Staging a house for sale

[BeesMichael]

Putting our house on the market - have chosen an EA and having the photos taken Friday. Any tips on how to stage the house for best possible pics?
We've sorted the garden (all neat and tidy, nice plants etc) thoroughly cleaned house, tried to declutter as much as possible, bought fresh flowers, and reed diffusers (more for viewings - can't smell a picture!) touched up any scuffed paint etc. And de-dogged!
I'm in two minds to completely de-clutter (photos, candles, ornaments etc) but want my house to look cosy and welcoming as I hate when you see really bland, beige houses on rightmove and zoopla!

Is there anything else you can suggest?

Hi Bees
We’ve done this recently. Totally agree with you regarding keeping some personality in your home. I think it’s a question of getting the balance right. We decluttered loads but still had pictures, books, vases etc, just fewer of them than usual. I packed away most of the family photos though. The very best bit of advice I can give, based on our experience, is, once you think you’ve got the room ready, take your own picture and have a good look. It’s amazing how a room that looks lovely in reality can look oddly cluttered in a photo. Even things like the beds, that seemed to be very nicely dressed, needed a bit of tweaking for pictures. I put away quite a bit of extra stuff once I’d looked at the pictures.

Good luck

I'm no expert, but our house sold very quickly. I put almost all clutter from each room into a big plastic box ( all strategically hidden). It did seem to make a big difference to the look of the house, and made it seem much bigger. I also made the house smell nice ( and made the bathrooms smell clean with bleach). Sadly, the house we wanted fell through and we will be doing it all again soon!

We took everything out to make it look as big as possible. When my friends saw the pictures they were amazed “oh wow, thats not PickleRicks house!!!”

I used to listen at the door to overhear the immediate feedback chats and I heard what were to be our eventual buyers say that the photos hid all the damage! (house needed work, full of damp etc)

We went for TOTALLY CLEAR then went back and accessorised (stunt pristine tea towel, single bright coat on hook, the infamous stunt bowl of fruit and bunch of flowers...).
Expensive hand wash. Selling the lifestyle...

Great advice - thank you everyone - definitely going to try taking a photo tomorrow to see what we may need to declutter. It's so difficult to view your home through someone else's eyes (so to speak) so that's great advice!
Definitely trying to sell the lifestyle too - got some jo Malone hand wash 👍🏼 and lovely fresh flowers! I honestly see some houses online and think they look so depressing, lacking colour and personality but obviously there's a fine line!
Hopefully we'll get some good pictures and sell quickly!

I reckon bland central, with splash of obviously removable colour, works. The person-with-different-taste who sees the pic goes "oooh! I could remove those yellow flowers/rug/cushions and my lovely red sofa would look great!" Or something...
Someone told me to take things out of corners to make rooms look bigger, which does seem to work.

lose the reed difusers and the flowers once dead. overwhelming stinks like that will make people wonder what you are hiding.

Agree about the diffusers, fresh air is the best smell if available.
The best selling tool for a house is the price.

We were advised to de-personalise but we left a few pictures up, just less than we had. Check tops of cupboards and wardrobes to make sure there isn't anything on top, you don't want it to look like there isn't enough storage. We took everything off the kitchen worktop barring the microwave and kettle (so toaster, coffee machine, random fruit on the side etc) to make it look spacious. Anything personal from the fridge, we had DD's 'artwork' and fridge magnets etc which all came off, tea towels and oven gloves away. Any toys away apart from the play room.

I sold super quickly.

Painted pretty much the entire house.

Did all the little DIY jobs that I had learned to live with e.g. a door that didn't close properly, a broken floorboard etc Wanted to give the impression the house was cared for and well maintained and little things like that make you think 'what else'.

All carpets steam cleaned. Made it look and smell much fresher.

Basically moved most of my 'stuff' out so it was just a nice house with nice furniture, soft furnishings and tasteful pictures on the walls. I didn't have family photos, just art prints.

Absolutely no clutter anywhere. Nothing on top of cupboard. Everything either moved out or squished into wardrobe. No shampoo on the side of the bath etc. No laundry baskets out. Nothing on worktops except kettle and toaster.

Really clean.

Dressed the beds nicely like hotels.

I always did have a lot of plants but moved them about the house to loo best in photos and viewings.

I did the same as @Furano and I had two asking price offers the day it went on the market and then another three at asking or slightly above over the next two days!

Apart from repainting the whole house:I only painted the wall and back gate in the garden, the front railings and gate in the front and touched up paint in the hallway. The house looks like a show home but I can't bloody find anything and I'm scared our buyers will want a second viewing soon so I don't want to unpack anything

We're currently prepping our house for sale so it's having the decluttering of its life.

I've learnt that what I think looks a bit sparse in real life looks fantastic in photos. We've got at least one big (giant) box from each room which has gone into storage, of photos and candles and ornaments and bits of stuff which is usually displayed. I've been ruthless.

Keep the lights on, even if it’s during the day. It just brightens the place up as the light is able to bounce around more. I know it sounds daft but there’s a reason all the show homes keep the lights on,,,

Yes! I put all the lights and lamps on even though it was the sunniest day of the year.

Our house was a bit dated and we hadn’t done much because we were planning to move soon. So of course when we decided to sell it we suddenly noticed how bad it was IYSWIM.

We painted several rooms which were looking a bit sad. Painted over floral wallpaper and replaced the dated curtains with £30 plain off- white ones from Ikea. Removed curtain from small side window and put up a cheap white blind.

