Selling a home is often one of life’s most stressful experiences. As a seller therefore, you probably have two main goals. One of them is to sell your house as quickly as possible and the other is to achieve as high a price for it as possible. The good news is that the same set of actions can help you to achieve both goals. Here are five tips.
First impressions count and the first impression of your property comes from the thumbnail
Probably the single, most important part of the sales process is the photograph which is set as the thumbnail image on the major property portals, which is typically an exterior view of your home. This holds true even if you live in a flat, in which case it may be an exterior shot of the whole building, if it’s hard to get a view of your flat on its own. Therefore, make sure you get moving on that curb appeal before that photograph is taken. As an absolute minimum, ensure that the exterior of your home looks clean, tidy and well-maintained. If there’s anything you can think of to make it look more attractive, then do your level best to have it in place before that “money shot” is taken.
Second impressions matter too, so make sure all interior shots are as good as they can be
A good thumbnail will help you to land that initial click, but on its own, it’s unlikely to be enough to land you a viewing. Buyers will also look at the interior shots of your home, so, again, you want to make sure these offer a favourable impression. The same, basic, principles apply. As a minimum, you want your home to look clean, tidy and well-maintained and if you can think of anything you can do to make it more attractive, then try your best to have it done before these photographs are taken by your chosen estate agent.
Cosmetic updates can make a lot of difference
Paint is possibly the best investment any home seller can make, it’s cheap, simple to use and very effective. In fact, decorating in general can really help to breathe new life into any home, however when you’re selling your home, you generally want to avoid creative effects such as ombre and the use of patterned rollers. Stripes are probably as far as you want to go and only then if they help to enhance the visual appeal of a room. It’s hard to go wrong with plain white, but you don’t have to stick to it, just be cautious of using any really bold colours.
Decluttering is key
It is absolutely impossible to overstate the importance of decluttering your home. The presence of clutter implies that there is either a lack of storage or a lack of willingness to use it and neither of these forms a positive impression in the mind of a potential buyer.
Avoid odour issues
Bad odours are one of the biggest turn-offs when selling a property so we’d recommend against trying to scent your home since the attractiveness or otherwise of a scent tends to be a very individual matter. By contrast, we strongly recommend that you make sure your home is odour free, especially if you have children and/or pets.
