House going on the market next week...

[bloodyhellKen22]

Does anyone have any tips/things to remember?
You were all so helpful on my previous thread about the unadopted lane, so thought id ask for your top tips on making a house more attractive/sellable.
We are lucky in that it's still fairly modern and not too tired yet.
Any ideas welcome. Thank you!

I priced mine slightly lower than similar houses in the area.
I spent hours touching up the paintwork, even though the estate agent said it would sell anyway. I hid all clutter eg extension cables, hoover etc. I did leave ornaments etc out but not too many. And overall made everything as clean and tidy as I could manage.
I was lucky enough to sell in a week, and the feedback was on how beautifully decorated and presented it was.
This was right at the low end of the market, so it may well be different if yours is expensive or if there are several on the market in your price range.
Good luck.

Just make sure the photos look good, for viewings tidy away the clutter and make sure the house smells nice. Ask the EA to arrange viewings in clusters and get them to do the viewings too. Don’t get too friendly with people who want to make offers, leave all that to the EA.

The main thing is obviously to price it competitively compared to similar properties in your local area. And do lots of decluttering (assuming you have clutter in the first place). Make it look clean & tidy with not too much evidence of animals if you have them - no litter trays or animal smells for example.

You might not get viewings in clusters the way the market is right now - we had lots of interest and sold quickly but we found the viewings trickled in gradually.

We made a checklist for tidying up before viewings so we didn’t have to remember everything each time. Things like putting all washing up away, putting the heating on beforehand, sticking the laundry basket in the car etc.

Thanks everyone. Yes to the clutter - have already started to get rid of stuff we don't need.

I removed family photos, cleared the worktops, made sure the bathrooms were sparkling and the floors clean.

I mowed the grass and weeded the garden. I aired the house before each viewing by opening the windows and french doors in case of lingering smells and never cooked anything smelly the night before.

My house had been a show house so I tried to give it the show house look again. I only got good feedback. Garden was very small and I couldn't do anything about that, but made sure there was plenty of colour interest, both front and back. I sold to people who hate gardening so there's always a buyer out there. I made sure that the kerb appeal was good.

The market is slow. Only ask a realistic price and expect a trickle of viewings as PP said.

I am also putting my flat up for sale. Photos being done this Friday - watching this thread with interest. Out of interest, I have a cat, he is an indoor cat so what do I do about the litter tray??
He can mange without food/water for an hour or so whilst viewing is going on but I have hidden the litter tray under the dining room table no other place to put it. Particularly if viewings happen whilst I am at work. Any tips??

With the cat litter tray, as long as you have one with a lid on it,and it's kept in an appropriate place would not find that too off putting!

My pet hate in house pictures is having stuff on top of kitchen units or wardrobes as it really just makes it look like storage is an issue

Similar to others, I think the number one thing is clean, clean, clean. "Staging" the property isn't nearly as important as property shows and Mumsnet threads like to think. Get rid of what I would call messy clutter, but people don't expect every house to look like no-one even lives there. But you do want the place to look like it's owned by people who care for it and maintain it well.

We tidied up, it wasn't too cluttered anyway, made sure the sofa was free of cat fur, opened the windows for 20 minutes to clear away any lingering stuffiness and made sure loo, bathroom and kitchen were clean - no streaks.

When looking round houses, cat litter puts one off. Clutter makes it hard to guage scale.

De-cluttering but it’s also taking down some of your family pictures and putting them in storage for now. Some people really lack imagination and as silly as it sounds, they struggle to picture themselves in the house if they see your face. I’d also just pop anything really personal in a drawer or wardrobe for viewings, even if it doesn’t really fit in there, as long as the door isn’t bulging as we had something of daughter’s taken by a child (not expensive or particularly sentimental but a pain when she wanted it and we couldn’t give it to her). We didn’t do much touching up, it was partly renovated and advertised as such but the non-renovated areas weren’t too bad (just dated) so we made sure they were sparkling clean.

Then just pray to the house gods that nothing goes wrong! Between signing the contract and viewings we had some bricks that blew and needed replacing and a blocked drain! We sorted the blocked drain on the Monday as they had viewed on the Saturday but it just meant the wardrobe was hiding a very pile of laundry.

We recently viewed a lot of houses and the ones I warmed to the most were very clean and tidy (outdoor space as well as indoor), uncluttered, but with some photos, ornaments etc to give a homely feel. Cluttered or completely depersonalised houses were the least appealing.

