A brief guide to selling a house
Selling a house is difficult at the best times, but it can become a great deal more stressful if you have to sell it quickly. While many homeowners believe that a lower sale price is an inevitable consequence of achieving a quick sale, some careful preparation can increase your chances of finding a buyer who is willing to pay a reasonable price. By taking a few relatively simple steps, you can drastically improve your chances of a quick and profitable sale.
Create ‘kerb appeal.’
Buying a new home is usually an emotional experience, and even the slightest of problems can deter potential buyers from making a quick bid. First impressions are critical in this regard, so sprucing up your property with a lick of paint will go some way to creating kerb appeal and impressing buyers from the moment they arrive. Likewise, attending to the fascias of your home by carrying out repairs and cosmetic improvements has the potential to transform the whole look of your house. Give your garden a makeover as well, and you could create lasting impressions from the moment buyers arrive.
‘De-clutter to allow imaginations to roam free
While you may love your home precisely the way it is, excess furniture, magazines, newspapers, and a range of everyday personal belongings can be surprisingly off-putting to buyers. Most people want to visualise themselves in a property, but that can be not easy if your home is strewn with your possessions. Taking a dispassionate view of the process of ‘de-cluttering is essential if you want your home to appeal to as many people as possible. Rent some temporary storage space if you have to, but try to create a blank canvas for prospective buyers.
Neutralise your entire property
Achieving a quick sale becomes more likely if you can make it appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. The last thing you want to do is alienate buyers with unusually distinctive colours, décor and furnishings. Select some neutral shades, and neutralise every room in your home. The use of colours such as ‘magnolia’ and beige will ensure you don’t run the risk of offending buyers’ senses, and it is another way of giving people the freedom to visualise themselves in your home.
Get your home ready to move into
With money as tight as it is these days, first-time buyers often don’t have extra cash to spend improving their new home. If your home is ready to move into without the need for significant repairs or renovations, it is likely to appeal to cash-strapped buyers who want to get the keys and settle straight in. You can achieve this by attending to all those niggling repairs you have been putting off. As well as a fresh coat of paint, the addition of some new carpets could give your home the edge over others in the area.
Stage your home
Several professional staging companies specialise in making a home appeal to particular demographic groups of buyers. While these services often draw on tried and tested staging methods, nothing stops you from going it alone and staging your property. The careful placement of furniture can create the illusion of extra space, and sensible use of artificial lighting can breathe new life into the main rooms of your home. You may also want to consider removing blinds and large, bulky curtains and drapes to allow natural light in.
Whether you are holding an open house event or hosting a series of individual viewings, you should remember that most buyers rely on their emotional response to a house to make a buying decision. So while it is essential to ‘de-clutter and neutralise your property, you should take care not to remove its identity altogether. If it’s a family home, there is nothing wrong with allowing it to live and breathe; in fact, seeing the house being lived in is often a reassuring sign for buyers. Put yourself in the shoes of potential buyers, imagine what they will be looking for and stage your home accordingly.
The property market is slowly recovering after a turbulent few years; however, with some careful preparation and a little tender, loving care, you can significantly increase your chances of selling a house, securing a speedy sale at a reasonable price.
