Little jobs to get done before selling a house

[jamaisjedors]

We MIGHT be in a position in the next couple of months where we would need to put our house on the market and move, and I am now looking round the house and seeing all the jobs we haven't got done in the last 10 years of living here, and wondering what to start with!

What kind of things do you think are top priority to get done (I know DH will focus on the garden, whereas I think that it's the house which will make the difference)?

Today I weeded the drive and pressure-washed the front steps.

I am decluttering a LOT, room by room (Flylady)

Our dining-room clashes with our kitchen (2 yellows which don't go) and I have been itching to paint it something more neutral for ages, but don't know if it's worth it if we are moving. It will be quite a big job (lots of woodwork, big cast-iron fiddly radiator etc.)

Some of the walls in the garden are peeling and need rendering as they look a mess.

The bathroom radiator is peeling and needs a coat of paint.

Quite a lot of skirting etc. needs re-doing.

The landing has holes which were patched up but needs a coat of paint.

The front door probably needs changing but that would be expensive and v. time-consuming.

DH started ripping out the plaster in one of the bedrooms and obviously top priority is to finish that (he doesn't seem to think it's a problem!

Some of the walls of the house probably need a fresh coat of paint but that would be a huge job too...

God, I'm depressing myself with this huge list. I'm not sure I need advice, apart from get off the computer and get painting/clearing!

I'd start by freshening up anything that's worn, neglected or damaged and if you get time down the line then change colours if you still have the energy.

Fresh, clean and maintained gives a message to the prospective buyers, rather than the message of this house hasn't been looked after at all.

Advice I was given for selling a house...

Paint everything neutral and with a fresh coat.

Shiny work surfaces in the kitchen to look super clean.

That's it. Can your front door just be painted? They are very very expensive

Stackable - that is good advice.

I will start with the v flaky skirting boards and radiator then, rather than do the dining room which is respectable, if not to my taste.

Dub - you are right about the front door. It will be getting a patch-up job with some bits of wood (DH is handy) and a fresh coat of paint.

That's very good. I enquired about new doors. Still not quit picked my jaw off the floor a year later...

Ok, definitely looks like the radiator is top-priority! It's a lovely old cast-iron one but is painted a garish navy blue and is v. chipped. We had been thinking of changing it for a towel radiator so not got round to painting it (I know from having done other ones in the house that it's a fiddly job).

I am trying to do the cleaning thing too - again with Flylady so I am focusing on one room a week and really getting into the corners, wiping down walls etc.

Not sure about the radiator.

I think either white or "shaded white" (F&B - I have a big pot of it in eggshell)- which is more like a bluey-grey (there is quite a lot of blue in there already).

I'm just marking my place, we are going to put our house on the market very soon and I'm on the lookout for any tips/anything I might not have thought about

Ok, will take a picture of the radiator tomorrow in all its glory and then the finished product.

It will motivate me to get on!

Off to empty a couple of boxes which have been hiding since we've moved in!

We've literally just done this as putting on house on the market this week

our top jobs were:
touch up any really obvious marks on the walls rather than repainting the whole thing.
Coat of paint for the front door - polish any handles/ letterbox
Check your guttering for leaks
clean thoroughly inside - consider getting your carpets cleaned if they are looking a bit shabby
make sure the grouting/ taps in the bathroom are mould/ limescale free

a good tip is to take a picture of each room & then see if anything jumps out at you as being not quite right/ untidy looking. You quite often see it differently on a picture in front of you.

That's a good tip Aberchips. Good luck with the sale.

I am chipping away at the paint on the radiator...

We have just put our house on the market.

Don't spend a lot as buyers will have their own ideas about what they want to do. Freshen things up and declutter. Things you may think need painting can be improved by a good clean. If you have somewhere to store things, remove some personal belongings, furniture etc to make rooms look as spacious as you can.

We did what Aberchips suggested and took photos of our rooms and it really helps.

Remember first impressions count - we cleaned a stain on our front wall from a leaking gutter years ago. We had never got round to doing it but it made a huge difference. We have also put up hanging baskets, flowers in pots etc around the front door.

colours are not relevant, everyone plans to repaint a house. So don't worry about that.

if the front door shuts, opens and is secure also don't worry about that. Otherwise sort.

Repainting radiators properly is a skilled job, getting it wrong looks awful. You might find it easier just to replace it.

unfinished jobs and big holes ARE relevant as they shout 'incompetent DIY' and frighten people. So those are your priorities.

garden needs to be tidy - mowed, not full of clutter, shrubs etc trimmed as time of year permits. Don't prune things until they have finished flowering!

good luck.

I was amazed at how much we got away with! I can see bits and pieces that I thought potential buyers would be put off by but nobody ever looked that closely at our decorating! Even my eldest sons room is bright orange with a giant red strip and I was worried that would put people off but nobody really minded (and the people who are buying it have a teenage son who likes it!)

In the end, what sold our house was a nice kitchen and bathrooms. All are fairly newly fitted and the EA told us that they all had the wow factor when people walked in.

My advice is to not worry too much about the small stuff (or the garden!) and just make sure your kitchen and bathroom look as nice as they possibly can

Good luck!

An odd piece of advice we got when selling was to clean all the windows to remove any sticky fingers or dog nose marks. They weren't horrifically dirty but it felt good having them all crystal clear.

Hope it all goes well for you.

Our kitchen is fairly new - 2 years old - and so v. nice and hopefully a selling point. The bathrooms are ok, not hideous, but I have repainted the upstairs bathroom radiator - did it a while ago.

Here is what the radiator looks like now, after I have chipped off the loose paint and scrubbed it down.