How spotless does house need to be to sell?

[Joulee]

I’m just getting so overwhelmed. House is very cluttered so that needs to be dealt with before I even tidy/clean.

Does the house need to be tidy? Or does a house need to be spotlessly clean to sell?

Also in terms of hours how much did you spend on getting everything ready?

Single mum.

Well if you're moving, you need to sort all the stuff anyway so have a really good sort out now. No point paying to move useless stuff.

Personally, I scrolled past the messy houses because if the house is a mess, I bet maintenance isn't up to date.

What magic happens on Monday? Estate agents pics or an actual viewing? For the former you just need to get rid of as much clutter as possible into cupboards, under beds, generally out of sight. For viewings people do often open a cupboard so turning it into a health hazard may not go well.

Is it urgent? Can you postpone to later in the week so you have more time to sort? As long as it's listed a week before the May Bank Holiday weekend ideally. A week for people to look online, open house on the Saturday for a few hours. Then see what happens.

Do funds allow for a bit of help even if it's sweeping up outside and cutting the grass if relevant? How much space do you have to declutter?

Do you have a car? Bundling all kinds of toys into black plastic bags and putting them in the boot for a few days is handy. I used storage as I knew we would need it for a gap between houses but that gets very expensive quickly.

What is your home's best feature? Living room, bathroom, kitchen. Focus on that first. Declutter and clean even if its get all the paperwork that needs sorting into one box. Aim to make it look presentable before sorting through stuff if pressed for time. You can always follow a photographer around and move boxes from room to room. That will give you a few more days to get rid of the boxes before hopefully a viewing.

And yes, it's tiring and a bit overwhelming but it's also exciting - what are you hoping to move to? Is it good news ? Or is it all a bit much because it's a forced move?

DP and I probably spent about £1500 and god knows how many hours doing repairs/ upgrades before house went on the market. Estate agent still valued it at the same price once we had it all ready as they did when they valued before these things. Estate agent gushed about how high offers well above asking would come flooding in and we would be inundated with viewing requests.

I had the house spotlessly clean, not a single fibre on a thrown was out of place for viewings. I was literally following DP and DSS's around the house cleaning everything after them.

We had 5 viewings.

Everyone who viewed said how clean it was and commented they couldn't even believe anyone lived there. All FTB and said how much they loved it and could see how well it had been taken care of.

3 offers were made, 2 well below asking and 1 at asking! When it went to best and final, the 2 below asking upped to asking and the 1 at asking went very slightly above.

Declutter, make sure the house is tidy and clean (floors hoovered, dust everywhere, kitchen and bathroom clean and plates etc put away, beds made and rooms neat). But don't be me on your hands and knees scrubbing a floor at 3am because of a tiny bit of mud that no one will even notice!!

Please don't worry too much. We bought a house from a couple with a small baby and a toddler. There were pants on the bannister, sticky marks on the doors and the kitchen surfaces were cluttered.
We bought the house because of the location and the price. We knew they'd take all the stuff with them!

Remember, clutter is only superficial.
A survey will show up any genuine problems.

I echo this!!

Should have added to my comment; the house we are buying was pure filth on viewing. The owner had very clearly emptied their bowels just prior to the viewing, garden was covered in dog poo, floors and walls filthy, old fake eyelashes stuck to every surface in 1 room, large odd stains on bed sheets, wardrobe door falling off....

We still managed to see the potential!!

Depends on how desperate the buyer is. Personally I will rarely look at a house that is cluttered or grubby because in my experience that’s a good sign that they haven’t kept up with other home maintenance things. However, when I bought in a super competitive market and I needed a house yesterday I was willing to offer on anything of the right size/location and deal with the fallout later, as long as it hadn’t been smoked in or smelled like pets.

I'm in the same situation and I'm literally chucking everything.

When it comes to marketing it, hopefully it will be practically empty bar the essential items.

I have (in the last week on top of working 3 jobs) :

• cleaned windows
• spot cleaned carpet stains
• shoved loadsa stuff in the garage in a bid to look clutter free
• chucked unwanted clothes / toys / books
• cleaned garage door
• painted over scuffs / fingerprints
• cut grass
• been to the tip twice

The list goes on!

