Prepping house to sell

Old_Git

LittleMissKitty wrote: »

Sounds great Old Git, fancy housing us for free while we do that?

yea I am in northern Ireland

LittleMissKitty

Old_Git wrote: »

yea I am in northern Ireland

Pahahahahahaaa! Awesome, maybe I'll bump into you one day

Luckily I have my parents in the next town from us so it's possible if we find it totally unworkable selling while in situ that that we can bunk down there for a while.

I'm trying to do what I can to not disrupt the kids schooling which is why we're trying to sell and buy simultaneously rather than renting in the mean time as I'm more than aware that a chain of this description is going to be a little bit of a headache. Still, onwards and upwards!

No pets here but kids do come with their own set of smells :eek:
We're going to get a professional deep clean just before we start marketing the place, hopefully they'll get all the little bits I'm bound to miss.

rosie383

First let me say congratulations on the new job for your DH and a chance to live in my beloved Norn Iron.

I think most people can see past kids toys etc, but what we did with ours was to give them one box each to put the stuff that they really wanted in the short term. Everything else got sorted into stuff to sell/chuck/ keep. Because the kids share a small room we had no choice but to get rid of stuff. 8 months later they are still using their one box each and the rest of their 'precious' things are in a box in the loft.
Seriously declutter. It makes life so much easier if you get short notice for someone to come and view your home. When I got the house ready the first time it took a couple of days. Now it would take half an hour.
I agree with the others that if you have pets, get a non pet owner to come and give their honest opinion.
And read all the info on here (and take note of it!) about NOT being pushed into using the EA recommendation for conveyancer/surveyor/EPC or anything else. Go by recommendations on here or from friends or family.
As someone who has viewed many properties over the past 8 months, clean and unbroken are more important than new paint on walls.
As for your kitchen, if it is not very obviously really old and wonky, unless putting new cupboard doors on would give it the wow factor, I wouldn't bother. When viewing, I will see a kitchen as a) 'Wow, that is really beautiful', b) kitchen is okay, functional but not anything that is amazing or awful, or c) needs ripped out completely. If yours is in the middle category, I wouldn't spend money on new cupboard doors unless everything else about it says 'new kitchen'.

rosie383

ben_m_g wrote: »

Good thread a lot of sensible answers.

I am looking to be in the same boat and concerned about all the little things that could look nicer or might just put someone off.

I personally am going to be de-cluttering, painting all those little marks and getting out the caulk to fix up those little patches.

I'm looking at getting the carpets professionally cleaned as well. it can only help.

I would only bother getting the carpets professionally cleaned if they are really noticeably grubby and if you will be there when EA are showing viewers or doing the viewings yourself. In all of the houses I have viewed, not once has the EA taken their shoes off, and have pointedly told us we don't have to remove ours. We did anyway as it just went against the grain for me to especially go upstairs with shoes on on a wet day in particular.

Lunar_Eclipse

Having just sold a family home, I was amazed by buyers' expectations (they want perfection), though perhaps it depends on what you're selling.

If you want to appeal to as many buyers as possible and with 5 kids in a 2 bed house, I imagine your starting point is declutter, declutter, declutter!

Make the house as clean and tidy as possible. Repaint any 'dirty' walls (staircase & kids room?) I ended up repainting the whole house off white; a 2-3 bed wouldn't take long. Put as much away in the loft & cupboards as you can. My sister just sold her 2 bed house & cleared a lot out in to a storage unit to present it as best as possible.

Sadly, cluttered worktops, washing drying and loads of kids artwork displayed next to wooden castles & a fantastic doll collection are off putting to most.

Space, light & cleanliness are your friends. Good luck!

Old_Git

one tip for Northern Ireland .Every sentence will end with the word "situation ",oh and your kids will end up speaking like Jim McDonald from Coronation Street .:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6PIRvmclCY

Better_Days

When you declutter I would advise you to remove all the family photos bar one or two. (With 5 children you will probably have a lot of photos ) I find it very claustrophobic going into a house with lots of family photos everywhere. Some may disagree but for me it makes the house seem too personal, not neutral. It's not a deal breaker but it is part of creating a property that viewers can imagine themselves living in.

Also as has been said you will probably need to have a major de-clutter. You don't want to give the impression there isn't enough storage in the property.

GL with your sale.

RAS

If it is now a 2 bedroom house that was 3 beds, you need to get that re-instated, decorated and dressed before the photo are taken. Otherwise you will have to sell as a 2 bedroom property at a lower price.

If you have 5 kids, de-clutter massively. And seriously consider booking a couple of cheapy weekends away when the EA can run an open house. Spend the previous day getting everything ready to maximise the space. That way the place does not crowded by stuff or people.

Hoploz

5 kids in a 2/3 bed house ... You deserve a medal! Good luck with your new life

LittleMissKitty

Thanks all, really really helpful replies!

Rosie and Old Git - Thank you, I spent a few of my formative in Norn Iron we're returning to a huge amount of extended family, I had the accent and everything I'd rather the kids grow up with a NI accent than a Brightonian one, though, for some reason, my middle boy sounds like Ray Winstone!

I shall be doing my level best to irritate my parents with the kids whenever a viewing happens, and I think their loft will likely be full of our stuff too. I hate clutter but it's proving unavoidable so I think I shall start boxing up sooner rather than later. A bike each in the shed, a laptop and a handful of books should do them in the short term.

I have a LOT of photos to take down, I'm a photographer by trade so the house is COVERED in family pictures, should I replace most of them with landscapey things or just try to reduce it down to a couple of photos a room?! I'm used to living in something resembling a gallery so guidance on this is very welcome!