Selling your home: The tricks of the trade
While the UK housing market looks likely to stabilise after a decade of rapidly rising prices, it can be difficult to seal the deal if you’re looking to sell your property. While there are more prospective buyers on the market than ever, it’s important to ensure that you’re using all the services at your disposal (including a reputable estate agent) and listing your home at a competitive price if you want to make a sale.
If you’re in the process of cleaning, renovating, or re-designing your home for house viewings, consider the best steps you can take to ensure you make that sale!
Ideas to help your home sell
To make your property stand out from the crowd, start by renovating or improving the immediate exterior of your home; This could include painting and cleaning the front door, garage, and windows, scrubbing, or power-washing the driveway and planting colourful, fragrant flowers in the front garden.
Once you’ve dealt with the exterior, it’s time to thoroughly de-clutter every room in the home – although it’s natural to become attached to your property, try not to be too sentimental when it comes to de-cluttering and get used to the fact that you’ll soon be passing your home on to a new owner.
Make your house as fresh and welcoming as possible by investing in premium toiletries, scented candles, and plug-in air fresheners. You could also consider replacing existing furniture and fixtures to spruce up the space as well as polishing mirrors, windows and glass table lamps to maximise light coverage, making your home appear more brighter and more spacious.
Try to approach any re-design or renovation works from the perspective of the new buyer and avoid overly bold colours or lavish design motifs when painting unless these are on-trend and likely to generate extra value. Consider incorporating multi-use furniture and open display shelving into your home to maximise storage space and make individual rooms feel tidier and more organised.
Showing the home – When conducting viewings to sell your home, remember that first impressions count. From the moment the prospective buyer knocks on the front door, ensure that they see all the results of your hard work. To get the best from the viewing, start by showing off the entrance and porch, then walk the buyer through the lounge and into the kitchen; once the downstairs is fully covered, move upstairs to reveal the bathroom and bedrooms – it’s usually best to leave the garden area until last. When showing your home, answer any questions thoroughly and ensure that you make the prospective buyer aware of all the elements of the property that are likely to generate extra value in the future.
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