How do I prepare my house to sell?
When it comes to selling your home, there are a lot of factors that can effectively make or break the deal. Although each prospective buyer is looking for something different, there are a few things that can make selling your home as hassle-free and easy as possible. Even if your house is in the most desirable location and is the biggest sized property on the market in the area, there are still ways in which your house can come under criticism for smaller and finer details. Here at House Sales Direct, we’ve compiled a small guide on how to prepare your house for sale.
Our Top 10 Tips to Make Your Home More Appealing Prospective Buyers.
1. The First Step is to Declutter
Have you ever looked at photographs of properties on the market and noticed how spotless they are, and seem to lack any obvious mess or clutter? If the answer is yes, then that is done for a deliberate reason- as a way to lessen distractions in the photograph and to draw attention so the size and layout of the room itself. It’s important that your property is free of clutter as you want your house to come across as organised, neat and clean as possible- instead of having excessive belongings strewn about the house.
A great tip to decluttering is to go room by room and decide what you want to do with the belongings in each room: either keep, donate or simply throw away. A few areas and things to keep an extra eye out for include:
- The hallways in your property. Ensure that this space is free of shoes and coats.
- Any kitchen island where clutter tends to gather, for example, post and general miscellaneous letters.
- The bathroom. This room is often a dealbreaker for prospective homeowners, so ensure that your bathroom is free of excessive toiletries and unnecessary belongings.
2. Clean, Clean & Clean Again!
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of your home when it is on the property market is that it is clean! Without including the fact that cleaner homes sell faster, it’s important that your house is presented in its cleanest form. A dirty and untidy home can massively put prospective buyers off, as no one wants to feel like they are entering a space that is unhygienic- let alone paying money for it. If you arent confident in your own cleaning capabilities, hiring a team of professionals is a great solution, as you need to clean all areas, from curtains, couches to carpets.
3. Ensure You Have Good Lighting in Your Home
Lighting can either make or break a space. A dimly lit room can look dingy, dark and unappealing, whereas if a space is correctly lit, it can make the room appear lighter, brighter and more inviting. Therefore, it’s vital that you make the necessary changes to improve the lighting in your home. Whether this involves letting in more natural light by opening up your blinds and curtains, adding floor and table lamps, or changing the bulbs in the lights above to ensure that their house is properly illuminated. Having good lighting in your home is also important as photographers need to showcase your property in the best light possible.
“When prospective buyers come to view your property, they are essentially envisioning your home as their own.“
4. Do the DIY Jobs
Most of the time, homeowners have what seems like a never-ending to do list. And there isn’t a more perfect time than when your house is on the market to begin tackling those pesky DIY jobs that need to be completed. Completing the small jobs, such as giving the run-down walls a fresh lick of paint, or tightening a dripping tap can make all the difference to your home- and show to prospective buyers that your house is well cared for.
5. Depersonalise Your Home
When prospective buyers come to view your property, they are essentially envisioning your home as their own. Your home has to become a blank canvas, therefore it’s a good idea to depersonalise the space and make the prospective buyers feel as though they can dream about themselves living in your home. However, depersonalising your own home can be a tough question for people, especially when it comes to removing family pictures. Yet it’s important to remember the reason you are doing it- which is for the sale of your home, plus, the pictures can go back up in your new home.
6. Sort Out Any Smells in Your Home
All smells can either be perceived as good or bad, however, it’s important to know that when it comes to selling your home – it’s about finding something neutral that works for everyone. But before you start adding any smells to your home, it’s important to eliminate any bad smells that are currently existing in your home, such as rubbish bins, musty carpets, pet beds or toilets. The next bit of advice is to not go overboard with the nice smells either- don’t include too many candles, air fresheners or diffusers- as this can become quite sickly and overwhelming. Don’t be afraid to ask a friend or neighbour for their honest opinion either- as this can help you make improvements on your properties smell.
7. Embrace Neutrality
As mentioned before, when it comes to selling your home, your property has to be envisioned by prospective buyers as a blank canvas. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to embrace a colour scheme in your home so that all prospective buyers will appreciate it. By implementing a neutral colour scheme, you are removing your personality from the property and allowing the people who are viewing your property to see it its fullest potential.
8. Keep Your Pets Out of the Way
Although you may think everyone won’t mind your dog running around the house viewing- chances are it could put a lot of prospective buyers off. Unfortunately, not all people are pet lovers, and for people, a noisy, hairy or even smelly animal can put a lot of people off. Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep your fluffy friend out of the way to make the space look a little more pet-free. Items such as litter trays, pet beds and feeders should be kept out of the way, as they can sometimes even be a nuisance and a hazard for those trying to view your house.
9. Make Your House ‘Flow’
You may not exactly be able to see the flow of a house, but it’s definitely an element that you can feel. To put it simply, the flow of a house is the ease in which you can move around the property, without feeling interrupted or like there are too many obstacles in the way. It’s a good idea to work on the flow in your home, and a great way to test this is to step into the shoes of a prospective buyer (not literally!) and enter your home to walk through as if it’s your first time seeing the home. This way, you will get a feel for the flow of the home and see how any obstacles get in the way of you when you go room to room.
10. Showcase the Storage in Your Home
Nowadays, we have all accumulated so much ‘stuff’ that it can be hard to find a place for it to go. Its very appealing for prospective buyers to see that there is somewhere for their belongings to be tucked away safely and out of sight. When there is a viewing going on at your home, take the time to show buyers where your storage spaces are, from basements to the loft.
If you wish to sell your house fast and for free, then head over to our online estate agent House Sales Direct website for more property related information and enquiries.