Everyone wants their home to sell quickly when they’re putting it on the market, so if this sounds like you then you’re not alone. It can be a frenzied time feeling like you might miss out on the perfect buyer or another property you have your heart set on, which is why doing what you can to make your home sell quickly is a must. In this article we break down all the ways you can prepare for a house viewing when you’re trying to sell, to make sure the process moves as quickly and smoothly as possible. You’ll find both common sense practices as well as insider secrets that can really make a difference, beginning with your prospective buyers arriving at your door . . .
1.Parking please!
If your property benefits from off-road parking then make sure prospective buyers can make some use out of it. Temporarily park your car elsewhere for the duration of the viewing so that they get a feel for what it will be like parking their car outside this potential new home.
2.Maximise kerb appeal
Focusing on the kerb appeal of your property is a piece of really common advice but that’s because it’s essential. First impressions really count and the first thing any potential buyer will see is the exterior of your property. Make it as clean and attractive as you can, tidying away bins, weeding, trimming hedges, cutting grass and fixing broken gates, if any. Even if none of the above applies to your property then having a clean front door is a must. If your front door is in a communal hallway then you could even spray some nice smelling spray around your entrance to create an appealing atmosphere.
3.Make an entrance
Whether the entrance to your property is a small room, a cramped hallway or right into your living room you should do what you can to make it as inviting as possible. This means removing anything that could potentially make entering the property cumbersome (prams and bicycles we’re looking at you!), tidying away shoes and making sure it’s as well lit as possible. Less is always more so, even if you have no time to spare before a viewing, find a bag and chuck in all that unopened post, those old receipts from the sidetable and the dog lead hanging on the door handle!
4.Declutter
Of course this brings us onto the next point, which is something that will benefit you immensely throughout the viewing process. It’s time to get cutthroat about your belongings! If you’re a bit of a hoarder you’ll find this more difficult, but it’s important to recognize the fact that potential buyers will find it very difficult to imagine themselves living anywhere that is filled to the rafters with someone else’s belongings. Kitchen counters should be as sparse as possible, windowsills should be largely empty and bookshelves should be neat and orderly.
5.Showcase storage
And if you can’t part with anything then make the most of the storage in your home and try to hide it away as neatly as possible. We say neatly as if your storage is built-in you should be highlighting its usefulness to buyers by ensuring your belongings are organised and stored well within it. Buyers will open built-in wardrobes, under-stairs cupboards and so on, so it’s worth making sure your house is tidy anywhere the human eye can reach!
6.Depersonalise
In addition to removing excess belongings and tidying you should also focus on hiding away any elements in your home that are personalised. Pictures of family and friends, family portraits, too much personalised signage and so on should all be temporarily removed. You want prospective buyers to be able to imagine living in your home and it will be difficult for them to do that if they feel very much like they’re in your space.
7.Downplay pets
Another thing to hide! In the UK we really love our pets but that doesn’t mean they don’t come with their downsides. Also, not everyone likes animals so it’s best to play it safe and do your best to ensure your home is as pet-free as possible. Potentially you could ensure your pet is staying elsewhere during viewings, giving you a chance to tidy away their things. Clean and empty food bowls are fine to be left out, as well as neat and tidy pet beds, but litter trays, crates, toys and leads should be tidied away.
8.Remove odours
Which brings us onto the next item on the to-do list! All homes have their own smells, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, we become immune to the odours in our home over time and if you have pets you may have more causes for odour then someone without. We’re not saying your house smells! In fact, we’re sure it doesn’t, but it’s better to be safe than sorry and clean things that would typically create smells in the home. This includes removing shoes drying on the radiator, washing pet beds and clearing out small animal cages, and spraying some odour extinguishing sprays around the home. If you’ll be staying in your home for the duration of the viewing then you could also light some scented candles, which have the extra benefit of making a home feel inviting.
9.Make it memorable
You want your property to stick out from all the others online, and especially from the other ones that your prospective buyers may also have viewed. As previously mentioned candles are a nice touch to make your house feel more like a home, but you should also focus on nice smells, which you can ensure by putting reed diffusers around, or plug-in diffusers. You could also buy some bouquets to put around the home, which are not only beautiful but also can help to create focal points and draw the eye to a particularly attractive feature of the home, such as a kitchen island or deep bay windows. Finally, if you have a log burner or similar feature and it’s a cold day, consider lighting it to create an inviting atmosphere.
