Viewings - what do/did you do?

[PistolAnnie]

My friend has teased me this week about my middle class Nespresso machine and my aspirational Cath Kidston tea towels which gave me a giggle.

I have de cluttered the house and will shove the washing basket and pushchair in the car boot before the viewers turn up this afternoon and I have put fresh flowers out.
I have got my grandmothers lovely quilt out to put over our bed so it looks a bit smarter too.

I am drawing the line at special towels though, what crazy or extreme things have you done to your house to present it in a good light for viewings?

Nothing extreme just declutered and cleaned. We had 3 sets of viewers and all commented that I 'kept it lovely and clean' so I can only imagine other houses don't go to the effort?

Friends of ours viewed a house with a poo in the (open) toilet. When we came to view this house the vendor had booked an Asda delivery for the same time as our (second) viewing....

I reckon you're already in the top 10% based on that

We did 2 trips to my parent's house with a car full of clutter. Mostly toys!

And don't bother with special towels but make sure the ones you showered with that morning aren't hanging around all damp and put a clean, dry hand towel in the bathroom.

Also get the house aired out thoroughly. Remember you can't smell your own 'house smell'

Bedroom 2 where 2 boys share is the biggest challenge to declutter - the Lego cannot be relocated due to fear of damage and if Helms Deep is damaged my sons' lives will be ruined.

Declutter and kick all family members and pets out for the viewing.

We viewed one house where the parents, two kids and the dog all followed us round, into every single room. 7 people plus a pet make even reasonable sized bedrooms seen very very small when you're all crammed in.

All random bits that we couldn't find a home for were shoved into the car boot.

Dh and dog and Dcs drove off in the car and parked a few 100 metres away to get them out of the way and free up a parking space.

Funny you saying about not being able to put away all your dss' toys. When we looked round this house, ds would have been6, and he was SO excited at the idea of buying this house, as he just presumed he would be moving into their ds's room as it stood, and would get to pay with all their toys

Obviously, I'll agree with decluttering as a rule, but I really don't like looking around sterile houses with nothing in them - I wonder how a family who actually has stuff would fit in, as clearly this is a house that doesn't have anybody living in it.

Make sure that there are no random teenagers in bed in the middle of the day. This happened to us when we viewed a house a d the whole place was disgustingly messy and dirty too. We made a decision not to buy before we even walked through the door, but all of the above clinched it.

When we have sold houses we decluttered and depersonalised without leaving it soulless. Clean, clean, clean. Fresh flowers are a nice touch too.

We hid so much clutter in the car before each viewing :)