Selling Your Home? 10 Steps to Success

At one time or another we will all sell our home.  The reasons for this may be many: promotion, relocation, a new family, divorce and bereavement are just some of the many reasons why we up-sticks and start our search for another home. 

However, one thing remains the same.  If you are to get that next property and make into your home it is vital that you can make as much as possible from your existing one.  Now while this may sound like common sense, experience indicates that we British don’t appear to get it.  As someone who makes their living from helping people buy and sell their homes I am often exposed to the grim reality of what passes as good enough in the minds of vendors.  So bad was one property recently that the clients actually refused to get out of the car and have a look at it!

Now whilst vendors may not have moved into the 21st Century, buyers certainly have.  With the ever increasing rate of new builds it is now possible to see a really fantastic show home on the most modest of new developments.  This means that when they come to look at your home buyers will be comparing it against a very high standard.  The thing is it isn’t too hard to make sure that your own property can be as good as any show home, stand out amongst the crowd and secure you that all important sale.  All it takes is a little thought and some preparation.

To give you a head start when it comes to preparing your home for sale try and use the following ten key principles to help you organise your thinking.

1. First impressions

You can lose your sale before the prospective buyer gets beyond your hall or even out of their car.  As with most things in life, first impressions are very important, and it can take a lot of effort to correct any bad ones once they are formed.  This applies equally to each room in the property as well as the property as a whole. Remember… buyers are not obliged to “look beyond” what they see!  So just walk around your property and try and think about what kind of first impression is it creating.    

2. Clutter

A truism I know but nobody likes clutter.  Having said that it’s amazing how often vendors simply forget this or assume that buyers will be prepared to see the perfect house hidden underneath all of that clutter.

3. Work

Unless they are looking for a restoration project most buyers don’t want to undertake a lot of work once they have moved in.  It’s a little known fact but most buyers do little or nothing for the first two years in their new property.  So, before your property goes on the market make sure that you do all of those little jobs that you meant to do but somehow didn’t manage to do.

4. Neutrality

If you are to appeal to as many people as possible it is important that the property is as neutral as possible.  Prospective buyers want to buy the property, not into your lifestyle.  Whilst you may think that red ceilings and black walls are the coolest way to decorate your bedroom others may not agree.  What we are aiming to do here, is avoid anything which might cause a potential buyer to “shake their heads in wonder”.  Now whilst you make think neutral is just another word for bland its important to remember that buyers have furniture of their own, so neutral wall and floor colours will make it easier to move in without having to re-decorate which makes your property much more appealing.

5. Cleanliness…

Is definitely next to godliness when it comes to selling your home.  There is no such thing as too clean, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. It’s a strange world but whilst we all have different thresholds for the levels of dirt and untidiness that we can live with in our own homes we don’t like to see any in other peoples’ – especially when we are thinking of buying that property.  This is the easiest thing to get right because the only investment needed is your time and effort.  Remember, buyers will not be able to escape the thought that if you can’t be bothered with basic tidiness and cleanliness what other problems may be festering.

6. Pets

To misquote Shakespeare, “not all the world loves a pet”.  It doesn’t matter whether you agree with them or not, some people do not like pets, especially dogs.  What does matter is the fact that you could lose a sale simply because you like dogs, and the buyer doesn’t.  I know it seems a shame, but it’s true.  Even dog lovers don’t necessarily like to be introduced to the family Doberman as he attempts to savage them to death when they first come into the house.  They will never say it to your face but trust me, its true.    

7. Presentation

Whilst your home may be perfect, a sale can often fall-over because it isn’t shown off in the best possible way.  Unfortunately this comes down to personalities. If the person showing the buyers around doesn’t come over as interested, knowledgeable and friendly, they are doing your property and your sale a disservice.  So if you aren’t exactly Mr/Mrs Geniality its probably best to leave it to your estate agent.

8. Smells

Now there are good smells and bad smells.  Whilst the smell of baking bread or coffee is great in the kitchen last night’s fish and chip fry up isn’t.  Likewise, in the bathroom the smell of fragranced soap works, disinfectant doesn’t.  Enough said.

9. Space

When someone buys a house they are essentially buying space.  Buyers need to see the space in your home in order to imagine what they can do with it.  The fact that you are comfortable with four sofas in a small room will carry no weight with them and just make your home seem small and cramped.  Its also important that people can move freely around the space and that windows and doors are not blocked by furniture or clutter.

10. Alarm bells

Finally, an alarm bell is something which, on its own, stops the viewer turning into a buyer.  It can be for any of the reasons above and be completely subjective but will torpedo any hopes that you may have for a quick and profitable sale.  Now there are the obvious ones like dry-rot, damp-rot and condensation but you should also be on guard for the very subjective things like fitted carpets in bathrooms, shag-pile carpet and pink bathroom suites.  Whilst these things are subjective and you may not agree with them it doesn’t really matter.  If a buyer hears alarm bells they won’t be arguing the point with you.  They will be walking out of the sale or using it to beat you down on price.  Neither of which is the aim of the game.

So that’s it, if you remember these ten guiding principles getting that all important offer should be quick, profitable and easy.  Then you really can set about finding your next one.  But that’s another story.