Small touches when selling a house

[MotherEarthisaTerf]

About to put our house on the market. Going to ask estate agents what changes we should make to help it sell.

Just wondering what little things you've done that you think helps make it appealing? Eg back when we had a cat and sold the last house I would put the cat in a carrier case in the car with the cat litter box. We also need to do a rapid and rigorous declutter.

Thinking I will get reed diffusers to help home smell nice. Get a nice new blanket for sofa.

Should I bake some bread? Joke! Any ideas welcome.

Start with having a decent estate agent, or the least worst in your area.

I thinking shutting you cat in a carry case in the car is rather extreme.

I would expect a house I’m viewing to be clean tidy, if you can declutter to show off the room space do before it before the estate agent pictures and keep it to that standard whilst people are viewing. If you have a garden make sure it’s maintained I.e weeds overgrown bushes make it look hard to manage. Check what similar houses in your area sold for some have pictures.

I’m guessing just when she’s hot viewings, not throughout the whole period of the sale process 🤣😹😹😹

I find smells like diffusers off-putting and would worry they were to cover eg the smell of damp.

By all means remove the cat litter a good while before prospective purchasers come to view - and (if less stressful for cat) - put it in cat basket in car for the half hour or so while they are in your house.

But please no diffusers or any other artificial smell. They make a lot of us feel really sick and/or headachy and, as previous poster says, they make everyone wonder what smell you are trying to cover up.

Opening doors/ windows and a through draught for maybe half an hour before viewers are scheduled to arrive will - in all normal circumstances - make a house smell nice and fresh. If you want loos/bathrooms to smell extra clean, then mop round with just a little bit of something like Dettol. But not too much: again, too strong a smell of anything arouses suspicions. Fresh air is the best.

Clean kitchen and bathrooms, then clean again with the toilet seats down.. Fresh flowers and no artificial smells.
we kept a new duvet cover on a spare duvet, so the bed looked fresh.
Mind you we once sold a house when we had 4 small children round for a play date, the viewer had to come there and then!

I’d personally be concerned by strong artificial smells like reed diffusers,‘I’d think something was being covered up. Do a very deep clean, wash cushion covers, curtains etc. consider a carpet clean. Get some house plants or flowers, and open windows before the viewing. Shutting cat away seems unnecessary

Strong artificial smells are a turnoff and make you suspicious as others have said. We once viewed a house and in the utility room there were a few little candles, no other lighting (it was autumn evening time so dark). I mean, who the hell puts mood lighting in their utility room? It's a functional room and you need to be able to see. So we assumed there was something wrong with the room or the structure, or there was damp that they didn't want us to see cos they never said "Oh sorry, the bulb's gone" or something that would have been perfectly feasible. Never put on offer in and I always wonder what everyone else thought of the candles.

I recently moved. Things that made me not want to look further into the house

1. House stinks. Owner had a dog, I have a dog, but this one stank, and when we went into the back garden, there were massive turds in the grass. Two hours later I could still smell the house. 2). Small jobs not being done. I wasn’t looking for a doer-upper-er, so when I viewed a house with no stair carpets and a dodgy stair, whilst the rest of the house looked OK, big warning signals.
2. Clutter. With other peoples clutter around it is impossible to “see” how you can live there.
3. Owners being there for the viewing. Much preferred the EA doing the viewing, made the whole thing less personal

Would also say to get the best EA available, not necessarily the one who wants to market it fir the highest price.

Good luck

Get a trusted friend or relative to tour the house with a critical eye to see what catches their attention then fix all the little niggles.

Gather all relevant information in a folder eg
Boiler manual and service history
Manuals for any appliances that are staying
Alarm details
Last electrical survey/rewire etc

Have door eg shed or garage and window keys to hand.

Is the loft accessible? If not be ready to explain why not.

Fixtures and fittings - make a decision about what stays or goes so the agent can explain if asked eg light fittings, appliances. curtain rails

Prepare your 'story' of why you are moving, doesn't have to be in detail or even true, but a prospective buyer will ask.
We viewed a lovely house but the agent was clearly spinning us a fairy tale. We offered them pulled out because we couldn't trust them.

Don't please use reed diffusers. If we came to view house my hubby wouldn't be able to set foot inside the door, so no sale for you and waste of time for us. He reacts badly (asthma). Open windows for fresh non-smelly air.

