Tips for someone about to sell their house and move for the first time?

[passthestraws]

I suppose I'm after two things please MN;

1. Any tips for getting the house ready for sale? Do's and don'ts? Listing photograph tips.... anything!

1. Can I have your best moving tips, anything I might not have thought of?

Thanks!

Compare these two kitchens, for example.

All that clutter in the first pic is unnecessary and dominates the picture. It would have looked much better without it.

I disagree - that first picture is how the storage works in that kitchen (with no top cupboards, utensils hanging from the grid). The second kitchen looks like they've moved out already.

If you currently have a garden photograph it in sunlight even if that means taking your own photograph and adding it to the deck.

If humanly possible photograph the front of your house in sunlight or bright light. Again take your own photograph if necessary.

Clear clutter from outside space especially broken toys etc.

For viewings we had stunt towels - lovely fluffy ones which matched the bathroom. We also hid personal items like shampoos/toothbrushes etc. Viewers want to imagine themselves in your house not be reminded of you.

Make sure the toilet lid is down for photographs and viewings.

We've never had a month between exchange and completion. Especially if you are in a chain, usually by the time everyone is ready to exchange they also want to get on with things. We had ten days between exchange and completion last time at the insistence of our sellers.

Yes to all the following

• 3 quotes and take the middle
• If your house isn’t great using a proper EA, if it’s nice with no problems use online (we did this year and sold for 2% under asking within 10 weeks)
• Aldi Flowers
• Stunt towels
• Professional Packers
• Room spray
• 2 weeks max between exchange and completion
• all solicitors are crap (yet to know anyone who ever has a decent conveyancer) read EVERYTHING yourself and check all answers thoroughly.

Royal Mail 1 year mail redirect for £70 or so
Also some of the best money we spent...

Ask around for conveyancing recommendations - I actually had a great one last time (London area) but the ones prior, despite being a well respected local company, were more problematic.
Ultimately though, you only get to choose your solicitor - not the rest in the chain - so it only moves as fast as the 'weakest link'. I think the best thing about our last guy was that he was shit hot on communication - so we could very confidently state what our solicitor had done and who / what he was waiting on whenever our EA asked for updates, and get them to chase things where needed (eg buyer not signing something). Being kept well in the loop was very helpful.

We’ve moved 4 times. For every move I buy a note book and write in all the account numbers, contact details and web addresses for everyone we pay bills to. I cross them off as I notify them then shred when I’m done. Always really helps me by setting it all up in advance and filing the original documents rather than searching for them while we’re trying to move

How do you know who the gas and electric is with if you move to a brand new home? Should the builders let you know?

A good estate agent is the most important factor. Get a couple round for estimates - and ask opinions from people you know who have recently moved. Try and get one who will do your viewings. Confirm in advance how you will communicate. Eg the last time I sold, our lovely estate agent kept in touch by email, and replied very promptly to my (many) queries. The time before that, the one I used would only communicate by phone, which was a pain due to my job.

Also ask what times they will be doing viewings at. When we recently purchased a house, it became clear that one of the main estate agents in our city only did tea-time viewings, probably once they had locked up the office for the day. They often held group viewings, with 5+ families turning up at one time. I can only imagine this would be a nightmare for the vendors, especially if they both worked 9-5 of had kids.

The best tip I got was to pay for a full pack the day before moving day, get the removal company to store everything overnight and stay the night in a hotel. Then on moving day you can do a clean of the house you are leaving and are ready to move into the new house as soon as you get the keys.

Completely avoids all all the stress of packing and cleaning on the same day that someone else is moving in.

Make your kitchen and bathroom look as good as possible without spending a fortune. Hide all the shampoo/conditioner bottles in the bathroom, and the oil/biscuit jars in the kitchen. Maybe give them a lick of paint if they need it. Kitchen and bathroom are two of the biggest expenses for a homeowner, so while they don’t need to be state of the are, they need to look usable enough in the short to medium term.

Get your carpets cleaned and wash the curtains. Clean the sofa too it makes the house smell nicer. The photographer told us to put all bottles and toothbrushes away ‘people know you have them but don’t need to see them.’on our sink we had a nice soap dispenser and that was it. Open windows before viewings to freshen up the air. If you have a viewing make the bed and run the iron over it. Polish stainless steel so it shines. Find out where your local dump is and de-clutter everything, be ruthless as you don’t want to be carting crap to the next place.

Start to deckutter as soon as you are thinking seriously about moving.

Do a really thorough deep clean before agent comes to value, and again before photos - makes it much easier to keep clean quickly when viewings start.

Get a couple of plastic tubs to throw any bits and pieces into and bring in the car as you leave for a viewing (or going to work morning of a viewing). Just makes it easier to grab anything superfluous.

Put together your lists of utilities, all bank accounts, Insurance’s, all Dr’s, dentist, optician, schools etc - along with relevant ID or account or reference numbers. You will need to get in touch with them all to let them know you are moving. But you may also want to let potential buyers know what companies are available and their level of service (to answer their questions in viewings etc). I do a standard letter on my pc for letting all utilities know, and just change the ref at the top ?account number or whatever reference I have).

Start packing up non essentials as soon as you have agreed and know there’s a plan to move. The Christmas decorations, books, the “good” dinner service, the off-season clothes etc. Gives you a chance to declutter as you do it and less panic.

Label every single box. The room it is going into, and rough contents. I tend to put a loose ‘A4 sheet on top before I close it of the contents (saves rummaging through loads of boxes on arrival for the corkscrew...), and also put the contents into a “master notebook” with a separate page for each box. Some are detailed (exact list of kitchen tools) while others are more general (“history and garden reference books”).

But a packing tape dispenser and rolls and rolls of tape. At least 2 large black markers for room to go to and a box number or 1 word on contents, and 1 red to mark “fragile” boxes. (I tend to put an arrow pointing up on most as well).

Lots of trips to dump and charity shop as you pack.

Use lots of packing materials to protect anything fragile or valuable to you - tissue paper, bubble wrap, packing noodles, newspapers etc.

Don’t overload boxes - better to have half full and top stuffed with newspaper to keep things from moving than have it too heavy and more likely to be dropped.

If you think you want to take any garden plants, or internal fittings, either transplant to lots of possible for viewings or tell estate agent clearly to say it. And for futtings, consider changing before viewings to something cheaper and functional that you will leave there rather than changing later.