August 10, 2021
You’ve made the decision to sell your home, now it is time to prepare your property for potential buyers. It isn’t enough, these days to leave these things to chance and hope that someone comes along who can see the potential in your home, you need to do your best to make your property appealing. In this article we will give you some great hints and tips to easily make your property more appealing to potential buyers.
Clean it
One of the most important things you can do to make your property appealing to buyers is to clean it, inside and out. Make sure everything is put away, all the surfaces are clean, the floors are clean, the windows are clean. Clean the carpets and quite simply carry out a thorough deep clean of the entire property. It is a known fact that potential buyers are put off by a perceived dirty home, even more so since the pandemic.
None of us live in show homes, all our living spaces bear the marks of busy lives, that is a part of what makes it our home. When we want to sell our property, we need for potential buyers to view it as their potential home not ours, a thorough clean will help with that. If you have a pet, consider taking them to the groomers, you might not smell your cat or dog, buyers without pets will. If you have a bouncy or nervous dog, it is a good idea to ask a friend or relative to pet sit for you, leaving you free to focus on guiding your buyer around the pristine property.
Declutter
You might have many sentimental ornaments and pictures, items which make your property a home. To a buyer these will only appear as clutter and make rooms seem smaller than they are. Present buyers with a blank canvass as best as you can to allow them to be able to picture their own belongings in the property. Remove any items of furniture which aren’t serving a purpose, put away your ornaments, toys, magazines and anything which isn’t showing your home in its best light. There is a balance here, however, and you don’t want to make your home too sterile. Keep at the forefront of your mind that you want the potential buyer to see the true potential of your property and remove items that might be blocking that view.
Paint and DIY
It’s amazing the difference a fresh coat of paint can make. Simply freshening up the walls and ceilings will make a massive difference, opt for a white or neutral colour, again to allow potential buyers to view that blank canvas. Don’t stop there, do some of those minor DIY jobs you’ve been putting off for ages. A buyer seeing ripped wallpaper, stained walls, leaking taps or any other signs that might be mistaken for the property not being well loved, might well be off putting. Don’t go overboard and spend thousands and thousands, make some time to do those simple, easy jobs. Even a simple task like clearing the weeds from the cracks in the patio will make a considerably better impression.
Kerb Appeal
Quite often a potential buyer will drive past your property before even asking for a viewing. Kerb appeal is so important. Tidy up your drive, your front garden, clean your door, paint the window frames if they are wood and just take some time to create a wow factor from outside. Once a buyer has seen the outside and fallen in love, the inside is almost already sold.
Back Garden
If you do have a back garden, give it some TLC: weed it, mow the lawn, prune the bushes, clean the patio and sort out the shed. Don’t forget to clean the patio furniture. Buyers want to see a whole package and want to be able to visualise how lovely their new garden could be and the fun they could have in it.
Descale
This might seem an odd suggestion, but some buyers want to see how good the water pressure in the shower is. If the shower head is partially blocked by limescale, it will appear that the shower isn’t as good as it really is. Spending a bit of time descaling shower heads might pay dividends.
Selling your home can be very competitive, by following these simple tips, you can really make your property stand out. If a buyer cannot see themselves living in the property, no matter how great it is, they won’t buy, so it will pay dividends to take some time and create the best first impression of your property that you can.