Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
If you’re thinking of selling your house, you’re probably stressed out just considering the amount of things that you have to do. When it comes to moving worries, one of the top things is trying to sell your own house so you can find that perfect new home. But how do you make sure that it’s super attractive to prospective buyers? Here are a few tips…
Declutter Your Space
First of all, it’s time to get all your trash out of the house. If you usually enjoy living a lifestyle of organised chaos, it’s time to set that aside for a little while so you can make your house look attractive to whoever wants to buy it. Clutter will make it seem smaller and less spacious, which will absolutely turn people off – and of course having a lot of clutter will make it a lot tougher when it comes to packing up your own stuff to leave. First of all, get rid of all the surface junk – go around each room with three bags: one for trash, one for items that can be put away, and one for items that can be donated. This might actually be enough to get your house sold. If you want to do a deeper declutter, go through your house categories at a time: your clothes, your books, your kitchenware. This will make it easier to get rid of things you no longer need.
Make It Neutral
If you have very specific personal style, that is absolutely fantastic and it makes you a far more interesting person in this increasingly grey world. But unfortunately, when it comes to selling your house, you may have a problem. Buyers aren’t coming over to look at what you love and admire your incredible taste – they’re looking at your house as a blank canvas that they can make their own, so you need to turn it into as much of a blank canvas as possible. Paint the walls a modern gleaming white, put away your wildest ornaments and knickknacks. A little personality is great, but you need to give the buyers some space to imagine what they could do with your home. You could also remove some of your personal items like photographs – this will continue the impression that your home is a clean slate, just waiting for someone else to buy it and love it and make it their own.
Figure Out Your Lighting
One of the most popular things when people are looking for a new home is the lighting. If you are lucky enough to have great natural lighting in your house, absolutely make the most of it. Pull up the blinds and net curtains and let the daylight in (although remember that daylight makes dust look extremely obvious, so clean around first!). Nobody wants a home with dim interior lighting so take a look at your fixtures and consider whether you need to replace any old-fashioned shades so that you can replace them with modern fittings that brighten the rooms up and make them look bigger and more vibrant.
Focus On Comfort
Think about what exactly you want from your home. You want somewhere to relax, somewhere that you like to be, somewhere that feels like a haven when you get home from a long day at work, somewhere you can escape from the stresses of the world. This is what the vast majority of people want from their spaces. So it’s important to focus on things that will make the lives of buyers more comfortable if they move in: emphasise the things that will make life easier and more convenient for them. Point out the efficient electric heating, the plug sockets on either side of the bed in the master bedroom where people can easily charge their phones over night, the patio outside where they can sit in the summer, how easy it is to clean… Emphasise comfort as well, by plumping up your couch cushions and the pillows and sheets on your bed and making sure the house feels cosy when people come by to view it.
Clean Up After Your Pets
If you have pets, now is the time to make sure that your home doesn’t show too many traces of them. If your dog has a habit of jumping up at a certain door, repaint it; if your cat covers all your rugs in fur, make sure they are fully clean. Although people love their pets, they don’t love living in a house covered in the debris of someone else’s animals. Get a very honest friend who doesn’t love animals to come over and make sure that nothing smells of cat litter or that musty smell of a hamster cage. The remnants of pets can cling to houses, so clean yours up before you move.
Increase Your Kerb Appeal
It’s time to take a good hard look at your home from the outside. Remember this is the first impression that people have of your home so it’s important for you to make sure that it’s a great one! If the paint on the outside walls of your home is starting to chip and peel and fade away, repaint it – likewise the front door and window frames. If your front garden looks sad and bare, add some potted plants and herbs so that any possible buyers get a sweet whiff of rosemary and mint as they are approaching your front door. Finally, make sure that the roof looks good – replace any old or cracked tiles. This is also a great move if you’re at all worried about leaks in the attic.
The truth is that making your home look attractive to possible buyers doesn’t require a huge investment of your time or your money. Just try to take a look at it from the point of view of someone entering for the first time. Replace that light bulb that has been out for months, clean any grubby surfaces, wipe away the spider webs in those hard to reach corners, make sure that your bathroom is clean and gleaming. You don’t have to spend a fortune to make someone snap your home up quickly.
