Tips and tricks for selling your home

for sale sign london

Maybe you want to start a new chapter of your life next year? Maybe you’re considering retiring to the countryside? Whatever the reason, you’ll want to ensure you get the maximum price for your home when you do put it on the market.

This isn’t the easiest of tasks, but if you want to get what your home is really worth, then it is essential you don’t put off potential buyers. Here are a few suggestions of small improvements which, in our experience, can go a long way:

When you are preparing to show off your home to potential buyers, it is very important to ensure that it feels homely, yet clean. This is a delicate balance to achieve, but making sure you de-clutter is a sensible first step. This is especially important as buyers want to picture themselves living in their new home. For example, try drawing attention to the kitchen by removing the kettle and toaster – creating a false effect of space.

Don’t neglect your garden. Even if you have a small garden to work with, make sure that it is neatly kept and buy some pretty potted plants and shrubs to give your garden a mini-makeover without having to spend a lot. Potential buyers will want to see an outdoor space which they can image spending time in on those warm summer nights with a G&T or huddled around a roaring fire or fire pit in the winter.

Inside the house, there are two rooms which are incredibly important to buyers when viewing a potential property. First is the kitchen; the heart of the home. As this room is used the most it can be full of wear and tear – chipped paintwork, damaged tiles and marked surfaces. Make sure it is sparkling and clean, touch up any blemishes and hide all that unnecessary clutter. The trick is to put personal preference to one side and concentrate on making the kitchen space attractive and practical.

The bathroom is also important to a potential buyer. Not much will turn them off more than seeing an old fashioned bathroom filled with old shampoo bottles and damp. A gleaming white bathroom suite with clean tiles is always going to be attractive for any buyer – and usually just requires a bit of elbow grease and the right cleaning products to achieve. Using the right storage to hideaway clutter will be easy on the eye and you won’t have to spend a fortune.

Above all, plan ahead and ensure that all the work you have done is finished before inviting potential buyers in. Presentation is essential if you’re going to maximise value and saleability.

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

Estate Agent Talk

Buying Alone? What Solo Buyers Need to Know Before Making an Offer on a House

Figures show that solo buyers accounted for 36.9% of Barclays’ mortgage completions in June 2026, as more people chose to step onto the property ladder without a partner beside them. Choosing independence over waiting for a joint purchase has doubled over the last 50+ years, with solo first-time buyers doubling from 15% before 1980 to…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

How to Make a New-Build Living Room Feel Less Like a Show Home

An empty new-build living room can be surprisingly difficult to furnish. The walls are freshly painted, the sockets are in place, and there is nothing to remove before decorating begins. Yet once the sofa arrives, the room can still feel unsettled: too bare in some places, awkwardly crowded in others. The answer rarely involves buying…
Read More →
Breaking News

Mortgage Borrowing Dip

Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £3.9 billion in September, from £4.2 billion in August, below the previous 6-month average of £4.9 billion. Net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased to 53,400 in September, below an average of around 58,800 over the previous 6-months. Approvals for remortgaging increased to 42,600…
Read More →
Breaking News

Autumn Budget 2026: Property industry reaction

Following today’s Autumn Budget, reaction from property industry experts on six key areas for the property market. First-time buyer support: The £4.7bn Your First Home equity loan scheme, supporting 70,000 buyers, alongside the introduction of a new First Time Buyer ISA. Inflation and borrowing costs: The extension of the fuel duty freeze, household energy support…
Read More →
Breaking News

Can you legally BAN Halloween Trick or Treaters?

People who dread the annual knock of trick-or-treaters may have more power to keep Halloween callers away than they realise. As millions of children prepare to take to the streets on October 31, a property law expert has explained what homeowners can do if they do not want strangers walking up their path or knocking…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

What the sector need to do differently to give first time buyers a chance

By Peter Hawley, Director, SOWN (part of LRG) The mortgage and property sector needs to stop assuming that younger buyers are either ready to buy outright or not ready at all. For many, the reality is somewhere in between. They may have stable employment, a deposit and a strong desire to own, but still find…
Read More →