House selling tips please

MadamDotty

MadamDotty

Back again!
My house is going on to the market today, Estate Agent's coming round this afternoon to take all the pictures and measurements.​

It's all happened a bit quickly as when DH mentioned moving a few weeks ago, I wasn't overly fussed as I love where we are, but hubby would like more space and an older property, I said it would take something pretty special to make me want to move. And so, of course, we found something pretty special, without even trying very hard, we've fallen in love with an house that was orignally a row of three cottages, they been extended at the back and split into two houses. Lots of character and very roomy and spacious and we love it. it's even got a small study at the front that would be perfect for my CDCing, with an alcove just the right size for my shelves that hold all my stock.​

So we got our house valued last week, pleasantly surprised and have spent all week tarting it up, tidying (tons) and cleaning the house to within an inch of it's life, I've seen corners that I haven't seen in years!​

Our problem is that all three of us are terrible horders and none of us are tidy by nature. And although there's only 3 of us in this good sized 4 bed house, we've filled every last blooming inch of it & I know the house would look a lot bigger if some of the clutter was removed. I asked DH for some boxes earlier in the week to put some stuff away (a la the House Doctor) but at the moment he can't get ANYTHING else in the attic, it's so full :eek: Surprised the ceiling's haven't collapsed.​

Now I know they say to have fresh coffee brewing when viewers come round, but I've got a Tassimo machine, so that's not going to work :p and also fresh bread or cakes baking, but I think that's a bit corny & too obvious. I remember going to see a house years ago, when we moved up here in fact and the lady had a full fire blazing, yes it looked lovely but it was an August heatwave at the time and she was baking apple tarts in the oven, and I couldn't help but wonder why she was trying to hard. So not sure about that?​

I've bought lots of air fresheners and have them scattered around the house, as we've a dog and I know non-dog owners can smell them as soon as they come in the house, and I've got fresh flowers in the lounge, which I'll renew weekly (telling DH it's a necessary expense I'm afraid) :p I also bought a hanging basket and tub of daffs yesterday at the garden centre, to give the front of the house a bit of kerb appeal.​

So have I forgotten anything, is there something else I should/could be doing? Anyone else got any tips for a speedy sale, as we don't want to lose the house we've seen, but need to get a good price on ours to afford the one we want.​

All ideas gratefully recieved.​

x​
 
Think you are doing everything, Do you have anyone the dogs can stay with when you have viewings, will you be doing the viewings or the agent...?
The doogy smell is the big one though, some people just dont like animals, so the smellies are a good idea, have you got the plug in ones that gives a spray every so often they are good. Also open the windows a little too, as long as its not too cold.

Good luck with the sale. Keep us posted on how it goes.
 
Thanks Sonkie.

The plan is to keep the dog outside when we've got viewers, she has her own part of the garden which is fenced off which she gets to through her own little doggie flap. So I'll put her outside and close the doggie flap and that way viewers can still go out into the garden without being accosted (in a very friendly way though :) ).

Got a good assortments of air fresheners, from scented candles, the little glass ones to the ones with fans, so hopefully the house will smell good & yes opening the windows too will bring some fresh air into the house. Looks like the weather is set to warm up a bit, which is good news.

Will let you know how it goes. The house is gleaming at the moment, but it's going to be hell keeping it like this - another reason to hope it sells really quickly :D
 
I have just been selling my mam's house and I always had fresh flowers which I changed each week something bright and colourful I also tried a few air fresheners but felt it was a bit strong and worried that people would think I was trying to hide something.

Good luck I'm a firm believer in it will happen if it is meant to happen
Irene xx
 
i'm selling mine soon. had valuations at the weekend and was also pleasantly surprised. i always think fresh flowers or green houseplants are nice, as little clutter as possible. i plan to minimalise a bit- hide away anything that'll make things look clearer- like i have loads of photo frames out but im going to put some away.i think you always want to bear in mind that people want to visualise themselves in the house and if it says too much about who lives there at the moment, that can be hard. good luck! it is a good time to sell!
 
IreneH said:
I have just been selling my mam's house and I always had fresh flowers which I changed each week something bright and colourful I also tried a few air fresheners but felt it was a bit strong and worried that people would think I was trying to hide something.

Good luck I'm a firm believer in it will happen if it is meant to happen
Irene xx
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree with you there Irene and just in case it works I've put a "cosmic order" in as well :)
 
GreenDayJen said:
i'm selling mine soon. had valuations at the weekend and was also pleasantly surprised. i always think fresh flowers or green houseplants are nice, as little clutter as possible. i plan to minimalise a bit- hide away anything that'll make things look clearer- like i have loads of photo frames out but im going to put some away.i think you always want to bear in mind that people want to visualise themselves in the house and if it says too much about who lives there at the moment, that can be hard. good luck! it is a good time to sell!
Click to expand...

Hi Jen

Yes you're right about minimalising, that's the plan this weekend, get some of the clutter put away and de-personalise it a bit. Our house is quite brightly painted as I love colour, it's not garish, but each room has colour in it, which I hope isn't too offputting. I'm not ready to cover it all in magnolia just yet!

Best of luck with your housemove too - are you planning to move far?

Jan
x
 
Hiya
get rid of your clutter - I know that you have no room in the loft at the moment - but even if you have to pay for it into storage, it will reap benefits!
You never know you may be able to part with some of it if you have to pay storage costs?
the blanker the canvas - the better the picture will paint for the viewers!
good luck with your viewings - where is the house you want to buy?
Any piccys? It sounds beautiful..
 
MadamDotty said:
Hi Jen



Best of luck with your housemove too - are you planning to move far?

Jan
x
Click to expand...

further into central london but not sure where yet. am putting everything in storage and moving in with my aunt and uncle for a couple of months to give myself time to look around and decide and also to make it a nice, easy, chain free sale. i still co-own with my ex and the time has come to sell up and divvy up the profit. i've also moved job since moving here and it's now far too long of a commute for my liking so it's all for the best x
 
nadhak said:
Hiya
get rid of your clutter - I know that you have no room in the loft at the moment - but even if you have to pay for it into storage, it will reap benefits!
You never know you may be able to part with some of it if you have to pay storage costs?
the blanker the canvas - the better the picture will paint for the viewers!
good luck with your viewings - where is the house you want to buy?
Any piccys? It sounds beautiful..
Click to expand...

Thanks Nadine - I will be sending DH up into the attic this weekend to clear some space and a big de-clutter is the plan of attack over the weekend.

I'll see if I can get some piccies up for you.

x
 
GreenDayJen said:
further into central london but not sure where yet. am putting everything in storage and moving in with my aunt and uncle for a couple of months to give myself time to look around and decide and also to make it a nice, easy, chain free sale. i still co-own with my ex and the time has come to sell up and divvy up the profit. i've also moved job since moving here and it's now far too long of a commute for my liking so it's all for the best x
Click to expand...

Hope it all goes well for you, good idea to give yourself time to find what you want and get of a chain. Just what we haven't done LOL although there's no chain on the house we want as a builder has bought it and renovated it.

All the best

Jan
x
 
Here's a picture of the house we want to buy

new.jpg
 
oh it's gorgeous! i don't wanna know how much it is because it is probably a massive bargain compared to anything i'm looking at in london! is it a new build?x
 
It's a renovation, it was a row of three cottages, they've extended them at the back and split into two houses, the 4 bed which we want, and next door is a 3 bed.

It really is gorgeous, just hope we get it.

Prices have gone up here and caught up a lot, but it's still probably about the same price as a 1 bed flat in London :p
 
Hey Jan,
How's the house selling going? Our sale completes end of April.

We sold our house in 5 weeks which is really good for a larger house (as you probably know) and we did the whole 'House Doctor' thing and painted, put new rugs down-the lot! I don't really like room freshners my self, but I did use essential oils (fresh smelling ones like lemongrass and lavender) and took down loads of family pictures and had candles burning. It did the trick. I would recommend getting rid of the 'clutter' as well-I'll never forget looking at one place that had about 20 bottles of shampoo in the bathroom (and they were all dusty and dirty) and it really put me off.

Good luck! Who are you selling with?
Kassi x x
 
Kassileigh said:
Hey Jan,
How's the house selling going? Our sale completes end of April.

We sold our house in 5 weeks which is really good for a larger house (as you probably know) and we did the whole 'House Doctor' thing and painted, put new rugs down-the lot! I don't really like room freshners my self, but I did use essential oils (fresh smelling ones like lemongrass and lavender) and took down loads of family pictures and had candles burning. It did the trick. I would recommend getting rid of the 'clutter' as well-I'll never forget looking at one place that had about 20 bottles of shampoo in the bathroom (and they were all dusty and dirty) and it really put me off.

Good luck! Who are you selling with?
Kassi x x
Click to expand...


Hiya Kassi - how you doing.

Where are you moving to, are you going far? Won't be long if your sale completes at the end of April.

We're selling with DB Roberts, only because they've got the 1% fee offer at the moment and they're selling the house we want as well, so it made sense - plus they suggested a higher selling price for ours than Barbers did so that helped :D

I found some Yankee candles in Homebase today and thought they'd smell a lot nicer than the air fresheners, so I've moved the air fresheners to the bathroom and will use the candles in the hallway as it then wafts through the rest of the house.

I don't know if you remember my house, but I've got a load of photos in the Dining Room & our Venture ones going up the stairs, I looked at them today and thought about taking them down, but finding it really hard to, but accept I may have to. But at least with them all being in one room, just about they're not all over the house.

Had a good de-clutter in the dining room today and it now looks twice as big and the house is so clean and tidy - doesn't feel like my house at all :D
 
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