Preparing your house for sale
Selling your home is not quite as stressful as buying a new property to live in but it is not far off.
The constant worry of making sure that the house is clean & tidy alongside your eagerness to impress potential purchases on their viewing can be extremely exhausting and even leave you with the 'is this more hassle than it's worth' feeling!
Below are some very simple and helpful tips to ensure that you get the most of your sale -
1. Your mindset is probably the single most important change that you can make - you need to disassociate from your home. You need to visualise handing the keys over to the successful purchaser and keep focusing towards the future.
2. Tips 2 and 3 go hand in hand and make obvious sense but you would be surprised how many house sellers still fall into the trap.
You need to strip out all of your personal possessions (photographs, pictures, family heirlooms, collections etc.) and try to give the viewer a blank canvass on which to build their own thoughts on where to put their own photos and knicknacks etc.
3. De-Clutter - along with getting rid of your personal belongings you need to get rid of the junk and all of those items that you do not use very often or are just there because you do not have anywhere else to store them.
Why not try and kill two birds with one stone - All the things that you do not use anymore or are in the way, gather up and sell at a car boot sale or take them to your local auction house to try and earn a few pounds? This process will help you in the long run when it comes to packing once you have sold your house.
4. You have cleared your house of cherished family artefacts and personal items and all of the junk collected over the years and so now with everything else you must rearrange it and organise it properly. From items on the kitchen shelves, to the shoes in the cupboard and even inside your wardrobes make sure that it is neat and tidy. Try and make the prospective purchaser think that if you have these items well organised and all in order then you must certainly look after and maintain your home to a very high standard.
5. Although more often than not your furniture showcases a room for you, be careful not to overdo it. Most houses will sell better if they have the bare minimum in when it comes to furniture. This serves two purposes - it will certainly make the rooms feel bigger and it also gives the purchaser the chance to visualise their own furniture in the rooms.
If you are lucky enough then you might be able to offload some of your furniture to family and friends for a few weeks (or months) but if not it is definately worth looking into renting a storage unit (they are not as expensive as most people think - especially as you stand to gain much more).
6. Now the hard work starts - 'Spring Cleaning'. Just little things like burnt out light bulbs, leaky taps etc. can put a potential buyer off so make sure you:-
Wash windows inside and out.
Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.
Clean out cobwebs.
Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.
Clean out the refrigerator.
Vacuum daily.
Wax floors.
Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
Bleach dingy grout.
Replace worn rugs.
Hang up fresh towels.
Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odours are a no-no
7. Now that you are almost done you need to put yourself in your buyer's shoes.
Walk in through the front door - does it feel welcoming? Hang around the doorway of each room and see if everything fits in and makes sense.
Sit in your car at the bottom of your drive or on the roadside and take a look at your property. Remember first impressions count and so if somebody does not like the way the exterior of the house is presented you might struggle to get them through the door.
Make sure lawns and hedges have been cut, arrange flowers and plants so that they that welcoming appeal (yellow flowers are good for this) and also try to ensure that your car is clean too!
You need to keep on top of this process for the whole time that your home is on the market and by doing this you will certainly attain the maximum price for home.
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