When you are selling your house, there will be viewers up to see it. There are many things you can do to make the house more appealing to potential buyers, as well as make your house more valuable. Here are our top tips for increasing the value and speeding up the sale speed.
Paint
Painting your walls a neutral colour will have several benefits. First of all, neutral colours are in trend at the moment. They allow the potential buyer to move in and use the room immediately with a job saved, this may not be the case if the walls are a bright colour like red. They also are easier to cover up for someone who moves in, as light neutral colours are easier to paint over with less paint required. Light neutrals will also make rooms seem bigger, which will ultimately make your house more valuable.
Declutter
You should try to get rid of any non-essential items that make your home seem cluttered. You want to make the room feel as big as possible, so any bulky furniture or too much may take away from the feel of the room size. However, you should keep the room personalised and liveable, people have to imagine themselves living there and seeing where their belongings will go, having a hotel-looking home may make buyers feel uninspired.
First Impressions
Many buyers make up their minds as soon as they arrive. The exterior of your home is one of the most important aspects, this includes well-maintained windows, doors, roofs, as well as front gardens. Ensure garden paths are clean and free from weeds, garden fences are well maintained and the grass is cut, these will all make your house more valuable. Another important task is to clean the gutters, this will help improve the look of the home, as well as protect it. To get professional help click here.
Clean
Giving your house a clean will massively improve your house to potential buyers. Get rid of any limescale, hang up clean towels, ensure beds are made, dust rooms down, and have any metals sparkling. Whilst you may still be living in your house, cleaning will be one of the most important things you can do, the difference between a clean and unclean house could encourage the buyer to buy quicker, and even pay more.
Garden
We’ve covered the front garden, but the back garden is also important. Viewers will likely consider the backdoor size to see what they can add to the garden to suit their own preferences. You can make the garden look bigger through tall, thin plants and planting vertically. You should also ensure any repairs are completed e.g. broken slats of wood, broken hinges etc. to have the garden looking in good condition.
Repair
If there are any minor repairs you can do, try and get this done. This could be fixing a hole in the wall, broken handles, cracked tiles, wallpaper tears etc. These can often be fixed fairly easily but will certainly make your house more valuable as many buyers want to be able to move in right away with minimal work, they will be likely to try and get money off if they see any issues so try to avoid this being an option.
Kitchen Preparation
The kitchen is the most valuable area of your house and could be a make or break room for the buyer. If you have a dated kitchen you may consider replacing cabinets and countertops, this is expensive but can add a lot of value too. This is effective especially if you are more concerned about speeding up a sale than improving the value as you may not always recoup the full cost. You could also consider painting the cabinets and wrapping the worktops for a more cost-effective way of changing the look of your kitchen. Even if you’re not changing the kitchen, or have recently had this done there are other ways to have your kitchen looking ready to improve the value. You should try to have any bulky appliances like AirFryers out of sight, and make sure there is no mess visible.
Smells
Bad smells can be a turnoff for potential buyers, whilst good smells can be a positive factor for buyers and make them more likely to buy. Whilst there are smell masking tools such as air freshener, candles, diffusers etc. it is important to get to the route of any bad smells. Ensure bins are washed, windows are open (especially in the kitchen) and bedding is fresh. Cleaning this as well as having the nice smelling items are important for long-term freshness in your home. You could also consider adding plants into rooms as they keep the air fresh. Doithuong
