8 ways to get sale-ready

So you’re on the move.

We all know how buying and selling a house is one of life’s most stressful tasks, but you can take control and feel the benefit. Here’s eight ways to get sale-ready, which shouldn’t squeeze the fun out of the process but should make it whiz by in a pleasant blur, so that you can sell quickly and move on to the rest of your life!

1) What to consider before even kerb-appeal?

For buyers today, the “first impression” isn’t a drive past your front door for a sneak peak. It’s when they’re still in their PJs, tablet propped up with a cup of tea, and the cursor hovering over the photographs of your house online.

So when the estate agent’s photographer is booked, make sure everything is primed and ready, inside and out.

Follow the steps below from the day you decide to put your house on the market, not just the day before your first prospective buyer arrives on your doorstep.

2) Outside in

Despite the adage, people will judge a book by its cover, so make sure your home’s exterior is glossy and gleaming. Tidy up the garden, mow the lawn, trim the hedge, and weed. If it’s spring or summer then plant flowers. Find a neat way to store the multiple wheelie bins the Council has foisted on you, and pack away the kids’ trampoline and/or basketball hoop.

Then make sure windows are cleaned and everything is freshly painted.

3) Tidy house… tidy profit?

“You’ll take us as you find us” may work for the in-laws, but not for a prospective buyer. So this is the time to de-clutter, tidy, pack away and make eBay your best friend. After all, whatever’s left you’ll only have to pack and unpack, so think of this stage as your pre-move makeover, with all the benefit coming your way.

Don’t pack it all into boxes and stick it in the attic or garage: you’re prospective buyer will want to look there. Put the small stuff into storage. Move some of the bulkier furniture there as well, if it makes any room look less cramped.

4) Whose taste is that?

Get someone you trust to tell you what needs re-painting. The bright yellow kitchen wall you love isn’t necessarily going to be everyone’s taste. There’s a reason why show homes are all neutral colours: potential buyers can then visualise easily how they could live there. Your home is now a show home.

5) Don’t procrastinate

You might get away with telling your friends “that’s still on the to-do list” every six months. I have one friend whose bathroom makeover has been an on-going project for more than a decade. But if he was going to sell soon, it would need to be finished fast.

Same goes for loose tiles, frayed carpets and dripping taps. Get them all done.

If you can’t do it yourself, find someone who can!

And then clean everything.

You might also want to think about minimising all traces of your dog or cat. Some people are allergic, some can be scared, and that’s not the frame of mind you want when they’re meant to be thinking: “I can see myself living here”.

6) Mind over matter

If you’ve got a ‘spare’ room, make it count: turn a landing into a mezzanine study by adding a small desk, or turn the ‘small’ bedroom into a study, which will look larger with a desk, rather than a bed and no wardrobe! Make the most of each room.

Buyers look round an average of eight homes before buying – they are looking for reasons not to buy. Remember, when they come, they’ve already seen the photos, so they are predisposed to like what they find – if only you let them.

7) Making sense of it all

The little details count. You don’t have to turn into Paul Hollywood and bake bread or cakes for every visit, but make sure the house is at least warm. In summer, open the windows and freshen things up, if it’s not too noisy outside. Make sure all the light bulbs work, and hang a mirror to brighten that dark corner in the back bedroom or make the hall seem wider. Add some scented candles, but be careful, strong smells of any kind can be a real turn off according to researchers.

8) Sell, sell, sell

Getting a good price isn’t about luck, it’s about planning and preparation. This process could earn you a tidy profit over what you paid for your home, and that profit will help you buy the home you’re dreaming of now. So don’t see selling as a chore, see it as an opportunity – and throw yourself in with enthusiasm

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE