Selling Your Property - Overall

Look around your home with a critical eye. Are there little repair jobs which have been put off because of lack of time? Are there cracks which can be filled and painted over, frayed wallpaper which can be stuck back down? Is your sense of style to have lots of darkly painted rooms or bright colours? You may wish to tone very individual tastes down. You can not cater to the individual tastes of each buyer, but you can take away any adverse reaction to vibrant colours. Buyers who prefer bright colours will be able to picture their own decoration in a room. Most rooms benefit from newly painted walls in neutral colours as the majority of buyers are looking for light and airy rooms. A buyer who reacts adversely to a particular colour may hold their prejudice against the room, but a buyer who walks into a light, airy room will immediately start to picture living there. Focus attention on the room as a whole, not the bright pink feature wall!

Remove any clutter which does not allow buyers to see the potential of a room. You may know that your conservatory is well proportioned, but if it is full of junk then your buyers can not see through it to see that the room is large and airy. Get rid of anything that you do not use anymore - this saves having to pack it up to move - and tidy away anything that you still need. If your home is full of clutter that you can not bear to part with, can you lease some storage space and pack it away until you have moved?

If you have a room which you use for many different functions, then try to show it for the function that it was originally intended. For instance if a dining room is used as an office cum occasional dining room cum part-time television room, make sure that you show it as a proper dining room with the storage capacity for a home office. This will mean de-cluttering, maybe building in or buying storage space and tidying up. If this means having to make a few sacrifices to your lifestyle until you have sold the property, then focus on the fact that you will be buying a home with more space.

Once you have repaired any of the niggling little things that you have not had the time to do before, neutralised the décor, defined the rooms and removed the clutter, it is time to give the property a really good spring clean. You do not have to do this yourself - there are companies who will do it for you. But you must make sure that everything is clean and tidy. Buyers will want to look at everything included in the sale - this may include kitchen cupboards, ovens, and built-in wardrobes. If your oven is in a dreadful state, buyers may well take one look at it and think that they will need to budget for the cost of a new one if they buy your home, which may mean that they do not make an offer. The same thing goes for the whole kitchen, bathroom or carpets. Don’t forget the windows - particularly if one of your selling points is a lovely view.

Finally, if you have pets - particularly large ones - it may be worth removing as many traces of them as you can. Not everyone likes cats, dogs, snakes or hamsters! Dogs can make a home smell - and cover it in fur. Not everyone appreciates the sight of a cat sleeping on a bed and just the thought of snakes and their daily diet could put potential buyers off! It may be as simple as tidying away their paraphernalia and clearing any cats and dogs out of the property during viewings. Then air your home well and bring in some fresh flowers. If it is winter and you have a fire, you could light it. Make sure that it feels warm, as no one will want to buy a cold house. If it is dark when buyers come to look around, light all the rooms with table lamps rather than overhead lights to create a cosy atmosphere.

More Selling Your Property topics below:

• Overall - repairing, de-cluttering and cleaning to sell a home
• Cost-Effective Improvements - What are the best improvements to make to your property?
• Front Exterior - making your home immediately welcoming to potential buyers
• Kitchen - updating your kitchen to attract offers
• Living Room - clearing out the clutter to improve the main reception room
• Bedroom - tidying away any messy clothes and dressing to impress
• Children's Room - sorting out the storage to de-clutter
• Bathroom - clean, clean and clean again to create the right impression
• Spare Room - presenting to maximise the selling potential
• Garden - a little bit of gardening will go a long way

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