Does the house need to look market-ready for valuation?

[MrsPerks]

Have booked valuations this weekend but am making slower than expected progress with the decorating. Better to re-book, or OK to go ahead as they'll be able to see past that? I should be photo-ready at the end of next week, and need to move fast.

Keep your appointment - an estate agent will be able to see past the window dressing, and your cleaning and decorating (unless you are adding a new kitchen or bathroom, etc) will increase saleability rather than have a big impact on the market value.

Tell them what you plan to do before photographer comes as you go round

I'd wait until finished. The state of it now indicate a what it will look like when viewings takes place

What is it that still needs doing?

We had a valuation before being ready. We were going into partnership with the agent so also wanted his advice on what we should do to get it ready e.g. do we need to paint this or that. (We went with an agent initially that worked like that....he was very particular about photos etc)

Do remember getting the house ready won't change the price. Just the saleability.

We had estate agents round before we got carpets put down. We just explained what the plan was. As long as it is ready for photos it is fine.

I would wait it’s only a week

We did just this - keep your appointment.

We told EA what we were planning to do and what we had booked in (painter/decorator to fix little bits, freshen woodwork), gardener to tidy and trim hedges - and a plan to change carpet in one room they said only to get cleaned not replaced. Worked really well.

Big tip - if there are restrictions near you at the waste transfer station, hire a skip. Will make your clean out go do much faster When you don’t have to worry about wasting time in the queue or what they’re taking or not.

They'll want to take pics when you decide to go with them. I'd you're still in the initial stages of choosing who you want to use then you have time.

I second hiring a skip!

Many thanks for your replies.

Yes, we have a decorator coming on Monday, freshening up several upstairs rooms. Otherwise it's now reasonably decluttered and on it's way to being buffed up...bar tracking down a window cleaner (my next job).

More than one skip has been filled . Sounds like, on balance, I should go ahead.

Yes, go ahead with the appointments. As long as they can tell that you'll be presenting it in a reasonably clean and tidy state for photos and viewings it won't make any difference to the valuation.

They'll probably tell you not to bother redecorating (unless it's currently really bad, very bright colour etc)

I would leave the EA viewings until the decorating is done - it's alright saying they'll 'see through it' but they often don't. I personally think EAs are no better at imagining how good a property can look and how appealing it will be than Joe/sphine Public.

It does also make a difference, because of course you might have it done in an awful way! Lol.

First impressions last. Rebook after you have the place looking good.

We were valued this week and due to Covid EA wanted to take pictures at time of valuation visit.

They said if we preferred a different agent that was fine but it minimised visitors.

All went well - in fact having stripped out rooms for decoration may have added to the suggestion of light airiness . Market is going nuts here, apparently.

Excellent. I have three viewings today. Eeeep.