There are a few ways to consider the idea of maximising when you’re selling your home.
Buyers aren’t buying a “property” they’re buying what they think is going to be a better lifestyle for them, with a viewing you’re looking to convince them that your warm, cosy home can offer them this lifestyle so we’ve written a few tips to help on some parts you might not have considered.
Step one was us bringing you the potential buyer to your home, now we’re looking at turning that in to an offer, or better still multiple offers.
Selling your home only needs one offer, but if we can help create multiple offers then you can squeeze the price up to the highest bidder.
Firstly, much of the value of your home is already figured out by the houses that are sold around you. Your surveyor has a job that is regulated and is based on ‘comparables’ in your area. (we talked about that in our
For them, it is much easier to put an estimate on a flat when you’re in a big block of flats and there’s been several sales in the last few years – they will base their estimate on this.
However, we’re trying to maximise this value, and when we bring your viewers you want them to fall in love with your property – not another one down the street.
So, let’s consider some of the big things that are going to maximise your sales price.
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Clean your home
De-clutter
Fix anything that’s broken
Make a good first impression
De-personalise your home
Go Neutral
Define your room
Eliminate smells
To start with, let’s work on the easy things.
Clean your home.
The basics, give it a deep clean, shampoo the carpets, mop the floors. This should be done before you get your photos done, but also make sure to give it a good clean before anyone comes to view it.
You’re giving the impression that you have cared for this home – you love it, and you’re telling them they’re going to love it.
The consequence is, if you don’t clean it they will compare your home to the one where someone has cleaned and tidied thoroughly. Buyers aren’t seeing cleanliness, they’re seeing that you love it enough to keep it clean.
De-clutter.
Get rid of clutter and your house will look bigger. No piles of junk in the corners, no dishes taking up the kitchen unit space. Buyers are looking for a tidied, ordered place to live – they don’t want to be thinking about your junk in their potential new home.
Start looking at your home as a ‘commodity’ for sale. You would clean, and tidy and spruce it up if you wanted to get the best price for it.
You might also want to throw away, donate (or even sell) some of the clutter!
Note that serious buyers might look in cupboard space, especially if it is built in so don’t just move your clutter. If you can, take it to a friends, a parents, or a storage unit if you’ve got a lot of clutter.
Fix anything broken.
That’s it. Those little dents in the wall, fill them and paint over them. A well maintained house shouts out that it is well cared for – one that isn’t makes it harder.
The other reason behind this, some buyers can overestimate the cost of getting something fixed, but they also factor in the time and hassle needed to get something fixed. They want to move in to something that is cared for and is already in great condition.
Make a good first impression.
Look at your house from the outside. How is its ‘kerb appeal’?. How does it compare to your neighbours, and other homes in the street. If there’s something you can do here, it will be worth it. It might not take a full home painting job, but cut and trim the grass, give a hedge a fresh cut, and make sure the gate doesn’t squeak.
De-personalise your home.
Buyers love to know that they’ll fit right in, they don’t want to see you in the house, they want to see them. Where it’s fine to have one or two family photos to show this was a loving home you might want to pack away the huge collection of antique frogs that only you love, you might want to remove the massive drum kit from the spare room (if you have somewhere to put it), and you might want to remove the kids trophies, certificates and artwork for a few weeks while you sell.
Go neutral.
Everyone knows it, new homes are always sold a nice colour of beige. It can be hard to sell your rainbow carpet with bright red walls. Go for neutral colours.
It isn’t because they don’t look great, it’s because where you have a love for purple, others may have a love for yellow. It can be hard to overcome bigger, bolder elements of design and colour when you are trying to work with completely unknown viewers and if you’re loud and bold, and they’re quiet, they can feel overwhelmed.
As well as this, going neutral and light coloured will make your rooms will appear bigger, your viewers will also be able to picture themselves in neutral places – nothing overpowering.
Define your room.
‘Room creep’ can happen and you don’t even notice it. Your living room hosts your office stuff at the back, your spare bedroom has become your dumping ground, the dining room has become the kids play area…
In the last few years we’ve changed the way we use our homes but a clearly defined room adds to the perceived value of your home.
Different rooms hold different perceived values for buyers
– bedrooms are valued more highly than offices
– dining rooms are valued more highly than playrooms
This also gives you a good chance to clear some floor space and make your house look bigger. Floor space is the ultimate definition in perceived room size.
In this, you should also consider if you want to get rid of some furniture, perhaps take your home back to the minimum level of furniture you can get away with. We know this is sometimes hard because, if you want to keep something for your new home you can’t just get rid of a cupboard, but if you can put it somewhere (storage, a friends garage) then the more floor space you free up the better. It maybe a good idea to shuffle on those dresses you swore you’d wear again (but haven’t in five years, or that ‘pet’ project your other half has that never developed)
Think about a show home – go see one – you’ll notice minimum furniture, if you’re really considering a new home think to yourself “where would I hang my clothes in this house” especially since some of their 3rd and 4th bedrooms can be pretty small.
However, the illusion of space, tidyness, and order is what sells that uncluttered, simple, dream.
Eliminate smells.
We don’t have to tell you this makes perfect sense. Smells, particularly *your* smells are a turn off for buyers. The things about *your* smell is, you don’t notice it because you’re in it all the time.
Let’s think about things you viewer doesn’t want to smell:
– damp
– cooking
– smoking
– blocked drains
– full bins
The flip side is, this gives you the opportunity to present a good experience in your home using smell. You want it to be fresh and simple.
While it’s great if you think you can brew fresh coffee, or bake bread for every viewer that might be a bit of a nuisance. Try some fresh flowers, or very simply, put on a candle or keep a reed diffuser when you’re showing your home.
A single scent across your entire home will make make your home instantly more pleasant to be in.
Try some fresh, natural scents:
– cinnamon
– vanilla
– orange
– lemon
– cedar
They’re all better than ‘wet dog’ 😉
Overall
If you remember that you’re trying to enhance the experience of your viewers because you are competing in a market some of these pointers should make it easier to do.
It isn’t always about making your home “the best’, but making it stand out from the other houses that your viewers are going to see.
You can’t fight against your house not having the right location, or not being the right size, you can’t change the amenities but when someone comes to see your house it is because they have already accepted these things about your house are what they are looking for.
The list here gives you focus on things within your home that you can control that will help you get a better price, or sell quicker. When we visit we can review some of these ideas and how they pertain to your home, we’ll give you some open an honest advice about some ideas we think you can do.