Getting the price right can't be overemphasised though. The vast majority of houses for sale in our area are overpriced and hang around for months before being reduced.

Good luck, OP, I hope it goes well!

I'm probably on my own on this one, but ANY evidence of furry pets is a total put off for me.

A friend had an apartment in France and was selling it. He asked me to give him a dig out as I speak French. That apartment was an abomination due to cat fur balls, cat litter trays, and so on. He got a cleaner in as both of us refused to touch anything... It sold two weeks after all evidence of said cat(s) was eliminated.

Ugh. Just saying, but I suppose the majority of people might not care.

Ifyour dustbin is kept outside the front of the house make sure it's removed for photos.
If there is wall at the front garden remove weeds on the pavement side.
Have a go at taking your own photos and then look at them with a critical eye.

I have never not sold a house in less than 3 weeks. Price is key, if anything slightly underprice it - make sure it's clean, smells nice ( I don't like the sticks much but I use them when selling) I always have some soothing music on when people coming round and make sure I've cooked something that smells deliciously 'French' the night before. Clutter free but look 'lived in' - hallway tidy and clear of stuff, flowers in vases on a table, a few books or magazines on coffee table etc.a lot of people are very 'first impressions' and want to imagine themselves living there- you only get away in my opinion with it being a bit messy/dumpy/needing work if it's very cheap for the area, or it's a fantastic area with very little else on the market.

Have to agree on removing all evidence of pets. Hiding a litter tray under furniture won't be enough. They always have a smell. If no outside space, pop it the outside bin or even the car.

I viewed a nearly new house. Couple had split up, but had bought puppies shortly beforehand. The stairs were chewed through. All the downstairs floors were chewed and the doors. My shoes were covered in dog hair and you couldn't see the original colour of the rugs. Strong smell of dog. It's now under offer, but the asking price was dropped to well below what they paid. You love your pets, but viewers don't.

@2023Tobeornottobe don't worry about it, except for making sure it's clean. Also, I'd leave water down. You have an indoor cat, he's going to be there! A water bowl is going to make Jack all difference to viewers, but much better for your cat.

make sure your agency is well versed on INDOOR cats!

We had to leave a litter tray for one viewing as we were out all day. The house was immaculate otherwise and it was fine. They said they loved the house and have asked to be contacted if our buyer falls through. The house was otherwise immaculate though, and DCat hadn’t actually been in the litter tray that day at that point which probably helped!

I have a tip. Be prepared earlier than required for viewers! I had left work early but still had a 1 hr commute and the viewing was 6pm. Got home at 5.15 ran about daft trying tidy n clean. Ding ding they turned up 30mins early while I was in the middle of hoovering 🙈 I didn't know what to do 😂 I asked them to give me a few mins to put the hoover away etc and then let them in. If it had been other way round I wld never turn up early for a viewing I'd have waited in the car. They actually bought the house though!

Good luck!

Hide, put away all small stuff, less is often more- consider renting storage - here in London we get block views you may want to ask for that

ensure home smells nice, fresh and lots of light and front and back gardens are trimmed, first impressions count for a lot - if you have a nice, expensive car leave it on the drive - ie asperations etc

@2023Tobeornottobe we also have an indoor cat and most likely won't be able to remove the tray - it's a covered one though so we are going to turn it the other way so you won't be able to see the inside of the tray. It's also in the utility area. Not much I can do about the little beast other than make sure his tray is clean.

Thank you so much for all the tips everyone. I didn't think about "staging" as such so that's definitely given us something to think about.

Someone may have mentioned this- go around your house and take photos. Then look through them critically for what needs removed, tidied, re-orientated etc. staging photos essentially to get footfall.

We sold in 2021, big downsize and relocation for our family. We had lived our house for 18years and had accumulated so much stuff over the time.

we seriously declutterred, removed family portraits, made sure everywhere was clean and tidy, made sure gardens back and front were tidy and colourful we had one very short notice viewing, viewer coming within an hour, I had to put washing in baskets in my car! We touched up paintwork, made sure repairs were done, whitened grouting etc. we sold quickly and got a good price for our house. Best thing we did moving, made life much easier for me and we love our new city.

Good luck OP, it’s a very stressful process, but worth it in the end. I hope you find a buyer quickly.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. Had photos today so will hopefully be live by the end of next week! 😬