Getting ready to move next year - where to start?!

[NippyBarwell]

Hi,

We are planning on putting our house on the market next summer and hoping to get some ideas about what we should do to get it ready and in what order. For info, we’ve been here 10 years or so. Not painted some rooms in that time, haven’t changed bedroom carpets etc. Bathroom and kitchen were new when we moved in, so still look good. It’s a lovely if quirky house. Overall though it’s looking a bit tired as we both work long hours, travel a lot and haven’t done as much DIY stuff as well as we might have done!

So, I was thinking we should repaint walls and skirting, yes? Tidy garden, paint fences etc. Should we change the carpets? (They are a bit of a state because cats – who will probably shred the new ones also so that would be a last-minute job!) Should we fix the odd window where the double glazing has blown d’you think? etc…

We also need to declutter as we are planning to downsize.

If this was you, how much would you do to smarten the place up? And would you declutter first then paint? Or go room by room? There seems so much to do and I don’t know where to start. So would just welcome some advice really! Thank you. 😀

I wouldn’t go overboard really. Don’t spend money on things that will probably be redone when new owners move in! My biggest advice would be to declutter. We went through 2 skips of stuff and it was well worth it when it came to moving!

I agree with @Noimaginationforaun that decluttering is most important. We sold our house this year after having repainted most rooms in the last couple of years. However the house we're buying hasn't been painted recently and it hasn't put us off at all - the general street and vibe of the house is more important.

I so pleased we didn't replace our carpets which we nearly did as they were very old and cat worn. The people moving in are replacing the carpets straight away as they have cat allergies - they'd have replaced them even if we had brand new ones!

You can always get a local estate agent round to advise you on what is worth doing too? That's what stopped us replacing the carpets!

Declutter and clean. Be really forensic at looking at the house with fresh eyes, if you can. Make sure that grouting, skirtings, corners, bathroom fixtures and fittings are spotless.

Small diy jobs like making sure all cupboards are hanging properly, showers work properly, electrics, heating and boiler function.

Declutter and clean. Also freshen up paint where necessary - we got really good feed back about kerb appeal for our last sale and all it took was fresh masonry paint on the front window sills to really smarten it up. Even if your buyers end up repainting everything (as apparently ours have!) at least it looks clean and like you have looked after the place.

I'd also agree with getting a local estate agent round for a valuation and to pick their brains on what is worth doing and what isn't.

Clean is most important, i paid £800 for carpets and blinds that they put straight in the skip 🙄

declutter and clean.

I might freshen up the paint where it is looking like it needs it but not the whole house.

and I wouldn’t bother with carpets as they cost so much and the new owners might not like

If it was me, I would replace the worn flooring- give the whole house a fresh lick of paint and touch up any other areas that need doing.
Won’t cost you much more than £5k I’d say (depends on flooring as that can be expensive)

Thanks very much for your ideas. Think I am going to focus on touching up paintwork, fixing obvious issues, then lots and lots of cleaning. Once we get EAs in, we’ll see if they think it’s worth changing the carpet also. It all feels a bit more manageable now, thank you!

We’re in the process of moving and saw a lot of houses. I would say don’t worry about cosmetic stuff like carpets and painting. People do their own style. Shampoo the carpets and wipe marks off walls though. Declutter.

The main thing people worry about is how much money it will cost them to replace things like boiler, windows and anything the survey may bring up like damp, guttering, electrics. Anything like that you can make sure is sorted, I would recommend. Saves buyers trying to negotiate or pull out.

The blown windows you need to replace. People will walk around knocking off £££££s for jobs like that. Also the hassle for them to get trades in to do it for them. In the current tricky market you don't want jobs like that putting them off.

Paint and carpet are a mixed bunch as most people will repaint and put new flooring down.

Clean is an absolute must. I have asked out of a dirty, stinking joist without even going upstairs.

You don’t say how old your house is. If you lift a corner of your carpet and have a look, might you get a lovely surprise at what’s underneath?

We did a lot of decluttering. We then really thought about how each room looked, bought new towels and bedding, some art, a few lamps. Nothing very expensive and all stuff we could take with us. I was aiming for each room to look properly thought through.

You might not have this issue but if your attic / garage / shed is full start sorting through it now. We found this so time consuming.