Selling our first house - help!

[StrawberryCheesecake8]

We are going to be putting our house on the market in the next few weeks and before we get estate agents around we want to tidy the place up/ make it super sellable.

The house is in a desirable location and has been renovated throughout. Nice size garden etc but I’ve never sold a house before. What shall we do to prepare? We are already painting throughout again for a freshen up. Chimneys have been swept, boiler serviced, etc.

What do you look for/ look at? (That can be changed/ smartened up). Obviously if you want a 7 bed house with an annexe and 3 acres, you wouldn’t be viewing mine anyway.

EPC in date, ideally an electrical safety test too, radon test (depending on area obvs), other than that, nothing that needs 'doing'.

EPC will need doing, it will be in date but we’ve renovated throughout and put central heating in so it should improve drastically. Electrical safety certificate was done when it was rewired and more recently an updated report for the new owners peace of mind.

We need top money for the house to make it worth moving so we need to think of ways to make it super desirable.

Think about kerb appeal- ensure the front looks good - pot plants if need be. No clutter or weeds.
Also deal with any obvious damp issues.
Find a good lawyer in advance so you are ready to go.

Take photos of each room and study them - how does it look in photos?

Clean every light fitting and switch - move anything that makes the place feel cluttered.

Check the weather before the estate agent take photos, sun sells.

I would also look at what available in the local area and see if you have a selling point - large kitchen - or sunny garden and make sure those have lots of photos - for example we have 2 bathrooms not many round here do

Sell it as a lifestyle
ie if you have a garden - make sure theres a table with a parasol etc so people can imagine lounging in it during the summer
make sure the outside looks immaculate - hide your bins, make sure the front step and door are very clean and have pots either side - kerb appeal is important
air the house - keep windows open - if you have pets make sure that you have hoovered multiple times
Nothing leaning against anything or piles of stuff
zone the living spaces - make the rooms show what they do ie a dining room should have a table et; a study a desk and so on

If you can be arsed, make it a show home for the photos. Eg bathroom: remove absolutely everything including bin and toilet brush and all toiletries. Then add a fluffy white towel and a few things of beauty such as a fern or a fancy soap in a fancy dish .
There's loads of advice online about how to dress each room.

I’m hoping we have all of this covered 🤞🏻

Had a huge declutter so everything has a purpose, redecorated with wipeable paint where little paws have been! Driveway has been relaid (only gravel because if we don’t sell, we’ll extend). The exterior has been repainted, new guttering, fascias etc. Hanging baskets and pots either side of the bay window.

We have a log store to keep the logs and bins tidy. We are very organised/ like everything to have a place. Must be aesthetically pleasing so I’m hoping that’s covered.

This made me chuckle as I’ve just bought new towels (for show - warned my husband!!!), we have the posh soaps at the ready, and a potted fern draped over the bath board. All toiletries etc in the under sink unit and anything big/ bulky in the airing cupboard.

Sounds like you've got it sorted. Good luck!

When it gets marketed make sure you check through the photos including the order. Have an accurate floor plan which includes measurements. Read the wording of the description and make sure all council tax, EPC info etc are included plus include details of heating servicing, EICR as you have one etc etc - check the details on the agents website and anywhere else like rightmove. It drives me insane when really basic information isn’t included because the agents CBA to get or include it in the listing.

Thank you - this is really helpful and something I’ll be paying attention to. I’ve thought about taking some of my own photos (we have external lighting which for obvious reasons only looks good at night 😂)

Estate agents local to me are completely useless so I am being slightly overboard because I know they’ll be crap to deal with for the buyers!

I've always had great success with the online estate agencies, like Iamtheagent etc. Mumsnet seems to hate them (Purple bricks in particular, but they're not great value anymore), but if you're an experienced, sensible vendor your own listing, photos and viewings will be far superior to paying an agent ££££ for not doing much. With your own photos you can capture the sun exactly right, can take your time etc. I'd sold four houses pretty quickly this way, and would pay thousands to a local estate agent over my dead body!!

We actually bought our house through purple bricks and they were just as terrible as the rest but my understanding is that the seller didn’t have such high fees so I suppose it’s swings and roundabouts because we’ve had just as bad of an experience with estate agents charging ££££!

I am a self-declared perfectionist so I think I will take all of our own images, etc.

Get rid of any 'clutter' or 'mess' before photos are taken. Put a few plants in place. Try and get photos taken on a bright/sunny day.

I have “dressed” or staged all rooms ready - I find it really difficult to visualise a space so I’m thinking there will be others like me who will appreciate the extra work!

Check what similar houses are selling/sold for. No point in trying for above the ceiling price of the area. You might want top dollar to make it worthwhile moving, but it doesn’t mean someone will be prepared to pay top dollar for it.

Next door but one sold within 1 week and got full asking price (we would be happy with the price they got for it) - ours has a downstairs loo and utility room and slightly nicer spec (oak parquet, solid wood kitchen etc).