What little touches would make you want to view/buy a property?

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Valuations yesterday, fairly average 3 bed 70s terrace, good location for shops, schools, public transport.

I've still got some decluttering, tweaks and gardening to do so looking at getting on the market mid April (I work f/t in a school so need the Easter hols as a safety net!).

Would just really appreciate any opinions on little things that are/are not worth doing?

A couple of things I'm wondering about - having neutralised the decor I've not put any artwork back up on the wall and wondering if it would make it look more homely or just be too personal and a waste of time?

Also to what extent should I try and 'stage' it? It's nicely decorated, clean and tidy. In particular I'm wondering about the dining area - I feel like it would be good to have it fully set up to show the space but I'm halfway through an upcycling project and don't know if spending 2 days sanding, finishing and reupholstering dining chairs is a good use of time!

I think however nicely you decorate it ,it might not be to the buyers taste
I would just de clutter as much as possible so the buyer can see the potential
I wouldn't bother sanding down chairs.

Unless your house is particularly unusual and needs extra effort to get people interested it doesn't need anything special doing.

The only thing I would do is make sure it's clean, tidy. uncluttered, pets are kept out of the way, maximise natural light and open windows before the viewers come so it's fresh.

I did a lot of work staging and it was a pain but worth it. I repainted the skirting and architraves which were yellowing. I decluttered almost every thing, and put stuff in storage. It was a small house and we had a home office in our sitting room and it looked awful plus loads of toys as i had young kids. All this went, this made the living areas look so much better and purposeful. I freed up kitchen counter space by hiding all the appliances, they were either put in storage or hidden in cupboard that otherwise held plates etc. We minimised everything. I kept my vacuum cleaner and laundry basket in my car because we had no storage for them. I scheduled a clean before every visit, I had 3 young kids so they would be making a mess while I was cleaning so in the end I paid someone each time, I tidied and she cleaned. I also lit candles every where and set the table for dining before each view. I bought new white hand towels for the bathrooms, all uniform. I had a plastic type work top on the kitchen that looked dull and i rubbed olive oil on it to make it look shiny and reflective. I replaced wall photos with pictures, mostly moving around stuff we had but I did buy a few cheap prints just for staging.

I got all this info from online sites but can't genuinely remember which. Our house became part of a bidding war between 3 and really boosted our sales. Our spend was probably a few 100 but mostly on the cleaner. The bits I bought were only 100 or so.

Good luck

Very very tidy so it looks as spacious as possible. You've already said it's clean and tidy so that's great.

A few pieces of artwork would be good I think. Enough so that the place doesn't look too bare.

A couple of vases of flowers are always good. I wouldn't worry about your dining room chairs but make sure your table is clear and put a beautiful bowl or vase of flowers in the centre.

Surfaces as clear as possible in the kitchen .. and everywhere really.

I always gave the bathroom floors a quick last-minute clean with Method rhubarb so that a lovely smell was the first thing people noticed when they went in there.

I had a manger-type planter on the wall by the front door. Or a couple of nice pots with spring flowers would also work.

Oh, and good photos to go online are essential. We paid £200 extra for professional photos and it was well worth it. Like a PP, we had three potential buyers competing and sold within a couple of weeks.

Clean and tidy and uncluttered for me.

You could put candles as pp said but then depends if other people like the scent. I’d probably prefer fresh flowers. Home baking always goes down well.

Clean, tidy and any outstanding fixes or jobs done. Look at other similar places on Rightmove and see what looks most appealing. Starting at the front of the house, do a walk through thinking as if you were a buyer. See what you notice and what you think needs attention. We stop seeing things when we live somewhere.

A lot of people cannot see past clutter or eclectic decor so those are the main things to think about. Don't depersonalise to the extent your home looks like a bland rental property.

Exactly this. Unless it’s a difficult market, your house is quirky or has some obvious oddity or disadvantage that’s going to make it hard to sell, or is not in a sought after location, OR you’re competing with a lot of similar houses and trying to make yours stand out, tweaks aren’t needed. I’ve sold three houses, and all I’ve ever done is give a good clean and declutter, and touched up obviously scuffed paint, because they were unproblematic houses in areas for which there was a demand.

The house we live in now will need more effort.

Decent crease free duvet cover, even if it’s just used for viewings.
Remove family photos.
Fresh flowers.
Clear work surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom. Just a couple of posh bottles in the bathroom. White towels that are just for viewings.
Tidy garden front and back and pots by the door.

This is all really helpful. Lots of it I've got on the to-do list already, but it's my first time buying and selling at the same time on my own and with a lot going on elsewhere in life, I'm worried about over or under thinking stuff!

Starting at the front of the house, do a walk through thinking as if you were a buyer. See what you notice and what you think needs attention.

I've been decluttering, cleaning and tidying all week and literally everywhere I look I keep seeing tiny things that piss me off - it's driving me nuts!

Avoid things like storing piles of things on top of wardrobes, kitchen cupboards etc. They look very cluttered in photos.

Plain coloured bed linen, pulled properly across the bed not unmade or piled with blankets and cushions - lots of blankets suggests the house is cold and garish bedding detracts from the room in photos.

Make sure you see the photos before they go live on Rightmove IMO. Tell them you don't want fisheye lenses used, no stretching of images and absolutely no AI. No lifestyle imagery with close ups of a bunch of flowers on a table. Some agents are appalling photographers.