Painted hideous orange varnished Louvre doors in build in storage in bedroom and replaced handles. We did it with white spay paint in teh back garden . It wasn’t even hard, just messy. They suddenly looked a million times better and I was so cross I’d lived with them for years.

We removed a big dated storage unit ( to the tip! ) and packed the contents into boxes in the garage . This made our living room look about twice the size.

Put nice throws and cushions on our dated sofa. Same on bed in master bedroom.

Removed all family photos and left up generic pictures.

We Borrowed some pictures, cushions and stylish table lamps from an obliging friend with more taste and money than us. And we bought some accessories too ( didn’t mind as it could be used in the new house ).

Removed everything from kitchen worktops and tops of units. Cleared every window ledge.

Bought new bathroom towels and kept them nicely folded and unused . Plants and nice toiletries in bathroom to distract from old fashioned suite .

Did massive clear out of kids toys .

Styled the house in the way they do in magazines

eg one stylish coat and leather handbag on coat rack, not 25 jackets and a collection of Peppa pig wellies and old trainers

Eg Coffee table with pile of magazines, candle and happy houseplant.

This was quite a lot of work but not very much money . The painting took us several weekends. The decluttering we had to do anyway.

Once it was done we were shocked at how much better the house looked and felt slightly ashamed that we hadn’t done it before . It made it feel less like “ ours” , which actually helped me emotionally detach before moving .

We completely staged the house for viewings , removed all kids etc. I’d do a sweep of everything into the boot of the car ( the junk not the kids, they went to a neighbour ).

This was possible because we only had viewings over one week. It would be hard to live like that.

It sold within a couple of weeks and we got a good price considering that the kichen and bathroom were very dated.

As others have said above. I painted everywhere in the preparation to move. If you’ve not much time only do the most needed areas. Clean the carpets. Remove clutter from the kitchen counters. I left the toaster and my Kenwood mixer to show that it was a useable family kitchen. EA said remove T towels and washing up paraphernalia.
We kept a brand new duvet cover on a spare duvet to put on the master bed and new towels for the bathrooms.
I agree with having flowers, plants and opening the windows for a few moments before viewers arrive. If you have new windows, you can usually leave them slightly open, but locked, for continuous ventilation.
Having said all this, we once sold when a couple viewed when our young boys had several friend round for tea! The chaos!

We're prepping for sale next spring. Have painted the radiators, skirting and doors from their yellowing gloss and can't believe what a difference that's made already.

Will be watching with interest!

They suddenly looked a million times better and I was so cross I’d lived with them for years.

@0LIVE sometimes when people tart their houses up to sell they realise how nice their house is and don't bother moving!

I agree with not having reed diffusers or air fresheners as they could give the impression that you are masking something unpleasant! And if the viewer hates the scent their impression of your house could be negative. I think clean and well-aired gives the best impression with plants, flowers, fruit on display that are fresh and healthy-looking.

I can quite believe that Furano. I spent several years saying to myself “ I hate these doors but it will cost a lot to replace them and there’s no point as we will be moving in 2 years”.

But if I’d know that it took not a lot of money to make them much better ( not wonderful but acceptable ) I’d have done it before. It felt like a waste of time and money to just tart them up. But somehow it because acceptable to spend the same time and money when we though it would help us sell quickly and get a better price. Which it did .

But I could have had the benefit of them looking nicer for the time we lived there. Same with the hideous floral wallpaper ( although Dh quite liked it ) and curtains.

But I have leaned from my mistakes. My DD has just bought her first flat and I am helping her rip out the 1980s kitchen and part installing the new one ourselves rather than make do. Though I suspect she’s not of the “ make do “ generation .

As I’ve been viewing flats with her I’ve been reminded of the importance of the above. She really wanted to buy one flat that wasn’t in a good location , just because it was styled beautifully and the owner was lovely .

It DOES matter. However hard you try to detach yourself from the superficial things and focus on the room sizes, central heating and windows etc . But you find yourself drawn to the one that offers a lovely lifestyle.

The one thing I keep noticing in otherwise lovely houses lately is wrinkly, hastily made beds.

You have this immaculate room, but the main object in it is covered in a tatty duvet lobbed over the pillows. There's a reason hotels make their beds the way they do and it makes all the difference. Even if that includes all those stupid extra stunt pillows.

it's also usually a divan bed with no headboard that also looks weird and unfinished to me, but I could be alone in that

Thank you for all your advice! We were on the market for 2 hours before getting a full asking price offer! Over the moon

Oh that’s great news . Well done and thanks for coming back to update us.

So we have found a lovely house to buy and our offer has been accepted.

We’ve accepted an offer on ours which means when sold we will have £250,000 deposit to put towards purchase of new house.

I’ve identified renovations I would like to make in new property and costed them at approx £30,000.

Would like options on whether anyone would keep 30000 of the deposit back obviously leading to bigger mortgage.

If I keep back 30000 instead of throwing the whole 250,000 towards the purchase price my monthly payments on mortgage rate we would be getting at moment would be approx £120 more a month.

This is comfortably affordable but don’t know what interest rates will be in future and finances may be different if have children.

I think the alternative would be do it/save as we we go along through the years though did that in my current property which was thoroughly frustrating plus had loan from parents.

I don’t know if it’s insane to elect to have a mortgage of more than 30 grand than is necessary.
I know the renovations would bring we a lot of joy however.

Any experience of this type of thing or any opinions please great people of mumsnet