Top tips for prepping for house viewings

[rookiehomeseller]

Hi all property sellers/buyers - NC but regular MNer.

I am selling my house and have never sold before - actively. I have sold a house but ex DP dealt with prep and viewings etc as I had moved out already.

Now I need to prep my home for viewings and wanted any top tips on presenting the house or things that I might not think of.

Obviously it will be super clean and tidy but are there any other gems of advice you'd give? Thank you 🙏

Declutter so it's easier to keep clean/tidy (and anyway, so it looks bigger)

Open windows (a bit!) before people come round as we get noseblind to our own houses

Use a lovely smelling cleaning spray. Open windows. When viewers come then find out what they are looking for in a house (if they have kids then talk about schools/parks/swimming pools etc). Ensure front of house looks good as viewers will stand looking while awaiting answer.

Clear all surfaces including toiletries in the bathrooms, washing up liquid in the kitchen etc
No manky towels or washing on display.

All of the above especially if pet owners. Dog bowls etc out of sight.

I'll always recall viewing a house where just after 10mins I came outside smelling of wet dog. Funnily enough we didn't buy it and according to the agent weren't the only viewers annoyed by this.

Is it with an agent or are you planning to sell it yourself?

If you have a driveway, move your own cars off it.

Get the house how you want it, and then try and get shot of dc, partners and pets for an hour or so before viewings. Then you (or your partner) can go round tweaking and things will stay "viewing ready".

If it's a cold day, put the heating on. If it's a grey day put lamps on and possibly candles if someone is going to be there the whole time. If it's a warm day open windows and doors.

Make sure your front door and step is clean -first impressions and all that.

Tidy up any front garden you may have.

I had bedding that was only allowed to be used for viewings! Make sure bedding isn't creased.

Toilet lids down!

I moved last year and found viewings very stressful! Think about having an open day so potentially you only have to go through it for one day.

Good luck :).

If there are any repairs that need doing see to them now. Look at each room with fresh eyes as you may have got used to living with for example a dripping tap.

Clear kitchen surfaces, tables, shelves etc of the random everyday life stuff (admin, kids stuff, post etc). The go round and take off any knicknacks, collections. Then go round again and take one more thing away! Not to look minimalist, but if like me you have a lot of stuff - it can look cluttered to others. Last move I boxed up lots of bits and removed to attic/shed.

You do have to stage it a bit - so anything that is actually practical to your life might look a bit worn and grotty (eg the three doormats I currently have because of bikes in the hall). But its awful when homes are too staged like with poncy place settings on the dining room table or arty fruit/veg on countertops )but do take multiple small appliances off counters. Oh and if you store a lot of stuff on top of kitchen cupboards it's useful to clear that a bit.

Nice smells from cleaning products - i love the clove wood cleaner from Method, but not glade plugins (they always make me think people are hiding something).

also people are really nosy and open cupboards and all sorts so, just make sure there is nothing too horrifying hidden or dumped in there!) people seemed to soend an inordinate time looking in the understairs cupboard 🤷🏽‍♀️

With a love clear home you won't want to move when you are done!

Declutter - use a storage unit if need be

Open Windows to air the house

Make sure the windows are clean

Fresh flowers

Make sure the fruit bowl is full

Make sure the outdoor bins etc are stored neatly

Sweep any leaves from pathway

Heating on if a cold day

Remove as much as possible from surfaces

Make sure towels in the bathroom are folded neatly

Shine the sink and draining board and taps

Good luck

Don't use a lovely smelling cleaning spray as that can affect a lot of peoples lungs

Get a friend or neighbour to walk round your home - they will spot things that you like but may bug others - a friend spotted that a particular picture made one area of our room look darker than it should

All good ideas here but I don’t like the smell of artificial cleaners so using a spray, plug in or scented candle would put me off - what are they trying to hide? Best just have fresh air from open windows. Certainly don’t cook smelly food the night before!

Honestly, OP, I’ve sold five houses/flats in two countries, and all I’ve ever done is given it a good clean and declutter, and spot-painted any prominent areas where paint looked tatty. My last UK sale went for £40k above asking price in 2021, and I literally just cleaned it and repainted one wall of the utility room which was peeling.

Only in a difficult market or selling an unusual house would I contemplate doing anything more, far less ‘staging’ it for the terminally unimaginative who can’t envisage a study as a child’s bedroom.

I think Mners err on the side of people who think it’s a house proudness test, or as if the photos are from an interiors magazine. In reality, most of the time, the presence or absence of toiletries in the bathroom, or family photographs on the walls, aren’t going to stop someone buying your house.

Fix stuff that looks grotty and is easy and inexpensive to fix.

Some things can be made to look a lot better with relatively little effort. Some cannot be done without a lot of expense. The key is to do the stuff that needs little effort and is cheap. For example I just redid the grout on one of my bathrooms with grout restorer and it looks fantastic a lot cleaner than it was and only cost £10. Some things that are knackered stick out like a sore thumb. You need to go into each room and look for the thing that looks the oldest/most knackered that draws your attention and polish it up/replace it if you can cheaply.

Went through this a few months ago. My top tips:

• a storage unit so it feels as bright and airy as possible (Big Yellow are great, very flexible sizes, their unit feels very safe and female friendly. Pm me if you'd like a referral code).
• large plastic boxes for each room, into which you can swap the stuff you want to remove, or bring out, easily. Then hide in garage. Had separate bedding for viewings.
• soda crystals make cleaning manky or greasy stuff dead easy. Soaking in soda crystals transformed the chrome handles of my kitchen cupboards. Powerwashing outside bits.
• repainting rooms or bits you're uncertain of. We had one blue bedroom and it looks so much larger in white. Yes we could have left it, but I think doing the things which niggle make it much easier for the person viewing to imagine. I'm really bad at imagining things visually, and couldn't have imagined how much better it would look. I'm narked it took putting it on the market to get me to change vinyl flooring I have never liked, but again wasn't a big cost, and made it look so much better.
• Similarly removing larger bits of furniture (removed a large bookcase and two desks) and brought in two armchairs from summer house to different bedrooms
• Doing the major declutter of things like the outgrown trampoline or the decrepit raised beds (personal experience). I got rid of 2 tons of garden waste from a previously ok garden, but it looks so much better, and only cost £180 for a company to come and remove it.
• Making the time you are out of the house for viewings a bit nice for you. We had family trips to the pub, or to a nice cafe, so we felt we'd had a nice time.
• Realistic pricing. I sold in 6 viewings at the asking price this December but it is a hassle, and putting the effort in ahead of time does make all the difference.

Good luck

Thank you all SO MUCH been at work all day so just catching up now. These are brilliant tips.