Preparing my home for sale - top tips

[Youngatheart00]

Could I please have some top tips for maximising the appeal of my home for sale?

I’m decluttering as much as possible, house was redecorated throughout 4 years ago but could do with some touch ups.

Don’t want to spend a lot as I suspect the asking price will be limited by the area (so so at best) but are there any easy wins?

Advice appreciated! Thank you 😊

Put yourself in the mindset of your viewers. Decluttering is good. Imagine taking a tour of your home, see what they might pick up on and fix it. Things like a missing knob on a kitchen cupboard, a room where you dump junk. Some viewers are even critical of things you are taking with you, such as sofas and tables. But that's another thread entirely.

Be prepared to live minimally, put everything away immediately after use, hoover and polish daily. Wipe down kitchens and bathrooms constantly. Keep hallways clear of numerous shoes and coats. Find a home for everything.

Clean clean clean.

Clear on top of cupboards and wardrobes.
No animals in house when viewing.

Touch up paintwork, remove scuffs (pink stuff is great), have a crate in each room that you can chuck stuff in and hide in car/shed/ for photos and viewings, take a photo of each room before the agent comes round and see what oddities need moving or fixing.

Best tip I had from previous threads along these lines was to buy 'stunt bedding' for viewings. I got some rather naice quilts that lifted the finished look in each bedroom and whipped them on whenever people were coming round. Simplified the prep for viewings plus we're enjoying them in the new house! Similarly, 'stunt towels' for the bathroom.

Make sure your front garden and hall look great, invest in plants in planters you can take with you. Think about lighting in each room (especially if you are selling at this time of year). Choose extra lamps that will work in your new home).

Think carefully about furniture layout and symmetry, so that rooms are easy on the eye (see Youtube).

To maximise the amount of money you will get I think you need to declutter ruthlessly so it is clear how big the rooms are (and it will make them look bigger). But also, have the large furniture around so people can see if the bedrooms will take a double bed and some furniture, if the dining room will take a table etc.

People need to visualise themselves in your home so I would cut down on the personal stuff except some wall hangings/photographs.

Clean until it is sparkling.

However, even once you have done all this you just need one buyer to love it and it may not because of these things. One of my houses went for nearly the full asking price and I was in the middle of packing! Another went because of its location.

Thanks for all of these tips so far!

The coats and shoes in the hallway plus animals (we have 2 cats) helpful. Guessing cats trays and food should all be cleared away.

Now wondering if its practical to put the cats in the Cattery for an open house weekend?

Worth checking you are able to have open house-style viewings under C-19 restrictions?

Pack up things that can't be hidden away in cupboards and put into storage, make all surfaces clear including bathrooms, stunt towels only used for viewings, fresh flowers

Don’t declutter so much it looks like a rental or student flat though op. Many people go too far. Your still selling it as a home. It’s a balance.

Just tidy, clean it properly, clean bedding and towels. Fix anything obvious, touch up any scuff marks and make sure any clutter is kept to a minimum but make sure it still looks like someone lives there.

Good point @MrsLorensen but at this stage we are just looking to prep for valuation / put on market in spring.

Fresh, new towels and bedding to put on for viewings / pictures a great idea.

Have a look on right move etc and local agents websites. Critique what’s about already think about what house you’d want to buy.

A good tip I heard is consider how you'd leave it if you airbnb'ed your house. So don't remove too much that indicates how you use your house, but don't have lots of personal photos etc.

fix things, especially if any bodges. Decor less important - house needs to be in working order, clean and dry.

smelly animals and animal equipment need to disappear.

open house? Great way to catch covid. Don't do it!

I’m not sure I’ve ever taken notice of towels when I’ve gone to view a house 🤣. The condition of the house is more important to me rather than what’s in it ( and won’t be there when you buy it ) but I like a house that smells nice 👍

I sleuth on Rightmove daily so going off on a slightly different tangent, but I would look at the quality of estate agent listings as other houses come on the market.

One of our local agents doesn’t always add floor plans to listings immediately which as a buyer is one of the things I look for. Other agents take terrible photos that don’t show off homes in their best light. One agent in particular here has absolutely brilliant marketing, all the pictures show off the homes properly, have pictures showing off the best features of the properties using lifestyle shots, some drone shots for larger properties if the garden is a feature. The right agent and marketing can go a long way and the cheapest might not necessarily be the best.

Get the windows cleaned.

Agree with stunt bedding and towels: we had a checklist of things to do (including putting out the stunt items and clearing other things away) before each viewing. It meant the house always looked for the viewings just as it did in the photos. I think that helped a lot.

Keep a couple of boxes you can stuff everything in on the day - and make sure you have room in a cupboard somewhere for them.

Make sure all cupboards close fully otherwise they looked stuffed and give the impression of "not enough storage".

Make sure you have all paperwork ready such as
Any documents relating to building works like planning permission, building regs certificates, party wall agreements, building notices.
Any documents relating to electrical work if recent
Boiler certificate
Home insurance details
Utility bills
Details on council tax

This was all stuff that was requested by our buyers' solicitor when we sold a year ago. Best to have things ready before having to scramble it all when under offer. Unless you are super organised and have it to hand anyway!

If you've got space for a dining table, then have one. It's hard to judge if there's space for a table and chairs without one for reference.
I've seen people use double size headboards on single beds to show a small room can take a double, needs to be done carefully though so as not to look weird.
One of our local agents doesn't put anything on details about the garden or outbuildings for some reason. As we absolutely had to have a garage and parking, and wanted a reasonable size garden, we just didn't bother much with looking at their listings in the end.

Think about lighting in each room

If you have low lumens light bulbs consider replacing them with brighter ones. And pull your curtains right back to allow as much natural light as possible in.

Now wondering if its practical to put the cats in the Cattery for an open house weekend?

That is an excellent idea. Some of your viewers might be allergic to cats.

Also, make sure that things like your bathroom taps are shiny. Attention to detail like that will make the buyer think that the house is well looked after and cared for.

Yes definitely put litter trays and cat food away. Make sure there are no lingering smells, and I say this kindly as a dog owner well aware that my house does smell a bit doggy at times.
Could you put the cats in a carrier in the car for viewings? Obviously only in the cold weather.

Don't leave any additional electric fires in sight. I was astounded when a viewer said 'I can only assume the boiler is ineffective as you have that heater' - ! We are talking 1847 single glazed listed building with stripped floors, was like a freezer even with the heating on full blast.

Ideally, please go out...for a walk or something whilst the viewing takes place. Get the agent to text you when they’re done. It’s quite off putting having the current owners present and means people really can’t get a proper look around wherever you are.

Make sure the agent knows:-

1. your WiFi and local network provider connectivity and speeds.
2. distance to local train stations etc.