Top tips to help sell your home
IT’S not only down to the estate agent to sell your house. There’s plenty you can do yourself to attract buyers, impress viewers and secure that all-important deal.
Ashley advises:
* Think about your property’s ‘kerb appeal’. Simple things like making sure the hedge is trimmed and keeping your car off the drive when your home is photographed for the newspaper or estate agent’s window will help to make a good first impression.
* De-clutter. Put anything you don’t need for everyday living in boxes or short-term storage to create a sense of space.
* Think about the first rooms your prospective buyers will see and make sure they are well-presented. It’s most likely to be the hallway and front living room that will make that all-important first impression, not an immaculately presented upstairs bedroom.
* Try to de-personalise your home. The odd wedding photograph doesn’t matter but don’t leave family pictures plastered all over the walls.
* Pay attention to detail. Don’t completely re-decorate your home, but do consider getting rid of the mould around the bath or sprucing up a ceiling with a fresh coat of paint.
* Maximise the space in your kitchen and make sure it is as light as possible, for example by rolling up blinds.
* Keep small children occupied and make sure the television is switched off during viewings. Be wary of introducing potential buyers to a new baby as he or she will inevitably receive more attention than the property you are trying to sell!
* Avoid polite conversation and embarrassing clichés – such as ‘This is the kitchen’ – when you are showing people round.
* Never, ever apologise for your house or what’s in it. Saying ‘We meant to put a new kitchen in’ simply draws attention to something which might not otherwise have been an issue.
* Remember the last thing prospective buyers see before they leave is as important as the first. If the sun is shining and your property’s south-facing garden is its best feature, begin and end there.
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