Brightly lit rooms look better.

Clear all kitchen surfaces bar basics like a kettle or microwave and all the shampoo bottles etc out the bathroom for the pics - chuck everything in an IKEA bag to keep our of sight while photos are taken if needs be!

Take your own photos now and see what you think needs to go / be added when you look at them on a screen!

Declutter and then take photos yourself. You will see loads of shite you hadn’t noticed before.

When I had my professional photos taken, I worked with the photographer moving stuff around/out of shot that I still hadn’t considered as clutter. My photos looked like nobody lived there really, but I sold for full asking price immediately and broke the ceiling price for my very long road!

Good luck! You could always post pictures here if you’re brave enough!

To echo what others have said, just as tidy and clean as possible, and smelling nice. I drove around with random items in the boot of my car for weeks when we had viewings, just so they weren’t cluttering the place up!

Good luck! You could always post pictures here if you’re brave enough!

May well do at some point but definitely not feeling brave enough today 😂

Yep - currently have an assortment in my car!

I haven't sorted the spare room/office out yet so that and the gardens are the big jobs really, along with the garage which one agent has suggested selling separately from the house. That is going to be quite the job if I go that route 🤦🏼‍♀️

Ooh that's another thing - I've borrowed a carpet cleaner - inclined to think that's worth doing but very happy to be corrected!

I don’t think it’s worth doing any more than making sure the house is spotlessly clean, tidy, and that there are no obvious cracks or serious marks/chips to the paintwork. It doesn’t matter what you do, you won’t find someone whose taste is exactly the same as yours. We’re in the process of selling and buying and we haven’t seen a single house where we considered the decor or contents for a second. I thought some houses were bland and very boring inside but it didn’t put me off at all. Similarly, Im sure they many people would think I’ve got far too many ornaments, pictures etc but it clearly didnt matter as we had multiple offers on our house within ten days, and it didn’t go on Rightmove or the agent’s website.

Also take a good look from the pavement and do what you can to add kerb appeal, weed and sweep your path and have a couple of planters with spring bulbs in. Make sure the front door is clean and not chipped, likewise the entrance, often decisions are made within a few seconds of arriving

Agree with declutter ruthlessly, spotlessly clean, pictures and maybe flowers (but not heavily fragranced, in fact avoid any fragrance as it smells as though you are trying to hide something or people just might not like it, the Method Rhubarb mentioned upthread is really unpleasant IMO we bought it once and never again). Just well ventilated, soft furnishings cleaned/steamed, surplus cushions etc removed. Also make sure the windows are sparkling clean that really makes a difference.

For ourselves, we would take no notice whatsoever of nice decor, staging, pictures, furniture etc as we can see past this and visualise a room / space / house / garden and how WE would arrange it. It would be very unlikely that we would retain the decor / flooring and a bathroom and/or kitchen would have to be precisely what we wanted if that were to stay.

On the other hand, we have a family member who is completely unable to see past how a room is currently being used. If a TV is against a wall, that is where it HAS to be. Sofa & chairs CANNOT be moved, likewise a dining table or even a mirror on a wall. They are VERY frustrating and the sort of person that needs the staging & decor to be absolutely spot on. When house hunting, they disregarded houses because they did not like how the sofa was (currently) positioned in relation to the window.😖
As for discussing a reconfiguration, an extension or landscaping the garden...... that would fry their brain completely ☹️

Honestly, none of that would make any difference to me. Things that would: close neighbours and particularly if they are messy, seem like a nightmare, noise from roads/building sites/industrial units, paved over gardens or astroturf. Of course, make it look a warm and homely as possible but decorating can be changed. It’s the stuff that can’t that would put me off.

I would also remove any small things that are easily pocketable when you have viewings if you’re not going to be in the house. I heard so many stories about viewers stealing things from houses when we were about to put our house on the market. We watched viewers on the CCTV and were surprised by how closely some people were looking at ornaments etc, so much so they I added an extra camera in the front bedroom facing a collection of silver items I’ve got in there, and made sure the estate agent told people about the cctv system. I put some of the most accessible things i to a box which we took out with us. The house was sold in ten days, but if it had taken any longer, we wouldn’t have been prepared to go out and leave the estate agent in our house with complete strangers again.

I mean...it's a 70s terrace in a cul de sac so my main concern is that the parking will be shite when people view but there's nothing I can do about that.

I've taken an dilapidated tree out of the front garden and pressure washed it this week but it needs another go over after weeding and then I'm going to create a small raised bed around the tree stump and fill that and the one under the window with some inexpensive colourful plants.

Have handyman booked to do some small jobs and clean windows.

@Nourishinghandcream this is the thing, I'm quite good at picturing stuff and am most probably going to buy something that needs a certain amount of work so whilst I can visualise interiors I'm struggling to get my head around what other buyers might expect!

A vase of fresh flowers, a pretty potted planter on the doorstep and a quick litter pick in the street.

@Growlybear83 there is not a single thing of monetary value in my house apart from my daughter's camera which I'll take round to my mum's and a couple of items of jewellery which are more sentimental than anything and they are well out of sight.

So long as no one tries to smuggle a cat out under their jacket, it's all good 😂