Selling a property can be a pretty stressful thing to have to take care of. It will often be people’s most valuable asset, representing a lifetime of savings in a single entity, and as a result, it’s vital that you get the sale just right.
Preparing the property before the sale can have a huge impact, and there are a few things that you will need to prioritise – here they are.
Ruthlessly declutter
The first thing you’ll need to do is declutter. When you’re showing people the property, it can (and in some cases even should) still be furnished, but you want people to be able to imagine what the property will look like when it’s theirs.
Remove any excessive furniture or ornaments, to make the rooms feel less cramped and allow people to imagine how they would fill it in their own style.
You don’t necessarily have to throw everything away – think about where you can store things like toys and dog beds for viewings, whether that’s in your car, in the garden shed or under the stairs. If you really have a lot to store, you can always use a service like Bright Movers to come pick it up and look after it for you.
Deep clean + touch up
Before you put the house on the market, it can be a good idea to give it a really deep clean and a quick touch-up with some paint. Clean the kitchen and bathrooms until they’re absolutely sparkling, and focus on grimy spots like light switches, skirting boards and door handles.
Clean the windows, so that you can get as much light into your home as possible, and be meticulous in your dusting strategy; no one wants to see cobwebs hanging in the corners.
You don’t necessarily need to completely repaint the whole house, but you can give it a quick tidy up. For example, if the walls on the stairs or hallways are badly scuffed, you can go over those marks in a few minutes and make a big difference.
Optimise lights and smells
The way that your home is lit can have a monumental impact on how potential buyers perceive it. Ideally, you’d show everyone the property on a bright, sunny day, but this isn’t always possible, so you’ll need to take matters into your own hands.
Open curtains and blinds to let natural light in, but make sure that you also invest in some nice lamps with warm light bulbs. Don’t be overly reliant on overhead lights – they don’t always allow a space to shine, and can be a little overpowering.
On this note, you also want to make sure that the property smells good. Air it out properly before the viewing, and consider getting some fresh flowers or a scented candle, to bring things up a notch.
If you can take care of these simple steps, you’ll likely make your house a whole lot more attractive to potential buyers. So long as they can see a little insight into the potential of the space, and imagine what they would be able to do with it, there’s not much more you can do.
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