How much & what did you do to your house before putting it on the market?

[Trickymoments]

We are thinking of putting our house on the market in the spring and just wondered what we should be doing to get it ready for the best possible sale.
It's in a pretty good condition, there are a few jobs that need doing but it is nicely decorated and quite neutral.
Our main problem is so much stuff, hence the need to move. We need to find somewhere to put it all it will look cluttered.

What have other people done when getting house ready to sell?

We are currently in the process of getting the house ready for sale.
We've put lots and lots of stuff in storage because we had so much clutter (the main reason we're selling).

We've also given some areas a lick of paint but not others. The main areas that need decorating are the stairs and master bedroom. We just don't have the time to do them. It feels like we'll never be ready to sell it though. I lie in bed on a night and think of other stuff to do. It's driving DP crackers.

Painted lounge and got rid of the hideous sofas we'd somehow lived with for 3 years (still don't know why) and bought 2 new sofas.

Decorated master bedroom (painted 3 walls and wallpapered one), painted wooden bedframe.

Painted 2nd bedroom and staged it with photos.

We had 3 year old twins at the time, place was cluttered with baby toys and equipment which we had in big boxes (that went in the boot of the car when we had a viewing) or in an understairs cupboard.

We'd been there 3 years and had put a new bathroom and kitchen in, so all that just needed cleaning and putting stuff away.

Fortunately we sold within a week but it was tough getting it ready. Good luck!

Decluttered ruthlessly. Tidied. Cleaned thoroughly, including washing all the curtains. Depersonalised. Tidied the garden.

namechange within a week! That's fantastic! I'm just up to my ears tidying and cleaning. We are in a big rush so no time for any redecorating which is worrying me. I might wander round touching bits up this evening - photos in the morning!

We just decluttered and cleaned like we've never cleaned before. It sold in a day.

New front door (old one wood and rotten) £2000
Decorators to paint and fix minor cracks in 3 rooms £500
Re-gravelled driveway £350ish
Window cleaner £12
Carpet and oven cleaner £100
Decluttered £FREE
Tidied garden £FREE

We sold in 2 days with 5 asking price or over asking price offers on the table, so it was worth it.

I'm in the process of helping my mum sell her house. It went on the market in June last year, had tonnes of viewings but no sale so she took it off in December to have a bit of a rest and work out what to do.

In total, these are the changes that have been made:
Outside of property repainted (front and back)
Front garden tidied to within an inch of it's life by 3 gardeners (took 3 hours!)
Excess furniture chucked/ sold or put in the garage
All personal photos and other brickabrack hidden away

She's got a sloping garden which put quite a few buyers off, she's just had a quote for £13k () to get a tier and some nice planters put in to make it look more presentable so she'll be having that work done before putting it on the market again in about 2 months time!

I'm sending all my best wishes to you for selling your house - perhaps post some photos so that people can give more specific advice on what changes to make?

Absolutely nothing. All the windows were in a dreadful state (paint peeling really badly) and we had a fair bit of very obvious damp around the fireplace. Estate agent told us that sorting these out would not change the value of the house so we put it on the market as it was.

It took about two months but we sold it for what I initially thought was an extremely optimistic asking price.

Perhaps it's the location thing as that's something it did have in its favour.

Decluttering is more important than decorating I think - buyers often want to put their own mark on a place.
We put a load of stuff into storage but I was worried about a large stain on our bedroom carpet would put people off - the house still sold after 3 viewings.

Decluttering is more important than decorating I think - buyers often want to put their own mark on a place.

I really hope this is the case because we just don't have the time or money to start decorating. The main problem is the master bedroom which is very tired and needs the wallpaper stripping really. Only problem is that the plaster underneath is so old I reckon one pull of the paper and the plaster is coming off with it.

Clean the windows. Clear and brighten the area around the front door, cut down any straggly bushes and totally declutter and decorate the hall, stairs and landing. All other tat and shite into storage. Deep clean.
A lot depends on the potential marginal difference in sale price. In a sound property off white walls and clean, cheap carpet will make the world of difference. It might be worth paying a good surveyor for a before and after valuation and taking to the bank to see if they will advance a loan if there's a significant differential. A lot depends on the local market.

Brutally decluttered, some minor decorative work & repairs, bought some cheap rugs for carpets that were a bit past their best, pared back some personal photos (not all), and made sure it was gleaming! Sold in two weeks.

We did the following:

1. Revamp of back courtyard & new planting & new garden furniture & painting £3000 - this gave us a whole new outside room
2. Repainted living room £50
3. Placed all junk/clutter in storage £80 per month
4. Painted walls in lean-to and laid vinyl tiles £100
5. New carpet on stairs £300
6. Decluttered and cleaned FREE

We went on holidays the day it went on the market and had sale agreed by the time we got back! It was great - no repeated decluttering/cleaning for each viewing. And we had great photos taken by EA.

Good luck!

We decided to move rather suddenly so we painted the one room we'd been dithering over. Mostly because we had patches of testers all over it
And we decluttered like loons. We sold to the 2nd viewers on day 3.

Also I think a savvy buyer can tell the difference between a room that just needs simple redecoration (like your bedroom) and something that'll need a major overhaul.
Leave the bedroom - it is what it is and if the rest of the house is in good condition it shouldn't matter.

Fresh coat of paint where needed and new mastic round the bathroom sink where it was a but grubby. Then a declutter and a deep clean.

We vaguely discussed the possibility of moving the other day (we don't need to but a house has come up locally that has lots of potential and is a bit exciting) and the thing that out me off is the thought of having to paint (we have a toddler and every room - pretty much - could do wth a freshen up)

Im looking to put my flat on the market in the next few weeks and have been decluttering in preparation. Did the spare room at the weekend. One box of stuff went in the loft and got rid of 3 bin bags of crap. If you don't use it regularly get rid of it. Be ruthless. You'll be thankful when you move that you didn't transport a load of junk.

Declutter is essential. People look at a house and don't think "these people have to much stuff" they think "there's nowhere to put stuff away"

If you're moving, having less to pack will be brilliant.
Last time we moved, there were 2 packing boxes that got shoved in spare room and ignored for 2 years.
When I finally got round to emptying them, I kept 2 things out of the boxes!
And I had paid someone to pack up stuff I didn't need!