EA coming to take photos on Monday. What should I be doing to prepare?

[sleepyhead]

I've never sold before

Flat is a one bed and we share the fairly large bedroom with ds1 & 2. Ds2 is in a travel cot which I'll take down for photos and viewing.

We've decluttered as much as we can. Parents are coming on Sunday to help with last minute diy jobs, and for DM to pass over an ultra-critical eye.

We also have a cat & litter tray. Obv will have all evidence of cat out of the way for the pictures, but should I ask my parents to look after her until we sell or is that overkill? (cat and parents would be fine with this - she stays with them for holidays etc, but we would miss her).

Oh I hate this! I feel completely out of my depth and we've only just started!

Put away all toiletries in the bathroom. Tge first time we forgot and the pics looked awful. Not too much out on the sides if poss.

What about bath toys etc? Should I just basically pack up the bathroom and leave clear surfaces? It's tiny so probably a good idea.

Crap, just remembered the Dr Who stickers that ds1 stuck all over the tiles 2 years ago. That's the rest of my afternoon accounted for then.

If possible yes, makes pics look so much better.

Go round and take pictures yourself in each room, then get someone who has bought somewhere recently to look at them. Think - does it look like theres enough places to put things, does each room look like its purpose, is there somewhere to eat, sleep, sit (sounds odd, but some photos you don't see this), does it look unloved?
Check out other local properties and see how comparable places look

Have a scoot around for the 'best angles' and try to look with new eyes. gather as many nik naks as you can and out them out of sight..

Of course for the benefit of us lot, you need to strategically place a weird fox, bear or gaudy statue/artwork.

if there is stuff everywhere it shouts 'this house is too small and has no storage'.

bathroom - couple of classy bottles, some fluffy towels.
kitchen - clear surfaces except for the kettle, no washing up visible

cat can stay, remove trays and food for photos and viewings, and make sure it isn't in the photos.

good luck!

Hide toiletries, cleaning products etc. Get as much off your kitchen worktops as poss - hide it in the cupboards. Make sure there aren't shoes on show, toys, and keep mantelpieces and coffee tables clear of knick-knacks and photo frames. Close the lids on the loos.

Basically, you're trying to create a fantasy - like when you go into a hotel room and could believe you're the first person who's ever stayed in it. The pics should show a lovely house, but the focus should be on the house, not the people living there now. Buyers want to imagine they could just walk in with their stuff and get comfy.

Great advice thanks.

The trouble is that the flat clearly is too small for a family of four, but would be fairly roomy for a couple.

However, we have a Very Big Cupboard and I will use it

Our house has just gone under offer after just one viewing, (very lucky I know!), but for that viewing, the two cars were full of all the clutter that made the house look full. When the ea came round to do the photos, I just moved stuff from one plae to another. Clear surfaces, took down children's art work and photos, ea recommended moving all the towels, toys, child steps, shower curtain out of the bathroom to make it appear bigger in the photo. I went mad cleaning everywhere, but actually on the photos you can't tell anyway, but at least then it was less of a job to clean for the viewing. Move cat stuff for photos and viewings, but you don't need to send the cat away, you might be lucky and it be sold quickly, but if it takes a couple of months, that's a long time to be without your family pet.

Flowers! I had flowers in every room and it made such a difference to the pictures. Sold in 4 days.

Am liking these stories of places selling very quickly!

Luckily my parents will be bringing their Very Big Car when they visit on Sunday, so I might well send them away with yet more stuff. My mum's desperate for us to move so she can make use take back all the things we've already stored in their garage.

The stickers are gone thanks to a steamer, scraper and surgical spirit for the sticky residue. It's funny how you just stop seeing this stuff. That's why I need my mum to come through, painful as it will be - she misses nothing

We have just sold. I went out an bought 5 removals boxes and went round the house and cleared "crap" all of the photos that we had out. All of the kids toys that couldn't be hidden under the bed. Everything in the bathroom that didn't fit in the cupboard. Seriously ruthless.
We sold v quickly Good luck

Congratulations on your quick sale 123rd!

