Buying or
selling a home is undoubtedly one of the most stressful life events any of us
can ever experience. Although buying is often considered a stress-inducing
process, selling can be just as wearing. Finding a buyer who will commit and
investing in ensuring your home is in the best possible condition can be hard.
To help you through what can be an arduous task, we’ve created a list of nine
ways you can prepare. Read on to find out more.
Declutter and Tidy For Photographs
When
starting to prepare your home for sale, the very first step must be to ensure
that your property is in excellent condition for the initial photographs to be
taken by the estate agent. It’s vital that you spend a significant amount of
time decluttering and tidying up your home. It can be tricky for potential
buyers to see through any dirt, dishevelled items of furniture and piles of
clothes or washing up.
If you have
too many possessions, you could even consider hiring out a storage container to
siphon off some of the items you don’t need. You want to show your home at its
very best. Photos of your property are the very first thing a potential buyer
will ever see of your home, so make sure your home is spotless before the
photographer comes over and then follow up with extra bouts of cleaning before
every viewing.
Repaint Your Home Natural Colours
Repainting
your home in natural colours is a great way to provide a blank canvas for
potential buyers to visualise their own styles and artwork onto the walls. If
the interior of your property is painted in loud and brash colours, it can put
some buyers off. Even if your home is painted in relatively neutral colours, it
may be worth giving your walls a fresh lick of paint. If there are any areas
that could do with a freshening up, do so but don’t get rid of all personality
by painting everything in your wake white.
Consider Small Improvements and Repairs
If there are
any chores that you’ve been putting off - like fixing wobbly door handles,
replacing lightbulbs and other small repairs - this is the time to make sure
that they are done. If there are any minor issues, you should ensure that
they’re all fixed and no longer ignored. Those little issues could be the
difference between a good viewing and a negative one. As well as making
necessary repairs, you could also make some small improvements like replacing
old curtains, refreshing the carpets and other small interior design updates.
Allow Plenty of Natural Light in
Natural
light can make a room feel much larger than it is and makes a space far more
welcoming and enticing. Open up all of the curtains and window dressings so
that as much natural light as possible can get into the home and light up
space. If there are any areas which are dim and dark, it’s a good idea to
invest in some lamps to brighten these corners up and create a much more
inviting atmosphere.
Consider Renovating Your Bathroom or Kitchen
As well as
making small changes, like placing lamps around dimly lit areas and fixing
small issues, it’s worth considering some larget renovation projects too. The
kitchen and bathroom are two of the most important rooms in the home when it
comes to selling a property. As areas of the home which are used a lot on a
daily basis, it’s vital that they are kept up to date and look great - these will
be two rooms which buyers will fixate on during a viewing.
If your
kitchen or bathroom is looking dull, tired and out of date, then consider
investing in a renovation project to bring it up to speed. You could update the
tiles, floors and appliances. Consider adding a power-shower into your bathroom
or buying a new oven for the kitchen. You could even make some more extensive
changes like knocking through a wall to create a kitchen-dining area or even
turn your bathroom into a wet room!
Improve The Kerb Appeal
The kerb
appeal of your home is literally the first impression a buyer will have of the
property when they come to visit from the kerb. It’s important that your home
impresses from the very beginning, so consider repainting your front door,
upgrading your windows, planting a few more trees or shrubs in the front garden
and tidying the area up. First impressions really are everything when it comes
to buying a property, so you’ll want to ensure that every visitor is itching to
look inside. Brightening up the front garden with flower beds and flower
baskets is always a great idea.
Clean Up The Garden
Although the
front of the house is very important, you shouldn’t ignore the back either. The
back garden can be a huge pull for potential buyers, so if yours hasn’t been
kept in good condition for a while, it’s time to break out the lawnmower and
get stuck in. You could also spend some valuable time pruning your flowers,
laying more flower beds, building a shed and making other improvements. One
improvement which can help you increase the value of your property is to bring
the inside of your home into the open with the installation of a patio. Having
an area of the garden which buyers can envision themselves and their friends
can speed up a sale and see you getting a higher price for your home.
Remove Personal Touches
Although
it’s great to have a home filled to the brim with family memories, photos and
personalised pieces of furniture, when it comes to selling your home, there
should be as few of these on show as possible. Potential buyers want to be able
to picture themselves in your property so personal artefacts can sometimes be a
distraction.
Building and Structural Survey
Finally,
it’s certainly worth considering a structural or building survey to ensure that
there aren’t any issues that need urgent attention before you sell the
property. Getting a structural or building survey completed before you sell
will give you plenty of time to fix any issues that need attention early. Doing
so means that you’ll have a more accurate picture of what works must be
completed and what outgoings you will incur during the process.
Simon Levy: Property Experts
Servicing
Greater London
and The Surrounding Areas
Here at
Simon Levy, we are experts when it comes to chartered surveying in
Hertfordshire, Greater London and beyond to the surrounding areas. Whether you
require surveying services for a residential or commercial property, we have
more than three decades of experience which ensure we’re best placed to tackle
the job at hand.
Our services
can help you resolve construction disputes, insurance claims and party wall
matters as well as complete full building and structural surveys for your
property. Regardless of whether your property is new or decades old, we can
provide you with a survey which will help identify any and all defects which
could become troubling. Just because a home you are interested in buying is
relatively new, it does not mean that it is completely without defects.
Similarly, if a home is found to have defects, that doesn’t mean it should
simply be avoided. Luckily, we’re here to help demystify the situation for you.
To find out more, please feel free to
contact
a member of our team today. You can find us
at Link House, 49 Theobald Street,
Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, WD6 4RT, call us on 0208 207 6100 or email us at
info@simonlevy.net.
