Getting started to sell

[Theforest]

After procrastinating for a long time, we want to start making moves on selling and finding a new house.

When you get an estate agent round for a valuation, how finished does the house need to be? We have some straight forward decorating to do and some clearing out too. I would rather get talking to them soon but does the house need to be near selling state to get them round?

Never sold before and quite daunted by the process ahead.

Whenever I've put a house on the market I have made sure all jobs are done first and treat the visit from the estate agent as a proper viewing. It needs to look it's best.

Op, what's the house like? Size, layout, area? Are these all good? The reason why I ask is that our last house had bare plaster from building work but we put it up for sale before we wanted because we'd seen our dream house. Because it was in a fantastic location with good sized rooms we had an offer before it even went on Rightmove.

The estate agents told us that in an ideal world you'd like your house to be nicely finished / decluttered but depending on the house it might not matter. If I were you I would get an estate agent in anyway and ask them.

Sorry i realise I didn't really answer your question, I mentioned when we actually put it on the market it wasn't finished. But I still think it doesn't really matter when you show it to the agent. If anything they can help you prioritise the jobs they think it needs.

From my experience, the process can move quite quickly if you want it to: all three times I’ve sold the agent came prepared for photography and creating the listing at the same time as carrying out their valuation - so if that’s your plan obviously you want to have completed any cosmetic work and tidying ready for the photographs.

An experienced local agent will already have carried out a desktop valuation ahead of coming to the valuation visit and will know from their knowledge of the area the rough value of X type of property in X part of the neighbourhood in poor, good or immaculate condition. If you aren’t ready for the photos when they arrive they’ll easily be able to tell you what doing some painting / landscaping the garden / replacing all the windows would do to affect their valuation.

I think it depends on the local market. When we wanted to put our previous house on the market I was close to spending thousands on re-decorating to make sure every room looked pristine. But when I had the agent around he said all I needed to worry about was touching up the downstairs and not worry about bedrooms, buyers would want to make changes anyway.
One thing we did was get the outside painted, it really needed it. Kerb appeal is important for selling!
If you are planning to put your house on the market ensure to have all paperwork ready - building regs certificate for structural changes, any electric certificates, boiler safety checks etc

Ok I think in that case, I will spend some time decluttering kids rooms etc, making everything look better. Most rooms have been repainted in the last couple of years so should be ok in that respect.

We have a window which has misted up inside the double glazing. Is that worth getting fixed?

Everything just needs to good declutter. I won't want photos done straight away. We need to discuss with them how it will all work. And get a few quote too I guess.

I had our estate agent round to tell what to bother doing. He left and then when we were done he came back. Worked well

Depends if you need an idea of what you'll get for it and whether it's worth you selling. If you'll sell regardless then get everything done, cleaned, decluttered and dressed then get the agents round.

Agents are generally desperate for propties- more so if they'll sell quickly so feel free to negotiate fees with them. I was quite astounded by the variation in fees, they didn't seem to do much different!

Yes it is worth fixing your window. It's probably not that expensive but it is off putting for potential buyers as they extrapolate that all the windows will need replacing!!

op do you think your potential buyer would be first time? They can be more anxious about every little thing (understandably so, but having sold to a couple who got stressed about everything I wouldn't want to have a blown window!)

I have had blown windows in my house and they're relatively inexpensive and simple to replace but if I were at the upper end of my budget I would worry that all the windows might be about to blow so it might put me off. And given how hard it is to get builders at the moment I'd also worry about getting a glazer in to do a relatively small job like fixing a window.

Interesting points about people thinking the other windows might go the same way. I never thought of that. In truth it has been like it for a couple of years and it's the spare room so doesn't bother us but that it a different perspective. I'll get a quote. Thanks.

It's a 4 bed townhouse so could be first time buyers. We were.

We ended up going on in a bit of a rush because we found a house we wanted to buy, so hadn’t done everything we’d planned to originally. The agent was great at saying - that needs sorting, that is fine, what are you doing about that. And then we could prioritise the main stuff. We ended up with 3 offers from first day of viewings so it worked.

I would start having a good sort out and de clutter. Then paint and tidy up where needed. I'd probably then wait until the new year and get some estate agents in at the point where you are ready to go to market

I would de clutter, not so much for valuation but for photos and viewings
Re the window, when we sold we had i think 4 that had blown inc a patio door, didn't replace them and despite coming up on the survey the buyers weren't bothered.

In the current market you might get away with doing very little. Everything is still fast moving and often going under offer before being listed on Rightmove.

If it were me I would get the estate agent round asap and let them see it as is. They’ll let you know what you need to do. Most likely they’ll have a list of potential buyers on their books and will just advise a general tidy up, and listing it straight away.

I think you’ll encounter more problems finding a house than selling yours at the moment. 😏

I'd have a look at the sold prices on RightMove to give you an idea of what to expect before inviting the estate agents.

My whole selling experience was ruined by agents over pricing my house, I had to settle for a massive amount less.

Whenever we've sold a house (have moved loads of times), I get a clipboard and go from room to room and make a note of what needs fixing in that room, from a bigger thing like a wobbly curtain rail that needs re-doing, to a really small thing like a stain that needs tackling on the carpet or the residue of a sticker needs wiping off.

I'm lucky that I have a hands-on DIYer of a DH so he loves a list of stuff to mend!

Sometimes have even got a small skip on the drive and chucked loads and loads of stuff away before going on the market, especially crap in the garage and sheds.

Treat your valuation from the EA as an actual viewing.