Selling Your Home Ten steps towards your future By Amanda Merchant
Selling Your Home
Ten steps towards your future Selling a house is always a stressful time, whether you are an investment buyer, property developer or a home owner. You need to do all you can to entice buyers through the front door and make a good first impression. “Staging” your home cannot only remove some of the hassle of selling, but it can also speed up a sale, and can even add value to a property. Very often people have lived in a house for so long that they can no longer see the obvious. It is for this reason that some home owners contact companies who can “stage” or “dress” the home for you, making a property more appealing to a wider range of people. It is important to establish a certain kind of lifestyle for buyers-to-be, and to reflect this in the property for sale.
The aim is to smarten up the property and freshen it up, whilst keeping it bland enough for potential buyers to imagine putting their own stamp on it. It is also important to maintain some personality for unimaginative buyers. Whilst this may sound a little daunting, the following ten steps shall guide you through this process, without having to fork out hundreds of pounds for a company who specialise in doing just this;
De-clutter
Remove personal items from your home
Disassociation
Firstly you need to disassociate yourself with your home. You need to let go of your emotions, and focus on the fact that this house will no longer be yours. You must psychologically prepare yourself for moving forwards without looking back, and see your house as a product which needs to be sold.
Think of this part as the start of your packing, which you will need to do at some point anyway. ӹӹ Rent a storage unit. ӹӹ Remove all books off book cases, pack up all knickknacks, and get rid of all of the excess stuff you have in every nook and cranny. As a general rule of thumb, if you haven’t used it for a year, then you probably no longer need it! ӹӹ Store all of your empty book cases and any bulky pieces of furniture in your storage unit, ensuring the property still looks lived in but is easy to walk around in. Your aim is to create a living space which shows off the attractive side of your lifestyle, whilst enabling people to envisage what the property would look like if they were to live there. ӹӹ Removing any family heirlooms and personal photographs can prevent your potential buyer from becoming distracted. ӹӹ Clean off everything from your kitchen counters, and store all essential items which you use daily in a small box which can be tidied away in a cupboard easily. ӹӹ Re-arranging kitchen cupboards and bedroom cabinets can also be overlooked, but is extremely important. Viewers can be extremely nosey, and enjoy looking in cupboards and other storage areas. If somebody were to open a clean
First impressions are very important
and orderly cupboard, it is likely to suggest that the owner also maintains the rest of the house in very good order.
Make minor repairs
ӹӹ Make any minor repairs necessary, from holes in walls and cracked tiles, to replacing lightbulbs and threadbare carpets (neutral carpets or wooden flooring are perfect choices for a house on the market).
Tidy up your cupboards as viewers can be extremely nosy! Paint by Little Greene
have any to hand. Remember that any investment you make at this point will increase your chance of a quick sell and your market value. ӹӹ Fresh plants and flowers never fail to brighten up any room, so try to have a vase or pot with something well looked after in most of your rooms.
Light and airy
Clean everything until it sparkles!
A fresh lick of paint
ӹӹ To make your property look lighter and bigger,
painting your house in neutral colours will really help. It will enable viewers to imagine moving in immediately and adapting the room to their needs. ӹӹ To make a lasting impression, give your front door a new coat of bright coloured paint.
Clean, clean, clean!
Clean everything until it sparkles. ӹӹ Wash windows inside and out. ӹӹ Clean out cobwebs and polish chrome faucets and mirrors. ӹӹ Re-caulk bathtubs, showers and sinks. ӹӹ Get rid of lime scale, wax wooden floors, and clean out the fridge/freezer. ӹӹ Rent a pressure washer to spray down sidewalks and exteriors. ӹӹ Odours are incredibly off-putting for viewers, so empty out and clean all bins, unblock any drains, hang up fresh towels and change dirty bed linen. ӹӹ A good tip for any smokers; leave bowls full of vinegar around the house for three days. The house will start to smell of vinegar, but once you open the windows the smell of vinegar will vanish, taking most of the stale smell of smoke with it. ӹӹ It is nice to have a fire lit whilst you have somebody looking around, however if it not possible to do so, make sure the fireplace has been cleaned and is looking at its very best; This is a main feature of your room, so make it look good.
The kitchen
This is the most valuable room in a house, so it can really make the difference when buyers are unsure. ӹӹ Take out any bulky appliances, and consider upgrading the plumbing fixtures and white goods. You may not be able to get a return on this investment, however it may help you to sell your property faster. ӹӹ Replacing a counter top is an expensive thing to do, however it can add some high value to the property.
A brighter and bigger house will always A fresh lick of paint will make your property win over a small and dingy one - make the look lighter and bigger Paint by Little Greene most of whatever light your property has. ӹӹ Fit large wall mirrors around the house to reflect as much light back in as possible, ӹӹ Rather than fully replacing kitchen cabinets, especially in smaller rooms and hallways. you could reface them instead which could ӹӹ Clean windows inside and out, allowing as make an enormous difference to the look of much light in as possible. A light house seems your kitchen, without costing a vast amount much more attractive, so fit new bulbs and of money. place table lamps in any dark areas of the ӹӹ De-clutter all kitchen surfaces but leave a bowl house. of bowl of fruit out on the top. This adds a ӹӹ Soft lighting is so inviting in any room as homely feel and some injection of colour on opposed to overhead lighting, so turn on a an otherwise neutral room. few before the viewing to achieve a welcoming ӹӹ As discussed earlier, odours are the biggest feel to the property. turn offs for prospective buyers. Open windows to air the kitchen from any old cooking smells. A good smell is alluring, so Check exterior approach if baking bread or cakes aren’t possible on the to your house day of viewing, making a pot of coffee can be The first impression your viewer has is from the equally as appealing. outside. If the exterior of a property looks like a mess, then it is unlikely that your potential buyer will wish to step inside. ӹӹ Mow your lawn, keep any paths clear, and trim any bushes and plants. ӹӹ Paint any faded window frames or doors. ӹӹ Make your house number or name clearly visible. ӹӹ Plant flowers or pot a few together around the entrance to your property. Yellow evokes a buying emotion, so choose something such as marigolds which are generally inexpensive to buy.
Detailed Walk-through
ӹӹ Pretend that you are a prospective buyer and
Fresh flowers never fail to brighten a room Image by Oka
Pretty up your house
Make sure to remember the final touches. ӹӹ Dress all windows with curtains/blinds to keep the house looking cosy and completed. A bare window can make a property look incredibly run down and bleak, so buy some cheap and neutral soft furnishings if you don’t
enter through your gate. Walk down your path and open your front door. Use a detailed eye to see your house from a viewer’s perspective, standing in the doorway of every room and re-arranging furniture until it all makes sense. ӹӹ Does every room have the wow-factor? If not, why is that? How can it be changed to make each and every room look inviting and have some kind of impact? ӹӹ Walk through your whole house and scrutinise it well. Once you feel that the property is ready to go, then you have finished your ten step plan and are ready to showcase all of your hard work to all of those potential buyers! Article written by Amanda Merchant for Devonshire magazine