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Preparing your house for a sale
If you want to sell your home, then you have to present it in the best light possible. This seems obvious, but so often people do little or nothing to their homes before the first viewers arrive. Or do the bare minimum of cleaning and tidying, and assume that their lifestyle and ornaments will appeal to every potential buyer. The reality is that in most cases they won’t.
Generally
The more you can do to make your home warm, natural, spacious and relaxing the better. Look for the shabbiest darkest areas and consider redecorating, either painting or hanging neutral wall paper in living areas. Look at the carpets; they might be helped by a professional clean, or by being replaced. It may seem counter intuitive to be replacing carpets just as you’re about to leave, but the cost is a fraction of the price of your home. |
| Make sure everywhere is clean, walls, doors, windows, floors so you can check what is really needed. Another thing to check is the bedrooms; new clean looking beds can be bought at affordable prices such as Time4Sleep single beds . Remember the beds will be taken with you so it is not a complete financial loss here.
And declutter. This is the perfect time to get rid of all those bits and pieces we all end up collecting that are really never wanted or needed. Sell, donate, recycle, or store it, but get rid of as much as possible.
Kerb appeal
First impressions count. It doesn’t matter how wonderful your home’s interior is, if buyers see a mess outside they’ll already have formed a negative opinion. Get front garden neat and tidy, you can buy mature plants if there are obvious gaps in boarders, or a ready planted container for buy the door. Don’t forget the gate if you have one.
Living Room
I most homes this is the first room visitors see. It’s the space that family time and socialising will take place. What buyers really want from this room is space. And the only way to create a spacious feel is to remove as much stuff from it as possible. Take this to extremes. Take out a few items of furniture, and all ornaments. Really, all of them. A blank canvas will be much more appealing, and allow potential buyers to imagine their own items in here. If you have one or two truly special items then leave them artfully on display. But for the best effects everything else that can go should go. If you’re not going to want the furniture in your new home, sell it now, if you will want it all you could consider putting some into storage.
Kitchen
Clear away everything from the surfaces, a bowel of fruit could be the exception but everything else should go. Make the insides of cupboards as uncluttered as possible too. Buyers will open the doors to check, and you want to suggest a surplus of space.
Bathroom
The bathroom is one of the biggest sellers (or off puts!) of a house. Obviously it needs to be spotlessly clean, but if you budget can stretch to it consider redecorating, new trendy tiling or a coat of paint in a fresh colour is always a good idea. A new set of towels for display only and a new shower curtain are the least you should do here.
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