Tips to make your home sell faster
Preparing your home for viewers is important. It will not only ensure your property sells faster but for a higher sale price; potentially adding thousands of pounds to its value.
Declutter – but keep it looking like a home
Get rid of items that have accumulated. Put it in storage, sell it, give it away or bin it. Consider removing any bulky furniture that makes the room feel small and replacing it with smaller furniture. People need to be able to envisage what the property would look like if they were living there. People often find this difficult, so make it easy for them to see all the fantastic living space you’re offering them. But, don’t make it look like a generic hotel; leave some personality. Apart from anything else, it gives unimaginative buyers suggestions as to what they might do. People are often buying into a lifestyle as much as a property.
Give it a lick of paint
Giving your walls a fresh lick of neutral paint will make your home seem lighter and bigger, create a blank canvass, but not a clinic! It will enable the viewers to more easily imagine how they would adapt the rooms to their needs. It will be easier for the buyers to move in and use the rooms immediately than if the walls were still bright purple or lime green.
Maximise kerb appeal
Kerb appeal creates a lasting first impression – most buyers make up their minds in the first few minutes of arriving at a property.
A survey of more than 2,000 UK adults conducted by YouGov, revealed the most important features for kerb appeal were well-maintained windows and a roof that appeared in good condition. A well-maintained front garden, pathways and fences and a well-painted frontage were also important. See how much it costs to do some simple updates to the exterior of your home to enhance its kerb appeal and value. Don’t forget to clean any stains from the drive and have any block paving professionally cleaned and water sealed, to give it a beautiful sheen.
Fix & Clean
Make any minor repairs – holes in walls, broken door knobs, cracked tiles, torn or threadbare carpets. Many buyers want to move in without making changes, so allow for this. Clean everything until it sparkles. Get rid of limescale, clean and repair tile grout, wax wooden floors, get rid of odours, hang up fresh towels. This will make the place more appealing and allow viewers to imagine living there. Tidy the garden: cut bushes back, clean the patio and furniture of lichen and dirt, and cut the grass. While this doesn’t add much value to your home, it makes it more likely to sell as people visualise themselves using the garden.
Update the kitchen
The kitchen is the most valuable room in a house. It is worth the most per square foot and can make the difference when buyers are unsure. Consider refacing your kitchen cabinetry. This is much cheaper than installing new cabinetry and often as effective. Upgrading kitchen counter tops is expensive, but can add serious value. Declutter the surfaces and just leave a bowl of fruit out. Take out any bulky appliances that you aren’t using. Consider upgrading the plumbing fixtures and white goods, but keep in mind that while that could make your property sell faster, you will be unlikely to recoup their full value. Consider giving it a detail clean, don’t miss anything including the grout between the tiles!
Use Mirrors to make space
Wall mirrors make a room look much bigger and lighter. Consider putting some up, especially in smaller rooms or hallways. Clean windows inside and out, and replace any broken light bulbs. Making the place feel light and airy makes rooms feel bigger and the property more attractive. Ensure that you have lamps on in any dark corners. Take your time and plan this carefully, if it is done properly, your home should feel bigger, but the mirrors will not be obvious.
Light a fire
If it’s a cold evening, or even chilly day, light your fire. This will make your home feel warm and inviting. If you don’t have a fire then ensure the fireplace is clean.
Dress your home
Make sure the windows are properly dressed with blinds or curtains as naked windows make a place feel impersonal and run down. Buy some cheap ones if necessary. Plants and flowers bring colour, life and light to a room and also smell wonderful. So does that fruit bowl on your kitchen counter.
Smells Sells
Win their hearts with beautiful smells. Bad smells are the single biggest turn off for prospective buyers. Don’t just cover them up, fix the source of the smell. Clear drains, wash bins, open windows, air the kitchen from old cooking smells, get rid of furniture that is embedded with cigarette smoke, and wash any grimy bed sheets. If you are a smoker, place bowls of vinegar around the house and leave out for three days. Though the vinegar will smell when you open the windows it will disappear quickly taking most of the stale cigarette smell out with it.
Conversely, good smells can make a property feel like an alluring home. While it might be impractical to bake fresh bread, cakes or brownies for every viewer that visits your home, you could perhaps brew some fresh coffee.
Display & presentation
Good presentation is everything. Your home must be a meticulously prepared show house, for every viewing, this is hard, especially after five or ten viewings, but one emotional bid from a buyer who falls in love with your home could mean thousands more in your final selling price.
Summary
More often than not, people looking for property, are working to a set criteria, price, location, garden, schools, ect. More often than not, they know what type of property they will be viewing, before they see it, so aim to exceed their expectations. Most buyers make a decision to buy in the first twenty minutes, so make every one of those minutes count.
