5 tips to making your house more sellable

If you’ve just decided to sell your home, and have put it on the market, you’ll no doubt be keen to get it sold fast. While you can’t really change the speed of the process, there are some changes you can make around the house that can encourage buyers to move a little faster. Here are five tips to make your house more sellable.

Depersonalize and freshen up

This is one of the most important steps to take when selling your house. You should remove your personal items and personal taste from your decor; this way potential buyers can picture themselves in that space. The truth is that your personal stamp no longer has a place in the house if you’re planning on moving out and selling up – remember, you’re selling your house, not your belongings and many people will not be able to see behind the family photos and personal items.

Decluttering is a highly effective way to remove those personal touches. During house viewings, at least, consider removing items like children drawings, fridge magnets and family photos as much as you can.

If internal walls are looking worn and tired, freshen them up. The same applies if you have walls in loud and bright colours – these might be to your taste, but consider the effect on a potential buyer. Opt for a neutral color palette. It will make the house seem bigger and brighter as well as allowing a potential buyer to imagine how they would decorate each room. Starting from a neutral color is easier, and appealing.

A good scent is key

Having a bad aroma floating around the house may prevent people from wanting to buy it – seriously. It will certainly detract from their experience of viewing the property and create a negative impression of your house. A pleasant scent helps to create a welcoming atmosphere. This doesn’t mean you should just mask bad smells but with air freshener; you need to find the reason for the unpleasant smell and fix it. Consider these quick fixes:

• Wash bins out
• Clear and clean out the drains
• Remove old cooking smells by baking a fresh loaf of bread or putting on a pot of coffee
• Replace old bed sheets
• Keep windows open

If you have pets, you may not notice but they could be responsible for giving your house a bad scent which some buyers will dislike. Bear this in mind. Make sure you give your pets a bath or remove them from the house for a couple of hours while people are viewing.

Fix and clean

Chances are, if you’ve lived in your house you won’t notice the minor damages and breaks that you are used to living around and with. But potential buyers will pick up on these things and may either use these issues – however minor – as a reason to get the price knocked down or be put off buying completely. Take a good look at the house and see what repairs may need doing:

• Holes in the wall
• Chipped furniture
• Cracked tiles
• Leaky taps
• Scratched flooring
• Holes in walls

After you‘ve fixed everything, spend some time cleaning. Wooden floors should be waxed, carpets shampooed, limescale removed, tile grout cleaned, dusting and vacuuming completed. A messy house will draw the attention of buyers – for all the wrong reasons.

Fix up the front and back yard

Make sure your front or back yard is kept tidy and presentable at all times. Keep the grass cut, trim the bushes and rake all the leaves –  three simple yet effective way that will help your garden look like you have taken good care of it. Keeping it tidy will help people visualize themselves spending time in it. If your grass is overgrown or full of weeds, it will make it look unappealing and buyers will instantly see that more work needs to be done and want the overall price of the house lowered. Your house needs to look as good on the outside as it does the inside.

A good idea for those of you with lots of garden clutter or other clutter lying around the house is to invest in a quonset garage. You can store bulk items in these and they can protect your most prized possession safely. Did you also know you can take them with you if you move to a new house? An added bonus is that these are portable.

Don’t have a crowded house

Potential buyers want to look round a house with no distractions so that they can fully focus on the property alone and nothing else. Don’t have your whole family round for a visit making the house crowded, this will make viewers feel like they are intruding and they might not fully explore the house the way they want to. Although your pets may be your best friend, not everyone will feel the same way – keep them quiet or out of the house while people are looking around. Leave viewers to it, giving them the time and space to wander round at their leisure. The longer they stay, the more interested they’re likely to be.

Follow these simple steps to maximise the selling potential of your house. Good luck!