Making home look inviting

vansboy

Think of 'kerb appeal' as they call it - but not just YOUR house.

If there are wheelie bins outside, yours or neighbors, et them out of site. If there's rubbish & litter in the road, pick it up.

If you park out the front, move your car out of the way, before they view.

& as mentioned, smells, especially bathroom. Use loo cleaner/bleach in the sinks - it smells cleaner than any air freshener.

& ir the living areas need freshening, a spray of furniture polish down the back of the radiators, will make it a bit better!

VB

Milky_Mocha

SnowyOwl wrote:

Close the lid on the toilet and fold back the shower screen/curtain if it's over the bath.

Its interesting that the programmes always advise to close the toilet lid. I'd rather have a peep inside. A grubby toilet speaks volumes about what could be lurking in other parts of the house and I'd rather assure myself that the bowl is spotless. If the lid is shut I'll assume the toilet is grubby.

But that's just me.

Milky_Mocha

Peartree wrote:

beware of the House Doctored house. Generally the effect is achieved with the quick and nasty (although we've all been guilty of it to sell!). On the face of it, it may look like something you can move straight into but you're just as likely to have to completely redecorate again within a couple of years as you are if go for something more outdated. .

I agree. I found myself subconsciously avoiding houses that state 'refurbished' especially 'recently refurbished'.

ginger_nuts

Milky_Mocha wrote:

Its interesting that the programmes always advise to close the toilet lid. I'd rather have a peep inside. A grubby toilet speaks volumes about what could be lurking in other parts of the house and I'd rather assure myself that the bowl is spotless. If the lid is shut I'll assume the toilet is grubby.

But that's just me.

lol when I viewed this house it didn't have a toilet seat .When I bought it 3 months later it still didn't have a toilet seat .

Many years ago I lived in a house that went with the job .
the kitchen had a wooden floor .There was a cupboard under the sink .When you opened the cupboard door you could see the foundations ,the floors had rotted away .Now i always have a nosey under the sink

Norma_Desmond

Just a small point, but in these dark days of winter then good lighting can really make a difference especially on afternoon/evening viewings.
There's nothing like a 'cosy' room with beautiful lamps illuminating gloomy corners for making folk feel warm and welcome!

benood

Lots of good advice above, all I'd add is that after you've lived in a house you can become blind to glaring faults which could be easily fixed. If you feel you can take it, how about asking friends or family who know the house less than you to pretend they are viewers and let you know the big faults they see? Of course they need to be candid and you need to be able to take harsh criticism - so this approach won't be good for everyone.

elmer

When we are looking, I always check inside cupboads and wardrobes if they are fixed, we have found damp and mouldy wardrobes, and also in 1 house, all the drawer fronts in the kitchen had been either badly glued or blu tacked on. When we looked further then, there was a large burn on the work surface under a chopping board, and the telephone shelf was fixed with blutack too.

All these are not insurmountable, but would have been quite a shock if we had decided to buy. So now I have overcome my fear of seeming nosey in someone elses house, and have good poke around, after all if you decide to buy, it will all become yours.

Elmer

lynzpower

Most things have been covered here, but I also add about about your "storage areas"

Now obviously, many of us have a cupbaord or under the stairs type area for stashing the hoover/ ironing board/ suitcases etc. Tidy them out is my advice.

Ive been conducting viewings this week, and I have often opened these cupbards to check out the size of the storage & show off to viewers, no one wants ironing boards and assorted junk falling out & possibly harming someone! . Also makes it look like you have no storage- if things are piled in ( an oxymoron - storage is for storing stuff- but not too much LOL)

johnlincoln

lighting - subtle but on!

pusscat

Milky_Mocha wrote:

Its interesting that the programmes always advise to close the toilet lid. I'd rather have a peep inside. A grubby toilet speaks volumes about what could be lurking in other parts of the house and I'd rather assure myself that the bowl is spotless. If the lid is shut I'll assume the toilet is grubby.

But that's just me.

In our house we have to keep the lids down, otherwise the cats use the loo as a drinking bowl.......they actually seem to like the taste of bleach!:rotfl: