Tips for making a house more Saleable

JP08

We're likely to be putting the house on the market in the near future, and some low budget ideas on making the house more saleable would be appreciated. You not being able to see our house makes it a little hard ... but some things that have, in your opinion, worked for you would be nice.

We've already applied a couple, mostly minor :

Sprucing up decor - A washing down of the glosswork and a repaint of quite a bit of the emulsion. Some of the decor was looking a little tired after 7 years and a couple of rooms were a little, er, challenging on the colour front. I know people (including an estate agent we had value the place) say this is a waste of time as people will paint to their own tastes, but I also know that some people just can't see by shabby decor - and these are people I want to sell to too - they might even manage to pay a slight premium.

Getting external maintenance up to date - In our case, getting some minor brickwork issues sorted. Especially as one of them was at eye level as you walked down the drive. Literally the first thing you saw. Got a bit of fence repair to sort next weekend - thanks Doris !

Making the price look "right" - Logging into Zoopla and making sure that all the improvements we've done have been entered (accurately). We on here all know that the Zoopla value is tripe, but people do look at it, and will wonder why our likely asking price is £20k over the value on there. As a result of the (accurately) entered data, our asking price is now liable to be £5k UNDER the Zoopla value.

Pending actions :

Getting internal maintenance up to date - Making sure simple things like doors open and shut properly, no wonky cupboard doors etc.

Declutter, tidy and clean inside and out - Obviously is a given ... but when we were viewing in the past it was obvious some people hadn't read the memo.

There's about £130 left in the titivation budget ...

3mph

Taking photos when it is sunny just in case it is miserable and wet when the EA turns up to take photos.
Have a look at lots of houses photos done by EA to get an idea. Not too many but make sure photos of high value rooms, kitchen, bathroom etc. Also take real care as to what you can see through the window or in mirrors when taking the photos.

Finally the EA took mine and I found they have a brilliant one of the notice board in my study showing all our WiFi and other passwords. So any notices take down first.

casper_g

Look for any obvious issues that potential buyers might see and anticipate big bills. For example, a blown double glazing unit could probably be replaced for a couple of hundred but a buyer might see it and mentally budget for replacement windows throughout.

Or an old fuse box might make them think the whole house needs rewiring. Again, hundreds to replace the fuse box versus their assumed cost of thousands (plus much disruption and mess) for a full rewire.

greenbee

Clean, clean and clean... but not smelling of cleaning products (or room fragrances/highly scented detergents/strongly scented candles).

You're right that most buyers don't have the imagination to see potential, so a minor spruce up was probably worth the effort.

Also think about the 'lifestyle' of the people who might be interested in buying your home, and 'stage' the house a little.

For example - the last house I sold was a 3-bed ex-council terrace. They tended to sell to couples starting families or the odd single/couple with no kids but working from home. I already has the smallest bedroom set up as an office (because I worked from home) and the EA did make a point of mentioning the cat 5 cabling to 3 rooms. However, we also set up the spare room as a kids' room, ensured that there were a few toys in the sitting room to show that it worked as a family living space, and put a high-chair in the kitchen. (We had all this stuff already, as my nephew used to spend a lot of time with us). We did it carefully, so that you could still see how it could work as a home for a couple with no kids, but didn't want to rule out either group. As a result we had offers in the first week from both groups...

Niv

When you think your done 'view' your own house. Start where you would as a potential viewer and go from there. First impressions count so keep the gardens tidy, weeded and colourful.

[Deleted User]

3mph wrote: »

Taking photos when it is sunny just in case it is miserable and wet when the EA turns up to take photos.
Have a look at lots of houses photos done by EA to get an idea. Not too many but make sure photos of high value rooms, kitchen, bathroom etc. Also take real care as to what you can see through the window or in mirrors when taking the photos.

Finally the EA took mine and I found they have a brilliant one of the notice board in my study showing all our WiFi and other passwords. So any notices take down first.

Estate agents won't object to you taking your own photos.

If you have a decent camera and an eye for lighting, it's far better than letting them do a terrible HRD/wide-angled lense job on your house.

You're right - wait for a good sunny day too. I also put on all the lights in the house. Really look to remove clutter from rooms before you take photos.

JP08

Thanks all so far - and yes, I've hit the thankyou button for all of them.

Particularly like the idea of having my own photos in reserve - that one hadn't occurred to me.

Staging the third bedroom a bit better is also a good idea - at present its not really a dumping ground, but is a used and useful room that is also a bit of a store room / home office. It's small (about 7x7) though as currently used you can open a full size double futon in there. Some thought required though.

I think we're pretty covered on the others so far - fuse box is pretty up to date and have recent electrics certification from the work done for the new bathroom and kitchen. Double glazing is less than 5 years old. Boiler serviced annually. As mentioned, minor external issues have been / are being dealt with.

On the first impressions front , the front garden already looks colourful (even in March), crocuses, daffs, primulas and primroses going strong, tulips sprouting well, roses and herbaceous perennials waking up nicely. Lawn looks a little scrappy at present after I de-mossed it. A few quid on lawn seed might not go amiss. Still looks a million miles better than the sea of gravel that was parking to 7 vehicles when we bought the place - even if there's only drive space for two now.
The hallway was one of the more bright colour schemes - now freshly decorated and more neutral. Far better when you come in the front door !

walwyn1978

If there's a garden, cut the grass, tidy up (weeding etc) and if there's pot plants and they're tired, either replace or just remove the pot. An untidy tired garden might make no difference to some, but others may see it as a property that hasn't been looked after properly and wonder whether that also applies to the electrics, heating etc. Hide any broken garden furniture.

Edit - you beat me to it with your comments about the garden! Sounds lovely, hope you get viewings/offers.

JP08

walwyn1978 wrote: »

Sounds lovely, hope you get viewings/offers.

Thanks for the well-wishes - there's one more thing that's got to be sorted before we decide to go to market, but even if that doesn't come off, the stuff we've done needed doing so won't be a waste of money.

TBagpuss

I think others have covered most points.

When prepping the house for photos and for viewings think about appeaance - little things like vases of flowers / fruit bowls can help - they makethe place look nice, but can help also send the message that you care about your environment and the house.

Think about staging the rooms - if you have a dining room or area, make sure that there are an appropriate number f chaiors and that they look as though there is space to sit down. (I personally don't think that laying te table is necessarily an advantage, but something like a table cloth and then flowers or fruit in the centre of the table can help it look more welcoming and and like a room which is used.

declutter - remember to look at things such as kitchens and bathrooms -stuff stored too visibily can make it look as though there is not enough storage space so, other than a toaster and kettle, try to avid having thing kept on surfaces. There is a school of thouht on these boards that tea-towels having from cupboard handles is a big turn off, so consider that, too! (also make sure that the lids on any WCs are down both when photos are taken and when people view!)

Pay particuarly attendtion to the hallway or whichever room the front door opens into - first impressions are important. (for example, when I was selling my last house, I removed the shoe-rack and all the coats from the hall, as while that was where they lived, having them their made the (small) hall look and feel more crowded and cluttered.

If there are any parts of the house which are in need of work, e.g. dated bathroom, include a photo. People are less likely to be put of if they know in advance than if you leave it out of the pictures and then they open the door and find out why. (and it also means those who would be put off eaither way eicde that when they view the listing, and don't waste your time and raise your hopes by viewing the property.

When you have viewigs, think about mioving your cars so that the viewers can park on the drive, (also, their first sight of the house is uncluttered by parked vehicles)

JP08

TBagpuss wrote: »

... stuff stored too visibily can make it look as though there is not enough storage space so, other than a toaster and kettle, try to avid having thing kept on surfaces. There is a school of thouht on these boards that tea-towels having from cupboard handles is a big turn off, so consider that, too! (also make sure that the lids on any WCs are down both when photos are taken and when people view!)

Interesting point to bear in mind.

TBagpuss wrote: »

When you have viewigs, think about mioving your cars so that the viewers can park on the drive, (also, their first sight of the house is uncluttered by parked vehicles)

Hmmm - think I'll pass on this one though. Due to the immediate geography the drive slopes at 1 in 10 from the street and is at such an angle to the road that people using it either have to reverse on through more than 90 degrees - meaning about 90% of them end up heading for the flower beds at first attempt :eek:, or have to reverse uphill out into the street through more than 90 degrees - meaning that they head for the corner of the wall of the house opposite :eek: (part II).

It's not as bad as it sounds - but does catch people out ...