Keeping house tidy for viewings - tips please

[inchoccyheaven]

We are getting ready to put house on the market and I am after any tips that will make life a little bit less stressful for keeping it tidy for viewings, or comments on what you think would/wouldn't put you off a house? I have decluttered quite a bit and packed up boxes of books etc which will ( hopefully) be gone before viewings start, but would you be put off with boxes piled up in say a spare bedroom or a reception room ( not the main reception room though) ?

I'm in process of similar exercise.

TBH I would not be put off by boxes etc which indicated your imminent departure. As long as viewing a room is not obscured by such items.

Viewers will perhaps be more interested in the structure, general state of repair and whether they could see themselves living there.

we hid everything in the garage
including tables, chairs, children and all sorts of stuff

If you can store them elsewhere then great, but if you can't, concentrate on making your house sparkle ie really clean bathroom, kitchen, windows.

We hopefully shall be moving the boxes etc to my mum's but I am glad it wouldn't put off most people. I am dreading trying to keep the house immaculate though.

I don't think immaculate really - people expect that a house will be lived in (so a few dishes in the sink would not put me off but a dirty hob, grimy bath, unless the house in itself was fantastic, might do).

I must admit, I want to see a house 'presented' as a viewer.

When we sold, we had a major declutter and stuck all the boxes in the attic. We also never had the following on show:

Hoover, dustbin, ironing board, iron, ironing basket, toiletries, coats, shoes, bags, mop and bucket, washing powder etc

This usually involved shoving all the coats/shoes into the boot of the car before a viewing and taking the larger things (like the bin) into the garage. The garage was rammed but viewers only asked to see it on a second viewing and of course, they didn't mind it being rammed as it was obvious we were moving.

The other thing was, I always removed all the towels and toiletries in the bathrooms and replaced them with new (white) towels and nice toiletries I kept in a 'viewings box'. It was a pain in the neck at first but I became very adept at setting the house up and we sold to the second couple who viewed (total of five or six viewings) for almost the asking price.

If you're serious about selling and want a good price, I'd recommend going to town on presenting the house. Deffo no cardboard boxes on show!

We de cluttered and boxed up ready for the move the stuff we wanted to keep but it went upto the loft and in the garage.

I then had plastic crates/boxes (from poundstretcher) for temporary quick clear ups of clutter. Different colours for different rooms (so its easier to find stuff later). I kept these crates handy just inside the garage door and if we had a short notice viewing I would bung everything into its room allocated crate quickly, chuck them in the garge - cover with 2 pic nic blankets and have time to whizz around with the vacume and get the coffee maker on!!

My friend gave me this tip and I have to say with small kids and a house that chaos usually reigned - it worked really well. After the viewing I knew which box something would be in from what room it was in.

Good tips for a quick declutter.

I suppose it depends on an individual buyer. I've bought 3 times and we did not always go for the immaculate although it probably helps.

We will be buying again soon and I must say there was one house which could not have been more spotless but in a strange way it seemed so soul-less.

Don't stress yourself about having things pristine (make it as tidy as you can) but after a point there is probably decreasing returns on effort.

i'm looking around as a buyer and it does put me off if people seem to have so much stuff that they're bursting out of the house, which makes me question if there is adequate storage. I definitely don't want to see ironing boards and the like about, suggesting there is nowhere handy to keep them.

We've just accepted an offer on ours after being on the market for 5 days. We had 4 first viewings, 2 second viewing and 2 asking price offers.

I took a day off work before the sales photos were done to completely clear the house of clutter and turn it into a (temporary!!) showhome. I did exactly what CollegeMum suggested with crates for each room which were stuffed in the garage. If anyone opened a wardrobe they took their life into their own hands!

Hard work and a giant faff but it worked great! Good luck!

when we sold our house we stored quite a few boxes of books at a friends house as we had a lots and it did make the place looked less cluttered -is there anyone who could take them for you>
I would ask a friend to have a look round and give you an honest opion of what you could improve or not as it can be hard to see what will help
but a lot of clutter puts me of and as other say if the house is actually dirty - only because I think they might not be maintaining the house well - otherwise its doesn't bother me too much

Thanks for all the comments. We don't have a garage and you can't even stand up in the loft so not very practical to put things in other than that already in there. However I have had a quick look at my mums today and think we should be able to get all the boxes etc in one of the rooms at hers which will be great.

Had estate agent round today and he said it is fine for it to look lived in especially if you have kids as you can't always keep it immaculate. He said it is the little things like others have said about removing things that might make you think there wasn't enough storage so my 24 loo rolls will have to go in airing cupboard rather than in the little recess I keep them in or the cake tins from top of cupboards in kitchen. He was very positive and didn't tell me to paint it all magnolia - thank goodness !

He did say the person taking the photos will remove anything from room they felt wasn't right and then put back after so photos have maximum impact. Hopefully in a few weeks we shall be ready for the market eek.