@GlassCaseOfEmotions 😂
I think sometimes people take these house selling programmes too seriously.
It's the location and the price.

That's bizarre, they won't be leaving the dog or its bed.....

Plus, we all know dog owners' houses can whiff a bit, but that's easily dealt with and will go.

If the people viewing want it, they will buy it

• even if there is a random stranger asleep on the sofa
• even if the vendors forgot to do the washing up
• even if there is blood on the walls from an old fight
• even if it smells
• even if rooms are half decorated from years ago

Because viewers with vision are buying the house and know you will leave it empty.

It's all realtive

It could be covered in shit but at the right price it will sell

You could have a spotless little terraced hose that sells for 50k and the same type of house with the same decor etc but not spotless may sell for the same

It you want the best price and a wider range of buyers, declutter, ensure clean and smoke and animal smell free.

We would never a buy a housre that had a cat in it and real wood floors, ie wood over joists as the cat pee is a nightmare - buyers may air the house and spray stuff so on the short visit you dont note this and they may hide the caat bowls and the cats/ - but move in and if you ar elifke us going to tear it appart and dp it up - the cat stench is hereddos, goes into the joists and stench rises with heat

So if you are targetting those that like clean, clutter free and want to move in an not do hardly anyhting, yes clean it etc. However, it depends on the type of buyers, ie to renovate into flats , to rent out or if they have their own pets they wont mind the smells and may be used to it just like many smokers

Indeed

Price and location for many buyers and those that can afford more location, location then price - location is top for these people and they often try to buy a house that others turned away from as they intened to do it up

I definitely took it too seriously, and realised when I fell in love with a house that smelled like and was covered in poo upon viewing 🤣 made me wish we hadn't done so much before marketing!!

For the estate agent’s photos it does need to be really tidy. People ogle pictures on Rightmove for ages, deciding whether to book a viewing, whether to make an offer, whether to pull out. If for example I saw a hoover, ironing board or tons of shoes in the pictures, I’d assume there was no storage and would be put off. An unmade bed would be really off putting, dog beds, cat littler, scratching posts in pictures are a no go.

I put tons of stuff in the garage before the estate agent took pictures, I even moved the microwave, laundry baskets, kitchen bin. You want it as decluttered as possible.

And then for viewings I tidied relentlessly. I would try and do as much as you can before the weekend. Few trips to the dump, few bags off to the charity shop etc.

I know. But the dog will have been on any carpet etc and dog smell can last a long time. I can’t stand them. No thanks. As I said, this will be an unusual and unpopular view!

@Moveoverdarlin
A friend sold her house on the £99 "do your own pictures" deal with purplebricks

the house was EXACTLY as she lived in it
total bomb site
but
it sold in 2 days for asking
because it was right place right price
perfect catchment

My house was disgusting when we bought it.
Years of dog wee soaked into the floorboards.

All fixed now though! Once the stuff was removed it was pretty much gone. We have our own dogs now though but it will never get like that.

It took 2 adults over a weekend to sort a 2 bed flat with no kids. My neighbours husband took 2 weeks off work to sort out their already immaculate house - I think that was over kill.

I’m in the same position. We want to put ours on the market but we have 11 years of clutter to sort out first!

I’m hoping to get rid of a lot of things but I do think we’ll have to get a temporary storage place.

Started on the kitchen and the hallway the other day. Filled one bin bag and one charity bag! 😳

I’ve always bought bungalows and all have been old people selling up with really dated decor but that never put me off.
Actual filth would be off putting to many people I suspect but not just a bit of clutter.
I did pull out of an offer when I found somewhere had vermin though.

Judging by the state of the 2 properties I've bought... I'd say it doesn't really matter!

Definitely worth decluttering. I rented a storage unit and filled it. House viewers don't want to be over faced with a crammed house, they'll think it's too small for them. House needs to be clean & tidy for viewings. I would only do viewings on one day, so got house sorted for that day only and got fresh flowers! Some would say you need to pander to what potential buyers want, but I felt that if they are genuine buyers they will accept it.

The houses that look the most appealing are clean, tidy and nicely decorated.