10.Introduce focal points
A focal point is a key part of any room that helps to draw the eye to a certain area, whether that’s because you want to highlight a certain feature in your home, break up a large area into a smaller ‘zone’ (such as in an open plan property) or actually give a sense of centre to a room that would otherwise feel too disjointed. Good examples of focal points include attractive mirrors, feature walls either wallpapered or painted and artwork or feature lights.
11.Fix things that are clearly broken
This is an obvious addition to our list but it would surprise you how many homeowners put off fixing broken things in the home simply because they plan to sell. Any prospective buyer will see broken things in your home as something they will themselves have to fix, and if it’s anything too time-consuming it could even put them off the sale. Whether it’s a broken handle or hinge, a sagging fence or an integrated appliance that’s gone on the fritz, try your best to get everything in working order before you start to have viewings.
12.Go neutral
If you’ve put a lot of effort into making your home unique then the thought of painting all the walls the same colour throughout is probably the kind of thing that makes you want to pull your hair out. Unfortunately, it’s a proven method for selling your home faster and it’s probably worth covering up your personal touches and flourishes for the sake of a quick and stress-free sale. Neutral colours work best, such as whites, creams and even pale greys.
13.Improve lighting
Of course, all your effort is worth nothing if buyers can’t see enough of your home to judge it in the first place! Lighting is key to ensuring you highlight the best things about your home. It also helps to finish off a room, as a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling doesn’t exactly say ‘luxury’.
14.Focus on flow
We’ve already mentioned clutter but another reason why it is so important to get rid of what you can in the run-up to selling your home is because it can get in the way of a clear route through the home, thereby ruining the ‘flow’. You want prospective buyers to be able to clearly track a path through your property, able to quickly gain an understanding of how one room seamlessly leads into another. The more clutter you have the more likely it is that this won’t be possible and the home will quickly begin to feel disjointed to someone unused to its layout.
16.Get inspired
Feeling a bit concerned that your home doesn’t stand out enough in the local market? Try looking on Pinterest, at interiors accounts on Instagram or even having a leaf through some interior decorating magazines to get some great ideas. It could be something as simple as rearranging a bookshelf or adding voiles next to your curtains to make your property really shine.
17.Focus on bathrooms
If your bathroom is dated there’s no need to worry that you’ll have to tear it out and install a new one just to stand a chance of selling your property. For many people, the bathroom is a bit of an afterthought and prospective buyers will be thinking the same. But that doesn’t mean that it should be dirty. In fact, it’s absolutely essential that your bathroom is sparkling clean and you should make every effort to ensure that this is the case. Tidy away medications, hide cleaning materials and most definitely stow away kids bath toys somewhere they can’t be seen. It may be impractical but many people don’t want to see evidence of people actually living in a property they’re thinking about buying.
18.Make gardens into sanctuaries
Don’t worry, if you don’t have the greenest thumbs we’re not going to tell you that you need to develop some in order to sell your house! When selling a house your focus on any outdoor spaces should be the same as the indoors; to make it as clean and as empty as possible. For the garden this means cutting grass, weeding, making sure patios and garden furniture are clean, and storing away anything that would typically be left out on the lawn, such as toys. If you have a jungle of a garden we would recommend tackling it as viewers can find a ‘project’ of a garden extremely off-putting.
19.Clean, clean and clean some more!
We’ve already mentioned how essential it is that your home be clean and orderly by the time your viewings occur but we’re mentioning it again because cleanliness in your home and how it affects the speed in which your property will sell really cannot be underestimated. When you start to think about selling, you should start to think about doing a deep-clean on your property. And in advance of any viewing you should be doing a top-up clean to make sure everything is spick and span.
We hope these tips help you on your property selling journey. If you’re in Gwynedd and in need of a team of experts to help get your property sold straight away then don’t hesitate to get in touch. Simply contact us via sales@varcityltd.com or you can call us on 01248 719254.
