Top tips to sell your home quickly for the best price
You would be surprised the questions we sometimes get asked when working with our clients to secure their new mortgage / home – questions like hot to sell your home quickly. So in this post we want to share with you some tips:
Preparing your home for potential buyers to view is important. We’ve provided our top tips to prepare your home for sale so it shows well and helps it sell faster and for the highest value possible.
Declutter but don’t depersonalise
If you are planning to sell your home, declutter and organise it in a way that makes it look spacious and appealing to potential buyers. Start by removing all of the unnecessary furniture and belongings from each room in your home. This will create more space and make it easier to organise and clean each room.
Buyers will be curious about storage space and will want to check these areas. Ensure these are organised, as it sends a negative message if your storage spaces are cluttered with items falling out.
Store or get rid of any extra furniture, toys or other belongings that are taking up space. This will create more space in each room and make them look more appealing to buyers.
Once you have removed all of the unnecessary furniture and belongings from each room, be sure to clean and organise it properly. This will give each room a neater appearance and make it look more attractive to buyers.
Staging each room with minimal furniture and accessories will create a spacious look. This helps potential buyers visualise how they could use the space in your home and make it seem more appealing overall.
Time for a fresh lick of paint
Redecorating is the most popular home improvement and adding a lick of paint can be done at a relatively low cost. There are many reasons to give your home a fresh lick of paint before you sell it.
One of the most important reasons is that it will make your home look newer and more appealing to potential buyers. A coat of paint can cover up any blemishes or flaws in your home’s exterior, and it can also brighten up the overall appearance of your property.
It may seem like a small detail, but it can make a big difference to how your home is perceived by potential buyers. Choose a light and neutral colour scheme so that the new paint job will be versatile enough to match any furnishings or decor. Be sure to clean and patch up any holes or cracks in the walls before you start painting.
Don’t overlook skirting boards and other woodwork. Even a quick clean with some sugar soap will breathe a bit of life into them.
Boost your home’s kerb appeal
When selling your home, it is important to make sure that the exterior looks as appealing as possible. This will help to ensure that potential buyers are drawn to the property and are more likely to make an offer. There are a few things you can do to maximise kerb appeal.
For example, smarten up your front door, give the driveway and patio a clean, make sure the garden is tidy and well-maintained. Cut the lawn, trim the hedges and flowers and remove any debris.
Clean the windows and think about exterior lighting, freshen up external walls and repair any damage to the facade of the property and any damage to the roof. Replace any missing roof tiles and clean and paint the guttering.
Make a good first impression
While unlikely to be the clinching factor in a property sale, small problems and defects can create an impression of a house being run down or not well cared for. Bigger issues like damp should not be covered up as they will show on a survey and come back to haunt you later on.
Clean everything until it sparkles. Get rid of limescale, clean and repair tile grout, wax wooden floors, get rid of odours, hang up fresh towels. This will make the place more desirable and allow viewers to imagine living there.
A top-to-bottom deep clean can help your house truly sparkle when people come to view your home. Make any minor repairs to cracked tiles, torn or threadbare carpets. Many buyers want to move in without making changes, so allow for this.
Buyers should visualise using the garden
Tidy the front and rear garden by cutting bushes back, clean the patio area and furniture, and cut the grass. While this doesn’t add much value to your home, it makes it more likely to sell as people visualise themselves using the garden.
If you have a front garden, spend some time sprucing it up. A few plant pots and a clear pathway can make the front of your house more attractive, helping with the first impressions.
In the rear, a well-designed garden can add a great deal of value, it should feel like an extra space for entertaining or relaxing, rather than an expanse of grass. It’s essential to trim borders, clear pathways and cut back any overgrown trees or bushes, particularly if they block direct sunlight into the property.
An area of decking creates a sense of bigger usable living space, giving owners more space to relax and entertain in the brighter weather.
Bathrooms need to look fresh and hygienic
In the bathroom, this is the space to do some serious cleaning. You don’t want a dirty toilet, shower or bath. This will be a real turn-off to buyers. Re-grouting, eliminating all limescale and replacing taps are good options to consider if required.
Bathrooms need to look fresh and hygienic, so paint the walls a neutral shade and ideally add a new shower curtain or a standard glass screen.
The kitchen can often be a deal-breaker for buyers
Kitchens are often the main focus for buyers – it may be the first thing they look to replace, or pay more for if a property has one they like. You may not be able to afford a whole new kitchen but, for a relatively small budget, painting units or replacing cupboard handles or doors are great alternatives.
Everything should be in good condition. Cabinet doors and drawers should open and close smoothly. Fix loose hinges, unclog or replace stuck drawer tracks, and replace broken knobs or handles.
If the cabinets are painted, make sure the paint isn’t chipped or peeling. If it is, sand them down and apply a fresh coat. Severely damaged cabinets may need to be replaced, a task that may require a contractor unless you’re skilled at home renovations.
Good lighting and clutter-free, clean surfaces will also make a big difference.
Don’t overlook a big selling point in a home
Flooring is another spot where it might be worth investing in an update. Nobody likes to imagine living and walking around a home where the floors are dirty. If you have carpet, consider whether a good professional cleaning will be enough or if you need to replace it.
Wooden floors are a big selling point in a home and can help to sell your home quickly. If you have wooden floors, consider having them refinished. A nice wood floor is such a big selling point, it might be worth the cost to get it redone.
Utilise quality lighting in every space
Good lighting makes everything look better. Make sure you have quality lighting in every space, so when a potential buyer comes through, a room can be lit up and look inviting.
Lighting also helps to make small spaces seem less small. Consider where to update lighting – one spot might be exterior lights.
Also, consider where you can add lighting to brighten a space. There are many options on the market now for lighting that doesn’t even require having an electrical cord run.
Smart technology and energy efficiency
Smart home technologies are increasingly important to buyers. Statement systems like multi-room music platforms can also make a difference.
Double glazing will help retain heat and keep noise out. Smart technology that gives mobile control over heating systems is a feature worth considering. If a home improvement moves your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) up a band it could add thousands to the sale price.
Some smells can be off-putting to buyers
Smells can be off-putting, so to make your home appealing to buyers, avoid cooking before a viewing. (Our Director Andrew and his wife, early on in their married life went to view a house where the owners had used a deep fat fryer to cook their lunch and the smell could be smelt outside the home before they even crossed over the doorstep. When they went into the kitchen all you could see up the walls was grease! Safe to say they didn’t buy it!)
Keep pets’ litter trays and cages spotlessly clean, or have someone look after them while viewings are taking place.
Not everyone likes artificial air fresheners or scented candles – you’re better off opening windows to air your home before a viewing.
So if you are looking to sell your home quickly and move house this year, perhaps you are downsizing or moving up the property ladder – our tips should help you prepare your home for the sale. But remember to talk to us early about the mortgage elements of selling your home. If you are an existing client, reach out to your Mortgage Broker or if you are new to Yes Mortgage Services drop us an email on [email protected]. We would love to help you and remember we are classed as a whole of market broker and do not charge you a fee.
At Yes Mortgage Services, we offer a comprehensive range of products from across the market.
Irrespective of whether you are looking to buy a new home, re-mortgage an existing property, or looking to protect your family from the unpredictability that life throws at it or protect your income if you are unable to work due to accident or ill health.
Yes Mortgage Services are committed to offering you the highest possible standards of service. We can undertake the whole process from answering the initial questions through to handling multiple product applications. Ensuring that everyone gets treated with the same urgency and maintaining your best interests are our main goals irrespective of the value of the mortgage.
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