When it is time to sell your house you no doubt want to sell it quickly. This is especially the case if you have already found your next home. The last thing you need is for a delay in the sale of your property to lead to you losing your dream house.
Fortunately, there is a lot you can do to improve your property and get it ready to sell as fast as possible.
Carry Out Any Obvious Repairs
When you are selling your home, it needs to look as good as possible. If it does not, any potential buyer will be put off, and end up buying another property.
It is important to get any obvious issues sorted out before you put your house on the market. For example, if you have loose guttering it should be repaired before you put your property up for sale.
Most people do not want to buy a house that looks like it has not been looked after properly. They are happy to decorate, but still want to buy a property that looks clean and well kept.
Tidy Up
You want to present your home in as good a light as possible. The key is to make prospective buyers feel comfortable and at home. Ideally, you want them to think ‘wow, I would love to live in this house’ or ‘I could see us living here’.
The best way to achieve this is to de-personalise your home a bit. Take the time to put as many of your belongings out of sight as possible.
Over the years, we all build up clutter. If you have too many ornaments, pictures, soft furnishings and knick knacks, it is hard for house hunters to see past it all. It can make it difficult for them to see the true potential of each room.
In addition, the more cluttered a space is the smaller it feels. That is the last thing you want when you are trying to sell a property.
Dress Your Rooms
It is also a good idea to stage each room. You need to show each house hunter the full potential of your home.
Shabby furniture will only detract from the room. Consider using a furniture rental service to help you to bring the look and feel of your house up to date and give it a fresh feel. You can easily put your existing sofa etc into storage or if you are planning to buy new pieces once you have moved, sell some of it.
Packing some of your belongings and getting rid of any older furniture before you market your home has the added benefit of making the moving process faster and easier. When it is time to move you will have less to pack.
Spending money on a home that you are about to sell may seem counterintuitive; however, numerous studies show that it is well worth doing. Most real estate agents will tell you that a properly staged property will sell for thousands more than one that is sold ‘as is’.
