When you go for an interview for a new job I’m sure you always dress well and wear a few well chosen accessories. That’s what you need to do with your home when you want to sell it for the best price as quickly as possible.
You need to accentuate the positive things about your home. Neutralise any negative aspects, define all spaces and create a lifestyle.
Step 1 – Declutter
Step 2 – De-personalise
Step 3 – DIY
Step 4 – Decorate
Step 5 – Deep clean
Step 6 – Dress
Step 1 – Declutter
It’s time to get rid of your DROSS – Duplicate, Redundant, Outdated and Supurflous Stuff.
As someone who has moved house 14 times over the last 34 years I have lost count of the number of times I have said I must have a serious clear out before I move. I did manage it once when moving from a large 4-bedroom house to a small 2-bedroom house though!
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” William Morris
Less is definitely more when it comes to presenting your home for sale. The less cluttered your home is the more appealing it will be to potential buyers. Rooms always look bigger than they actually are if they are presented well. Present each room with a definite purpose. For example, if the spare room is being used as a storage space turn it back into a bedroom.
Leave kitchen and bathroom surfaces as clear as possible. You can put items in baskets or other containers that can be quickly stored away when you have viewings.
Step 2 – De-personalise
Your aim is for potential buyers to walk into your home and to start mentally moving in. This will be much easier for them to do if you have edited your personal items. If you have lots of family pictures around the house replace these with general artwork that works with the colour scheme. Pack away all those trophies and certificates.
Step 3 – DIY
In today’s fast paced world everyone wants to move into a new home where they can kick off their shoes, unpack their suitcases and carry on with their busy family, work and social lives.
If you leave unfinished DIY jobs you are not only putting potential buyers off, because they don’t want the hassle, you are also sending a message that there may be other hidden issues with the property. You are giving them a reason to knock thousands off your asking price. Often the unfinished jobs will only cost you a few hundred pounds for a handyman to fix or even less if you are handy and can do the fixing and mending yourself.
Step 4 – Decorating
You should also review the decorative order of your home both on the inside and on the outside. Be honest, if it is looking tired then sort it out. Do you have any rooms that are in a style that might not fit with the rest of your home? For example, you may have decorated the whole house in a light neutral colour and decided to go wild in one room and paint it shocking pink. You love it, however, it may be the one thing that puts a potential buyer off.
Step 5 – Deep clean
Give your home a good old fashioned Spring clean. Kitchens and bathrooms are especially important, you might want to consider getting a professional company in to do this for you. It is always worth bringing in a few professionals to do jobs such as oven cleaning, window cleaning (inside and out) and carpet cleaning.
Step 6 – Dress
…and finally review each room and make a list of things that need to be replaced or upcycled.
Here’s a few ideas or the sorts of things that you might need to replace:
- Kitchen – kettle and matching toaster.
- Lounge – curtains, floor lamp, cushions and throws.
- Dining Room – dining table and chairs.
- Bedrooms – bedding and table lamps.
- Bathrooms – towels and bathmat.
One of my passions is upcycling furniture and soft furnishings. If you are handy with a paint brush and a sewing machine then before you head out to the shops have a look at what you already have, is there anything that you can give a new lease of life to and save a few pennies?
All the new items you buy can obviously go with you to your new home.
If you have an empty property that you have been renting out and are now ready to sell then you can always look at the option of hiring furniture and accessories.
Get advice from an expert home stager
How much does it cost? You can spend anything from £65 for a telephone consultation through to £10,000+ depending on the amount of remedial work needed. The important thing is to see this as an investment, not as wasting money on a property you are selling. In our experience home owners generally recoup the cost plus and more importantly sell their property much quicker than an un-staged property.
There are a number of different ways in which you can get advice and assistance from an expert home stager, from a 1 hour telephone consultation through to instructing them to project manage the whole process for you.
One of the important skills a professional home stager brings to the party is knowing where and what to spend money on when giving your home that all important makeover. Even if you decide you want to do all the work yourself, investing in a 1 hour telephone consultation or a 2 hour on-site consultation with an expert home stager can potentially save you much more than the cost of their consultation fee.
Once you have done all your decluttering, de-personalising, DIY, decorating and deep cleaning you may also want to consider getting an expert home stager in to assist you with the final staging and styling of your property.
…and if all of this sounds like too much hard work then you can always call in an expert home stager to take care of the whole process for you, including interviewing and selecting the right Estate Agent to market your property. This service is particularly attractive if you live at the other end of the Country or even abroad. You have the piece of mind in knowing that you have a single point of contact who is managing all the various trades and making sure that your project comes in on time and on budget.
Conclusion
If you want to get the best price possible for your property and sell it as quickly as possible then we recommend you follow our simple 6 step process:
- Declutter
- De-personalise
- DIY
- Decorating
- Deep clean
- Dress
… and if you have neither the will or the skill to do it yourself then give us a call and we can take away your pain and turn your property from Your Home to a Show Home!