Get some handy tips on preparing your house for sale, including several stages of preparation that will result in a perfectly staged home that’s sure to get lots of interest.
Selling a house is a really lengthy and challenging process, but it’s all worth it when the process has ended and you’re in your new place, safe in the knowledge a new family is enjoying your precious home too.
Of course, putting a house on the market to begin the process of selling isn’t all there is to it. There’s more that goes on in this process, including before the house can even be ready to be viewed. Most homes actively need preparing to be sold, far beyond a good Spring clean.
If you’re in the process of putting your house up for sale, this article will help you along with the process with a step by step guide to preparing your house for sale:
1. Take The Estate Agent Advice
The first step to preparing a house to sell is getting at least one estate agent round. This is to value the house, of course, so you can have an idea of how to list it. It also means that you can get their advice on how the house could improve/ change to make it more likely to sell. They will have invaluable advice on different aspects of your home and how to adjust them and tweak them to suit potential buyers. They will have an idea of your target market, which is invaluable as it will help you understand what your potential buyers are looking for. Maybe it’s a big home office, or a pristine garden, maybe the target is young families who will favour bedrooms and room to expand. Take what the estate agents say seriously, and follow their advice – they know how to sell your home for the best price.
2. Declutter & Remove
Before you do anything else you need to declutter and remove all the items you do not want any more. A house can hold a million things we haven’t sorted through over the years. You’ll want to declutter anyway before you move, so you may as well do it now to create more space, to minimise what you have to pack and to provide a more streamline space for your potential house buyers to view. You could also make a lot of money selling items you no longer need, which will only come in handy for your house move. Don’t have time to declutter and sell/ donate? Declutter and store your items in budget London storage, so that you can get to it later on when you do have time to sort through it.
3. Pack & Store
Now you can pack and store items you do want to keep, placing them into storage in London. This is so that the property is depersonalised and more of a blank slate for your potential buyers. Pictures of your family, single taste art pieces, large useless furniture and anything that uses space for no good reason needs to be taken away. Every room should have furniture that shows potential use of the space, but without limiting the amount of space on offer.
4. Trim/ Repair
You will want to do all the big work now, the kind of jobs that get the house and garden in the best possible shape. Think painting, plastering, tile repairs and large scale shrub and tree trimming. This will be much easier to do at this stage because you have removed a lot of furniture and clutter in previous stages.
5. Decorate & Spruce Up
Now that the house is cleared out and in really good condition you can start to spruce it up a bit. This means painting everything in nice, neutral colours to remove personalised painting in different rooms, furthering the blank canvas feeling overall. Giving it a really good clean at this stage is also a great idea, including a professional carpet clean to get it smelling fresh and beautiful.
6. Kerb Appeal
Kerb appeal is where you focus on how the front of your house looks. This is listed as a separate stage because it is so commonly forgotten about when people are preparing their house for a sale. It is easy to assume all impressions will be made when potential buyers are in the house, when in fact, a lot of judgements are made during a drive by, or as the potential buyer approaches the house. This means that the way your house looks has to be considered when you’re preparing a house for sale. Whether you have it repainted, fix the gate, get a professional window cleaner to sort the windows out, or you jetwash the paving – make sure that if somebody were to judge the house on the outside alone, they would get a great impression.
7. Stage
The final part of preparing a home for sale is staging it. This is where you really do go to town on those final touches that could make or break the sale. It is important to suggest a function for each room in as minimal a way as possible. For example, a bedroom for an older child may have a single bed and a desk for homework or gaming. Or a loft space may be setup like a nice guest bedroom. You’ll want to dress this up with folded towels, perhaps some crockery on the dining table, fresh soaps, some generic art and of course, plenty of house plants. Plants are especially great for dressing up a house because they add colour and interest and they are easily placed and removed. You may also want to consider placing some outside your front door as well to make it look nicer and more welcoming.
You’re Ready To Prepare Your House For Sale
The seven stages above can help you take your house from a personalised family home, to a beautiful blank canvas that inspires people to put an offer in. It’s a large amount of money that is at stake so it makes sense to put in as much effort as possible to present it in its very, very best light.
