Putting house on market for the first time…

[rootsandwings89]

We live in our first home (small 3 bed semi) and want to move to a bigger home with more space next year, we would’ve been in our current home 4.5-5 years.

Does anyone have any advice/tips for selling a first home? Is there anything you wish you had or hadn’t done?

Declutter.

Fix any small things in the house that visibly need fixing. They might be small, but if they give the impression the house hasn’t been properly maintained/looked after, it might put people off if they get a sense of “well if they haven’t fixed that, what else have they not cared about”.

Be realistic of the price. If you paid (for example) £250,000 4 years ago it’s not worth £450,000 now…

Yes, do any small job that hasn’t been done. Don’t have things all over the place like boxes of cereal on top of the kitchen cupboards because it makes it look like there is nowhere to keep anything.

Make sure you air all the rooms out, pre viewings. Put as much stuff away as possible.

Storage unit for your clutter to make the place seem bigger.

Declutter, everything clean, especially bedding. I use white cotton sets for the purpose.

No one wants to see other people’s mess , dirt or clutter

Clear all surfaces and make sure plants , outside space etc is spotless as this is the first thing a buyer will see. Take down personal pictures , and try to de personalize ad much as you can. A lick of paint will help if possible. If not clean clean clean

The photos are your sales pitch, and then you want viewers to be able to imagine , and hopefully want to live there. Good luck

price is obvs key, but that first impression is crucial

Take photos yourself of your rooms now, then really look at them. Go onto Rightmove/YouTube and look how brand new houses are presented with clear surfaces especially kitchen worktops and remove stuff from the tops of any wardrobes or cupboards. Look at your photos, what can you see under the bed? On windowsills? Are your curtains straight? Is the blind? Remove the million shampoo bottles, bleach etc from the bathroom, put them into cupboards. Only have out what you must. Be very critical, if you have good friends, ask them what you need to do.

Definitely declutter and if there are things you need to keep still look at a self storage unit. We used one when we last moved as we had outgrown the house so I removed some sideboard type things and stored them so it created more room around the dining table etc.

Fix anything broken, paint or remove scuff marks. Your house is probably the biggest asset you have, show it at the highest standard you can.

If you are feeling brave you could post a link or photos before you put it on the market. You can do it under a name change easily. I have posted my own house on here when I moved but it was when MN wasn't anywhere near as big as it is now

There is a great youtuber called 'movinghomewithcharlie' who has great advice for sellers and buyers. Especially choosing an estate agent and not over pricing.

Make sure the beds are properly mad and declutter

Yes, we just sold our first home and bought a bigger house which we’ve recently moved into. My tips would be:

•Think really carefully how you want to list it and who with. Do your research. We settled on an estate agent that was local but a known name (winkworth) and got a decent enough offer for the rates. Of course they take their cut but in our case it was really worth it. They had a professional photographer come around and the images were amazing. They got us loads of initial interest and we had an offer at asking price the day after it went on the market. By contrast, a friend has gone with one of these no fee direct listings and they’ve done their own photos and it really doesn’t do the place justice. They’ve had very few viewings. Of course the choice is yours and it depends on loads of factors but I’d advise really do your research on this.

• List it at a reasonable price. Over priced properties tend to hang around longer not selling and with everything on apps it really shows when they’ve been on there a while and then eventually get reduced. As a buyer it does make you think of the place as less in demand before you’ve even viewed.

•Declutter - it really helps if it can look as close to a ‘show home’ as is reasonably possible for photos and viewings. So echoing what others have said - made beds, put all junk and clutter away for viewings and get a reed diffuser or some other little bits to make it feel fresh and styled.

•Fix any little things that you can without spending loads. We got a new kitchen sink and kitchen cupboard handles to refresh the kitchen (just cause those things really needed doing). But there’s other things that don’t cost too much such as cushions, rugs or bed linen that can freshen a home up but you can also take with you.

• Don’t underestimate how stressful it can be just because it’s not your first rodeo! Prepare yourself for hurdles and look after your mental health.

best of luck

We've bought and sold a few times but the last time was the smoothest, our house sold to the first person who saw it and sale was plain sailing.
Best thing we done was get a storage unit for a few months not only were we able to declutter to put on the market, but we could also take a lot of things to the unit the week before we moved so the movers just got the furniture, we sorted that all out on first night, next day we emptied the storage unit and had somewhere to put everything.

Oh and you only get what you pay for with estate agents, don't go for the cheapest its worth paying more for the full service.

Wow some really great tips here thanks everyone!