walls - that kind of thing. We had five viewings before we accepted an offer; all commented on how beautifully presented it was so I guess it worked…!

Absolutely no clutter anywhere, and open the windows! Fresh air and a clean smell. No awful fake smelling devices. Fresh linens and towels. Put the dirty washing in the boot of the car. If you have pets, deep clean.

This is extremely patronising. Are you an unscrupulous landlord who won’t actually be living in the houses?
Most people’s thoughts would be:
-Laundry over bannister= airing cupboard too small/doesn’t warm up enough/damp or mould risk
-Airer in conservatory= nowhere else for it, house is too small, damp/mould risk
…ad infinitum
People are fully entitled to be put off by things like this, and as a pp had said- if the seller is that sloppy with this sort of thing, what else haven’t they bothered maintaining? The boiler? The plumbing?

OP, something no one had suggested to take with you are some nice real wood items- fruit bowl, butchers block… they will give off a nice quality vibe on your uncluttered surfaces. We’ve maintained our houses well and dressed them well, and each time we’ve sold quickly and for over asking price. So if you can present the full package, do-plenty of people will love it.

I buy the house not the frills so I would stick to basics

Why? They'll be taking it with them!

Presumably the OP is trying to get the most for their house and not the least 😂

When we marketed our last house I displayed all my Emma Bridgewater and bought a new aspirational biscuit tin from the range. I was convinced it was the perfect country cottage accessory. We did sell quickly but I don't think it was that!

Think about your ideal buyer (often younger than you) and what would make them go "aaah". But don't buy anything you wouldn't keep for the next place.

I look at the structure and measurements of a house too but plenty of people can't get past their first impression.

I wouldn't buy new things for this house- just declutter, make the beds nicely for viewings, put out fluffy white towels in the bathroom, make sure the house smells lovely (if nothing else fresh air) I've twice sold a house when I've stuck a pineapple in the fruit bowl. This could just be coincidence though.

I think it's important to show how space can be lived in well. It's not necessarily about the cushions and the candles but furniture placement, hints at lifestyle, lack of clutter, space being maximised all help to sell a house.

I've sold two houses this year and purchased one.
When selling - declutter. If you have no space to put unnecessary crap, put it in a box in the car, shove it under the duvet etc. Make sure the house is aired and smelling good. You don't need any fancy adornments. Plants help though, makes everything look fresh.
When buying, I pay attention to the layout of the house, structure, roof, boiler, electrics, flooring - these can be very expensive to sort. Kitchens and bathrooms are v important - any grout/sealant that needs updating, do it.
Be ultra critical of your own house - imagine what you'd think if you'd rented it as a holiday home, would it pass muster?

Just make sure it’s clean. I don’t need any more photos of an Aesop hand wash when the rest of the house is a state!!

Zero clutter: everything off worktops, all shoes hidden away
Crisp, clean, white linen on the beds.
Nice towels in the bathroom - nothing flowery or overly patterned.
All toiletries in cupboards, not left out in bathroom
Hide away the laundry basket
Fresh flowers
Photos (not too many) in simple, metal frames
No traces of pets
As mentioned above, none of those sentimental message prints - especially not anything written on ‘shabby chic’ wood

Boot of the car is good if you need somewhere to put things for a viewing - see pet beds and laundry basket!

Best of luck!

-Good EA photos fo the listing is the start, otherwise, no one will view!
-Kerb appeal
-A clean entrance area. Not cluttered with old shoes/coats etc
-No personal photos, wedding or baby pics
-If there are diffusers, smellies, candles etc, I wonder if they have a damp and mould problem!

I think the main thing is to make the home feel 'loved'. I get nervous if it's really scruffy, because I think what else haven't you done? Are you ignoring a leaky roof? Damp? It makes me thing that you don't spend time/money on the house.

Anyone/ Anywhere - please no 'expletive-deleted' candles.
Why would anyone want their home to smell of cheap fake scent? (Even the posh ones do this, I'm afraid.)
For those of us with breathing problems/sensory issues they are a massive turnoff and for some of us also a genuine health-risk.
Added to which, almost all candles are massively bad for the environment.

Don't you care about the world that your children will grow up in??

I think just uncluttered, as clean as you possibly can, and make sure it smells nice.

if you wanted to go above that then maybe nice fresh flowers in a vase, and a couple of cushions on the sofa.

Unless you have the time and money to go all out and properly 'stage' your property, don't bother. (This is what an estate agent told me and I think it's the one thing he was correct about.)

Keep it clean and tidy; get rid of tatty furniture and anything you won't be taking with you when you move; try to arrange the furniture so that it makes the rooms look spacious and have things in the 'right' place (e.g. dining table in the dining room); tidy the garden and make any small but obvious repairs (like fixing a leaning fence or missing fence post); get the entire place painted and, if you have something like an old, leaking/hard water damaged tap in the kitchen or bathroom, replace them with new ones.

It's really surprising, but most viewers seem to have a total lack of imagination. They need to be able to easily see themselves living in a house, so totally empty rooms baffle them, as do places stuffed with furniture or even something that's just not their style.

Start with kerb appeal - make sure they havent decided its a 'No' before they've walked in the door.

Bright, clean, welcoming....no bins, sweep path, etc

Cushions & plants. Most importantly de-clutter and make sure you use colour, there is nothing worse than a bland house.