THE PROPERTY BLOG

Preparing your home for viewers is extremely important. It will not only ensure your property is sold faster, but can potentially add thousands of pounds to its value.

This article details the 6 key things we believe are the most important, when preparing your home for viewings. Implementing just a few of these ideas will improve the chances of a quick sale and achieve a higher sale price.

Sweet Smell of Success

At Professional Properties we know that first impressions count. A job interview, a date or viewing a property.

Homebuyers make snap judgements very quickly and buyers like properties that not only appeal to their eyes but also their noses. I’m sure that you’ve read or heard about how the smell of coffee brewing or freshly baked bread makes viewers swoon.

However, in the real world it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have an endless stream of homemade loaves in the oven or a constant cafetiere on the go!

Realistically the best way to create an instant positive impact on once someone’s sense of smell when they have stepped through your front door is a combination or ALL of the following:

🔹 Fresh flowers – not only look good they smell good.

🔹 Freshly painted walls – always a good investment when preparing a property for sale.

🔹 Clean crisp bed sheets – a fresh bedroom could clinch the deal

🔹 Subtle air fresheners – Plug ins or candles work really well

The smells to avoid like an overflowing fish bin on the hottest day of the year include:

🔹 Stale tobacco.

🔹 Kitchen bins that are full of old food.

🔹 Cheap and nasty air fresheners.

🔹 Old cat litter, damp dog blankets and any other animal related smells.

🔹 Put simply nice smells sell while stale ones fail.

Kill the Clutter

Empty rooms simply look bigger. It’s a fact. However, you can’t just get rid of all your stuff for a viewing!

On the other hand, if you put your property on the market and it’s filled with clutter, it is a much harder home to sell. It makes your property look smaller and will not appeal to potential buyers who are walking round trying to imagine themselves living there.

You want viewers to marvel about how big your rooms are, not be put off by the fact there is no floor space due to unnecessary items left everywhere. Less is very definitely more in this scenario as untidy properties tend to stay on the market a lot longer than smart, clean and tidy ones.

So, spend a bit of time de-cluttering your property before it goes on the market. If you have items you simply can’t part with, put them into storage. Just don’t leave them lying around for a potential buyer to step over.

The few hours you spend ridding your home of unnecessary clutter could potentially add thousands to your sale price AND get the offers coming in much quicker.

A Simple Recipe

Like it or not, it’s true. The kitchen is the most important room in the house.

It’s not just those TV chefs that spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Prospective buyers can easily fall head over heels with a home after laying eyes on a well-designed, stylish kitchen.

We spend a lot of time in our kitchens, especially if it is spacious enough to include a dining area. It’s often where we start the day and where families get together.

It is often said that life is created in the bedroom but lived out in the kitchen!

If you are going to spend money getting your home ready to market think seriously about how your kitchen looks and feels and if it needs upgrading.

Tone Down the Decor

You want potential buyers to be able to see themselves in your property.

Consider giving your walls a fresh lick of paint with neutral colours as this will help make your home seem lighter and much bigger. Neutral colours can help viewers to easily imagine how they would adapt the rooms to their needs and strong bright colours should always be avoided.

It will be much easier for buyers to move in and use the rooms straight away than if they need to repaint those bright purple or lime green walls!

Don’t forget the exterior too. Give the front door and any surrounding walls a new coat of paint. Remember your front door is the first thing your viewer will see when visiting your property.

DIY SOS

All those little jobs that need doing that you have gotten used to seeing… do them!

Holes in walls, broken door knobs, cracked tiles, dirty grout, cracked sockets and switches, torn or threadbare carpets. Many buyers want to move in without making changes and some buyers will look for any excuse to make a lower offer.

Get rid of limescale, clean tile grout, wax wooden floors, get rid of all odours.

Outside; tidy up the garden, cut bushes back, clean the patio and the furniture and cut the grass. While this won’t necessarily add value to your home, it makes it more likely to sell as people visualise themselves in a nice, tidy garden.

Accessorise

You won’t want to go ‘full staging’ with showhome furniture, however, you can mini-stage.

Dress any windows that are ‘naked’ with blinds or curtains. Naked windows can make a room feel impersonal and cold. Buy some cheap, neutral ones if necessary.

Plants and flowers are great for adding colour, life and light to a room and can also help on the smelly front.

Consider adding different textiles around your home. It is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to brighten up the place. Throw over a throw (!) or scatter some cushions to instantly change the appearance of boring looking furniture.

If you have dull looking carpets, laminate flooring or lino, a nice colourful rug will do the trick adding some instant character to your floor.

The time and effort that you put into getting your home ready to accept viewers will be very well spent and will help both maximise your sale price AND lead to a quicker sale.