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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Selling our house...or at least trying to...all your handy tips please...........

29 replies

Smurfs · 18/05/2007 14:21

Dear all, we are in the process of trying to sell our house and I am just wandering what you have done to secure a sale on yours. Reluctant to go down the bread in the oven or the fresh coffee smell route, any ideas would be great!

OP posts:
ediemay · 18/05/2007 14:26

Make the front door and the approach to the house appealing - buy some new plants in pots which you can take with you. Keep the house tidy-ish and bright, make it feel like a hppy, lived-in space. Fresh flowers help!

pucca · 18/05/2007 14:27

We have just sold ours, and i am NEVER moving again!! lol.

you need to....

De-clutter

De-personalise

Keep it clean and tidy obviously

We chose to give everywhere a fresh lick of paint (magnolia)

We also bought some plants for the yard to make it look more appealing.

Good luck!

pucca · 18/05/2007 14:28

Oh and open windows a couple of hours before a viewing (unless it is freezing of course!) to get some fresh air circulating.

pucca · 18/05/2007 14:28

Oh and make sure the windows are clean, inside and out!

I keep thinking of more to say

Fimbo · 18/05/2007 14:30

Keep dc bedrooms tidy. Hoover, hoover and then some more. If you have a Lidl go and get their bathroom cleaner in "Tropic", it has an orange top. Leaves the house smelling devine.

Declutter the kitchen as much as possible - we ended up with the microwave in the back of my car!

Smurfs · 18/05/2007 14:34

Thanks pucca, agree we will also not be moving after this move...I hate all the feedback the estate agent gives - borders on the insane...kitchen is too big!? would be too small if we had baby number 2!? (it has 4 bedrooms) and my personal favourite we didn't want a garage!? aaargh

OP posts:
pucca · 18/05/2007 14:35

Yes and hide away all toiletries, or anything else in the bathroom, make it look minimal, i put fresh flowers on my dining table and in the bathroom too.

Ask the viewer(s) have they any questions too, because when i was viewing i always forgot to ask whatever questions i had, and if you ask, it jigs the memory.

pucca · 18/05/2007 14:36

Ah Smurfs...the one they frequently used with us was "it was the wrong area" WTF!! then why come and view in the first place

Stress is nothing compared to selling, having to be on your guard all the time incase the EA ring up with a "can you show a viewer arounf in 10 mins?" ARGHHHHH

Fimbo · 18/05/2007 14:37

My favourite feedback from the estate agent was thus:-

Mrs X really really loved your house but her daughter wanted to buy in the same street and couldn't find anything she liked, so they are looking elsewhere.

We live in a village fgs where everything is within a 5 minute walking distance.

LIZS · 18/05/2007 14:37

Pull curtains right back to make most of the light. At last minute shine taps, mirrors, pictures, chrome, door handles etc. Finish any odd jobs and tidy up broken or loose bits such as handles , doors, shed, drips etc anything that may look in slight disrepair. As little as possible on kitchen worksurfaces. Fresh flowers inside and plants, tubs and baskets outside, sweep the paths and keep the grass tidy. Find an unobtrusive place for bins.

pucca · 18/05/2007 14:39

It is enough to drive you completely potty! so glad it is over for us (hopefully!)

Dh & I were on the verge of losing the plot until this couple came to view and i swear the guy was like the dad from Shameless (if you know who i mean) it was hilarious! we absolutely p*ed ourselves laughing when they left!

MissGolightly · 18/05/2007 14:40

I agree with everything Edie and Pucca have said but here are a few of my pet hates/tips.

Pay attention to smells - I don't mean spray everything with air-freshener but if you know you have a smelly dog or a partner who smokes then try to air as much as possible. I detest going round houses that smell - I can easily envisage painting a magenta room white but find it much harder to look past stale fag smoke. I agree with Pucca about opening the windows (turn the central heating on at the same time if you need to). Steam-cleaning the carpets can really help persistent smells (and makes the carpets look better too).

Clean the bathroom, especially taps. Sparkly taps make a bathroom look much newer!

Open curtains fully to let as much light into the room as possible. If a room is dark then turn the light on before the viewing - that way you don't draw attention to the fact that it's dark, they may never notice.

People don't tend to notice what you don't have unless you draw attention to it - for example we have no storage at all - not even one cupboard. So our vacuum cleaner, brooms, mops and everything has to clutter up our kitchen. I put it all in the shed for the viewings - no-one asked me where I stored it or noticed that there was no cupboard space, whereas they would have noticed loads of clutter lying around iyswim.

Look up useful facts like the amount of council tax and rough fuel bills before hand.

People often worry about the roof and the boiler. If you have had either serviced or given a clean bill of health, or have any guarentees then mention it during the viewing.

Good luck!!

MissGolightly · 18/05/2007 14:42

Oh, and I told the estate agent not to bother with feedback unless it was something I could do something about. I got fed up with "they wanted something closer to the tube." WTF? Then go and LOOK at something closer to the tube!!

Smurfs · 18/05/2007 14:44

The house is like a showhome - which takes some doing given my normal less than showhome attitude to housework my flower bill is through the roof, the entire house was redecorated 6 months ago and even the garden sparkles, the poor children are having to play with newspapers and twigs as all their toys are 'tidied away'

OP posts:
pucca · 18/05/2007 14:46

Sounds like you don't need our help then smurfs i think you have it under control!

Have you had any viewers yet?

JulietFarkinBravo · 18/05/2007 14:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Smurfs · 18/05/2007 14:51

25 viewings and 3 offers - first offer 30k under asking price which we rejected, 2nd offer 15k under asking we accepted, they changed their mind and walked away!? and last offer was 22k under asking we said we would accept 20k under but they said no and went and bought something else, which I think is down the next road...should be interesting if we bump into them in the local park

OP posts:
MissGolightly · 18/05/2007 14:55

I think 3 offers out of 25 is pretty good going so you are obviously doing something right!

JulietFarkinBravo · 18/05/2007 14:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LIZS · 18/05/2007 14:56

Perhaps you should reduce the asking price a bit then ? Sounds like it may be perceived as expensive.

whomovedmychocolate · 18/05/2007 14:58

Frebreze is a godsend if you can't be bothered with steam cleaning. But (I know this is very non-green) very bright light bulbs can help make a place look brighter.

Smurfs · 18/05/2007 14:59

JFB - price was something we wanted to get spot on as we have found what we want to buy. It is on for £20k more than the last one to sell in our road which went last year and dare I say it.....ours is nicer

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JulietFarkinBravo · 18/05/2007 15:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LIZS · 18/05/2007 15:02

but a house is only worth as much as anyone else will pay for it. I understand your logic but 20k less sounds more realistic.

Smurfs · 18/05/2007 15:03

....think I may be appearing like the eager labrador with viewers as just want to sell...maybe DH could show viewers around although he would let them in, grab The Telegraph and say I will be in the garden, let me know when you are finished

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