We've just sold our house and let the cat roam free 😂 I think he's what sold the house actually 😂 I just made sure that I took baby and dog on a long walk whilst my husband showed the viewers round. We made sure the house was clean and tidy.

For the photos for the marketing brochure we made sure the house looked lived in but not cluttered, as it's a typical 3 bed starter home, so wanted people to be able to see what they could do with the space.

We sold without going on the open market, to our first viewers.

Have enough room for parking - move own cars off the drive/front if relevant - this is the first thing viewers will see and will give an immediate impression, so the front door and porch and garden need to look clean well kept and welcoming.

If you are doing the viewing yourself, plan the route and know where you want to end up.
We always took them upstairs first and ended up in the lounge which was the most spacious room.
Close all doors, then after opening each room prompt the viewers to go in first and stand back as this will stop the room becoming over full and crowded.

After showing round let them wander about on their own as much as they want and don't hover.
Be available to answer any questions.
DH always did the showing round, I kept out of the way but introduced myself and was there for any questions.

We've looked round places where both sellers showed us round and it was awful - rooms and corridors got too crowded, everyone trying to talk at once / answer questions - a big no from me.

We are at the getting valuations stage so may not even sell but I've already started my list of what I need to do to have photos done for marketing -

Well dressed beds
Clutter free
Garden mowed and weeded
Carpets cleaned
Paint touch ups

I'll also make sure the dog isn't around for viewings and will probably remove her bed etc.

We moved loads of our stuff before allowing viewers. All our clutter and personal crap was boxed up and stored at friends or in the shed. A lot of kitchen counter clutter was moved too. The place looked amazing by comparison. We did a very deep clean and painted skirting boards and architraves and some walls. We made a big effort to keep the garden nice. For each viewing I cleared anything lying around into a basket in the boot of my car and left the place spotless. I paid for a cleaner to call before each view and i would work with her for a while to tidy then I'd leave with kids so she could have it gleaming. I did a bit of research about house staging, it recommended things like a fresh flower centre piece on the dining table, clear bedside lockers and vanity unit, white towels only. Leave as much of a blank canvas as you can as buyers need to visualise their stuff and that's not easy for everyone. It worked for us, a few people fell in love with it and got into a bidding war. It went up and up in increments and eventually someone put 5k extra to seal the deal. It was a lot of work but worth it, don't skimp on the cost of cleaning or repainting.

We run an estate agents and the one thing puts buyers off are the house owners being there.
So declutter, make it fresh and clean and leave the house for the viewing if possible.

This has been super helpful thank you!

We were advised last time to do our own house tours (always making it brief and sitting in garden to letting people look round on their own after)

I will make sure I leave it to the EAs this time. And keep strong smells out! I hear you

Love the other top tips, thanks

Me too. I wouldn't want to sell my house to a non cat lover. I'd more likely want to buy a house if there was a cat 😻

We've just bought a house and when we were looking around, saw one house shown by EA and one shown by owner. Honestly, both were absolutely fine. I would tell your EA to offer to anyone wanting to view, you or them. Then it's the buyers choice.

If I had to choose I'd rather be shown by owner as can really get a good feel for the place that's been lived in, and they can answer local questions etc.

Good luck!

ps I would absolutely bake bread/cakes

Tidy the garden. Decluttering massively. Stage rooms like you're selling a dream home frankly. Make it look like there's plenty of storage.

I honestly think I got my first house cheep because the hadn't bothered to cut the front lawn so the front picture looked terrible. The drive way was also a mess. There should have been a lot more interest given the area.

For the neighbours sake I sorted the driveway straight away and instantly improved the curb appeal.

Deep clean and dust absolutely everywhere, high and low, and ruthlessly de-clutter. People will open cupboards to check there’s adequate storage. You’d need to do it for a removal anyway.

Make sure the light is good, so viewers can see properly. Bulbs replaced, curtains and blinds well opened, clutter removed from window sills, put up a mirror to reflect light into a dark corner. And I’m not a fan of central ceiling lighting so, if it’s gloomy outside or you have evening viewings, I’d make sure that the lamps are all
switched on and throw around a flattering light.

Blank canvas and de-personalise - use plain white towels and crisp white bedlinen. Remove kids’ drawings and magnets from the fridge door, but no need to hide family photos. It’s a home afterall.

Go round and take some photos and look at them - surprising what you notice