What are your top tips for selling a home? - £300 voucher to be won

[EmmaMumsnet]

NOW CLOSED

If you’ve sold your home before, or nosed around someone else’s, you’ll know that first impressions count. There’s a load of advice out there on how to get your house market-ready but Purplebricks wants to hear from you with your top tips for selling and what you look for when you view houses.

If you have children...how do you hide store all the toys?! What about redecorating? Is there a go-to paint colour? Maybe you do small things like having fresh bedding and flowers for house viewings? Or do you clean clean clean and clean again?

Here’s what Purplebricks has to say: “MNers, let’s talk kerb appeal. What gets you going or just gets your goat when you’re looking round a potential new property? Have you got any advice you could share on how to present your property for maximum impact? Share it with us.”

So, whatever your tips are for selling, share them on the thread below and everyone who comments will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

[Didiusfalco]

When we last marketed our house I started prepping about 2 month in advance, refreshing paint work, sorting the garden etc. Then I decluttered massively and stored things in my parents garage. Got the carpets cleaned. I removed all family photos and personal things too. Then closer to the time I swapped all bedding for plain, and put hanging baskets and planters at the front and on the patio. Fresh flowers in the house. Sold to the first people who saw it.

[cathwarbur]

Declutter, put personal belongings ie Photos out of sight, Clean and tidy each room. Also tidy up garden if you have one, nothing puts me off than an overgrown untidy garden

[Firewall]

Declutter and hide away family photos.

[Ffeyone]

Declutter all rooms.
Move pets out of house for viewings.
Have reed diffusers in a couple of rooms.
Make sure it’s thoroughly clean.
Keep decorations neutral.

[Bacere]

Clear out half your things, clean but allow it to look like a home not a show home.

[Hatethewordhun]

Make the house look as spacious and light as possible, remove any clutter such as washing and paperwork. Make sure that the garden is tidy and maintained, lawns in good condition and all plants and shrubs cut back. Maybe a few seasonal plants in tubs to brighten the place up. Touch up any paintwork or walls that look dirty, and make sure that any diy jobs are completed, eg no bits of skirting hanging off that you've been meaning to fix for ages.

[Belmo]

Bake some bread - that smell is irresistible!

[NerrSnerr]

Make sure good pictures are taken and de clutter.

[Jeippinghmip]

Make your home look like a show house, from the outside to the inside and keep it spotlessly clean.

[QueenOfPharts]

Neutral ish decor but homely too. We lived in a rural area in a cosy cottage and wanted to really sell the lifestyle. We had the fire on and a few other props laid out.
I'm quite good at seeing potential in places so wouldn't really mind if a place was a bit rundown. I would be put off by a really over the top done up house. No opportunity to add value and would hate to rip out new stuff not done to my taste-so wasteful.

[sprinklesandsauce]

I agree, declutter and clean throughout, clean carpets, clean all doors, lightswitchs etc.

Repaint any dark colours neutral.

[Lovelydovey]

Get a critical friend in to give you feedback and don’t get offended by it!

[VinoEsmeralda]

• declutter
  
• fresh ( well cut in) paint, if needed, in light neutral color
  
• Tidy garden, well cut lawn
  
• flowers, preferably cut from own garden (sweet peas give amazing smell)
  
• clean windows & glass in shower cubicles. Generally clean house
  *air house& nice house perfume
  
  I hate slab dash DIY & paint work and although you think it looks OK it doesn't look calm on the eye.
  
  Estate agent that has sold similar before and has a good reputation. We wouldn't t have bought our house if it wasn't for the EA.

[justforareply]

Putting on the market at the right price
Make sure your car boots are empty so that you can whizz round with a storage bucket picking up mess and hide it in car

[Dickybow321]

Massively declutter. Remove personal things... I even hide photographs, toothbrushes, children's toys etc.Do not over-price... it looks bad when you have to reduce the price, and people will think they can knock even more off bc you've misjudged the market once already: price your house to sell. I think exchanging numbers with buyers is a good idea, although some people don't. It helps when things are frustratingly slow and people are passing the buck about where the hold up is.

[Dickybow321]

Also do all the small jobs that need doing. They may seem small to you but can seem massive to people who are not good at DIY and will put them off when it may be a case of just £50 to put something right.

[VanellopeVonSchweetz99]

Declutter like mad. De-personalise and get rid of 30% of everything on shelves, work tops and book cases (storage if you must).
Then clean like there was about to be an open heart surgery taking place.
Our estate agent said he'd never seen a transformation like it when I was done working my magic. Place sold in days for tens of thousands over the asking price.

[crimsonlake]

Agree about kerb appeal, make sure the house looks well presented from both the front and back. Make the most of what you have depending on the time of the year, if its Summer arrange the patio with furniture and put some drinks out and a book. Light, bright and airy all the way and a clean smell. Plenty of potential storage as well. If you are in a good location stress good transport links, good schools and local shops.

[defineme]

I cleaned the most random bits of woodwork, all the walls with magic eraser and grout pen on all tiles. I decluttered enough to do a car boot and many tip runs and painted the front step! It worked as sold for asking price to first viewer.

[Muffinbutton]

For the pics make sure the toilet seat is down and that there are no bin bags on display!

[Cosmia]

Put the loo seat down! I am always amazed by how many people don't, and it makes the whole bathroom look yukky!

[CaptainCaptain]

Certainly clean and declutter but also think about surfaces. Busy surfaces draw the eye and make a room look smaller - when we were selling ours I would always walk around the house before each visiting and clear the surfaces in each room - top of drawers, windowstills, extras from shelves etc. I had an Ikea bag for each room which I used to store the bits of clutter that we used regularly and couldn’t completely get rid of - I found a hiding place in each room for the bags or popped them in the car boot till after the viewing...

[Popcornandbuttons]

When we sold last year we had the photos done twice. The first set we hadn't taken out the kids toys much and they can put people off in photos. So we had a big declutter and put lots of unnecessary stuff into the loft.
And kept the house constantly clean and tidy (which was hard) so that if anyone wanted to come and see the house we were always ready.

[lovemyflipflops]

Cut and edge the lawn, add some bedding plants, as first impressions count for everything. Declutter, and tidy your cupboards, so when you show the storage space there looks to be plenty. Finally hoover up, pour a bottle of coke down the loo the night before to leave it gleaming, then buy a subtle air freshener (I love clean linen).

[jacqui5366]

My tip is hire a cleaner to give your home a deep clean, your home will not only look clean, it will smell clean, give your doors and skirting boards a fresh coat of paint, trim the hedges, and garden if you have them. Finally a bunch of flowers in each room makes your home look and smell gorgeous.