I've done a serious clear out of the bathroom cabinet today and can actually fit all the clutter in there (apart from the bath toys which are getting bagged up and put away for the duration).

Good point about removing photos. I've got tonnes in frames in the livingroom but they can easily get put in a box and stuck under the bed.

I'm also going to get ruthless with ds1's books and send a bag of them away with my parents. Soft toy madness - they can get bagged up and stuck under his bed. No way will I get away with exiling them.

Luckily I was pretty ruthless with the decluttering over the last 12 months and so places like under the beds are actually fairly clear. We don't have much in the way of nicknacks and just have a kettle & toaster on the kitchen sides. I'll put the toaster away though as it's not particularly attractive and we don't have a lot of kitchen surfaces.

Bought some nice roses today which should have opened a bit for Tuesday pm. New houseplants, bought a couple of weeks ago, are currently still alive, so that's something...

Phew! First hurdle jumped.

The photo guy seemed to know his stuff and was suitably fussy about moving things so I think that's all good and will hopefully mean the pictures don't end up on MN

Next step Home Report and fingers xd no nasty surprises..

We'll be putting our flat on the market next week hopefully so I've been watching this thread!
At the moment I am de cluttering & cleaning like crazy and dh is painting & doing little DIY jobs...
But... I'm getting obsessed with buying stuff like new cushions, tea, coffee & sugar pots, nice looking bottles of bubble bath etc...

Dh thinks I'm mad

Did you do all this or just have a good tidy & de clutter?

Sleepy, what's a home report & why do you have to do it?
Good luck. I do think good photos make a big difference.
Our Ds has a big cabin bed type thing in the third bedroom which dh was determined to get rid of and replace with a new bed. The EA said don't bother buying new stuff-unless you will defo want it at your new place. Prospective buyers just want to see minimum of other people's stuff. Don't think it matters if it new. I'd save you money.

Treadlightly I bought new cushions, and this morning rushed out to buy new lampshades for the hall lights and... a bread bin.

I also repainted two doors in the living room at the last minute, poorly.

I've become obsessed by the (many) flaws and probably need to get a grip now. The guy who came to do the pics thought it looked fine, and even my mum said "you know, this is really a quite nice flat" - which is high, high praise from her.

I guess it depends on your market how much this stuff matters. We're selling a one bed, large for it's type, likely to go to first time buyers or a landlord. I suspect the size of the rooms will be the main selling point so we're trying to shrink our presence as much as possible to make that more obvious - clearing surfaces did make a huge difference I must say.

123rd We're in Scotland and a Home Report is a legal requirement if you're selling up here. It's been in for a few years now - basically the seller commissions the survey and it's made available to all potential buyers, rather than each buyer commissioning their own basic survey.

The survey is of a level that is acceptable to mortgage lenders so often no other survey is necessary.

Thanks sleepyhead! I'll keep shopping then :)

Sleepy. Oh ok. Yes I did know in Scotland the seller paid for the survey. Just did know that's what it was called. Sounds like quite a good idea-if you are buying!!

Yes, it seems like a good idea. Hopefully we'll benefit from the other side, plus it'll give us a heads up if there's anything wrong that we need to fix/explain.

There's also a questionnaire you need to fill in about the property and an energy efficiency report.

We're on the market!

The photos are hilarious, in that they make the place look completely Amazing rather than featuring any comedy mn props. Hope any viewers aren't too disappointed..

Now we just wait.

We've decanted much of the contents of the Big Cupboard, under beds etc into storage. It was much cheaper than I thought it would be and will make it so much easier to keep the place tidy.

SOLD

I guess it cam still go wrong, even in Scotland where things are meant to be straightforward, but we've accepted an offer and should be moving out on December Eek!