Posts tagged ‘Advice’
Guest Blog: Top tips for selling your home
With daily talk of a potential recovery and more properties coming on to the market, we asked North West London estate agent Greene & Co. to give us their top tips on what to do in order to get your house ready for the market.
1. Keep it clean – You need to take this seriously!
- No amount of smooth talking from the agent is going to help sell your house if the place is a tip.
- Even if you are the cleanest, tidiest person in town, the reality is that you are probably going to need to do at least a few things to spruce up your home.
- Make your home really sparkle – especially on the day the photographer turns up. Get the carpets, sofa covers, oven and windows cleaned and pay special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms, which need to be inviting and hygienic.
- Start with fresh folded towels and a few strategically placed plants.
2. De-clutter – Clutter will shrink your home!
- Even if arranged neatly it will make your home not only appear smaller and messier, but can distract your prospective buyers, so they won’t notice all the positive qualities your property has to offer.
- The most effective action of all is to clear clutter away.
- To make some space, move unnecessary furniture into the attic, basement or garage.
- Better still, get it off the property altogether.
- Remember that homebuyers will open everything.
- If your cupboards look jammed full and buyers are hit by falling shoes when they open the doors, their lasting impression will be one of a lack of storage space.
- Self-storage depots are an invaluable tool for the house mover. They’re inexpensive and convenient.
3. Freshen up – Flowers can make a difference
- A fresh coat of neutral paint or new tiling can do wonders to smarten a tired looking property, as will putting in matching chrome fittings, a freshly painted door, ironed bed linen in the bedroom and brightening the living room with subtle lighting.
- Strategically placed flowers throughout a home can really make a difference too.
- A little time and effort in preparing your home for selling will help the process be faster and more successful.
4. Make your home “anonymous” – Don’t distract potential buyers
- Whilst we understand that selling your home is a stressful time, it is important to remove emotion from the equation by putting away any personal and symbolic items, such as family photo’s and souvenirs. This allows potential buyers the opportunity to see the property as their potential home, not yours.
- It also helps them concentrate on the aspects that they should be looking at; your desirable home – not being distracted by your amazing paraphernalia.
5. The exterior – First impressions count
- Do as much as you can to ensure that the outside of your property looks clean and tidy.
- Take bins away, tidy up communal areas and if you have a garden, your lawn should be freshly cut and cleared of loose leaves and grass cuttings.
- Remember that your front door may start to colour a potential buyer’s initial impression before it is even opened!
6. The facts – You need to be honest too!
- You stand a much better chance of selling your property if you have acknowledged any problems and reflected them in the asking price.
- Forearmed is forewarned – up front honesty about your property from your first negotiation with a buyer will mean that they will have less reason to reduce their offer price or change their mind later in the proceedings.
- We would also recommend that you ask your agent to give you an honest opinion of anything about your home which is likely to affect its sale.
- You may even find this hurtful initially and you may not agree (perhaps you spent hours painting that hallway bright green!) – but our team are experts who want to make it as easy as possible for you to sell your home.
- Their honest advice is always given with your best interests firmly at heart.
- When your agent does complete the particulars, make sure you see them and check them carefully.
- Have they missed anything?
- Does the description accurately reflect the character of your home?
- Do the photographs show the property to its best advantage?
- Once you’ve agreed on the particulars, make sure you have copies to hand all the time – just in case a would-be purchaser arrives without their copy.
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