Selling your home can be just as overwhelming and daunting as buying one. They do say that house purchases are one of the most stressful things you can do. Unless you are a first-time buyer, your house buying process begins the minute you place a for sale sign outside your existing home. This is where you wait patiently, hoping that someone will love your place as much as you did. Once the sale is agreed, you enter the next stage of finding your next home, and the whole process from start to finish can take quite some time. A time where you may feel anxious, nervous, excitement and fear.
While it’s never easy to visualize how much your home will sell for. Or indeed, if the whole process will go smoothly, there are steps you can take to make things more simple. A lot of the buying and selling process is in your hands. You just need to have the initiative to take control of the situation. So I thought the best place to start would be right at the beginning. Getting your home in a saleable condition will ensure a quick and profitable sale, allowing you to move on to the next step. With that in mind, here are a few ways you can get your home ready for sale.
Look at your home through buyer’s eyes
Your home has served its purpose for you. Whatever the reason for sale the house no longer works for you in size, location, or cost. However, what will have happened is you will have grown accustomed to your home. It will be lived in and be decorated to your tastes. Which is totally fine when you are living in it, but not necessarily your best move for selling it. Take a moment to walk through your home and imagine yourself in a buyer’s shoes. How would you feel when you entered a particular room? Does the house feel like a workable home? Does it show function and promise? These are all questions someone will be saying as they walk through your home. Check out websites like http://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/top-tips-clever-questions-to-ask-the-estate-agent/ for a better insight. Doing this will indicate to you some of the work that needs to take place before you put it up for sale. It may be all cosmetic, or you may have to spend some time or money on getting it right. But it will all be worthwhile in the long run.
Appoint an estate agent you have confidence in
When it comes to appointing an estate agent who will market your home, it’s important to feel confident in their ability. It would be best advised to see a few different agents so you can gauge reactions and see how you feel towards them. You want someone enthusiastic about your house, is confident in selling it. At the end of the day, they are the ones that will be speaking to your potential buyer directly. So are they likable? Considering agents like TaylorEstateAgents.co.uk/forsaleoffice/st-albans/1341/ or other local ones would be a good idea. They will know your property and area inside out.
De-clutter your home
As mentioned earlier when it comes to our houses they are pretty much lived in with our things and belongings. But when it comes to selling your home a great approach would be to try and minimize some of the chaos of daily life. This will mean decluttering the rooms and getting rid of things you don’t need. You could even consider packing some stuff up ready for the move and making the room feel much more functional. When a buyer enters your home, they want to be able to visualize their furniture and belongings in your house. It would be difficult to do that if they are distracted by newspapers or bills lying around.
Consider redecorating
Most people will decorate their homes to their tastes. This might mean bright feature walls or crazy patterned wallpaper. It is after all your home. But sometimes those cosmetic things can put someone off if the color or decor doesn’t match their tastes. While it may seem pointless to decorate your whole home, especially as you are leaving, it might be worth making some changes here and there. You could repaint some of the walls in the home to a more neutral color. This will make your home appear clean, tidy, and ready to move into. All things a potential buyer would want to see in their new house.
Most buyers will want something they don’t have to mess with straight away. Having gone through a particularly stressful process of buying a house many people just want to enjoy their new home. This could be a big plus point for you if you take that issue away. A neutral decor will always appeal to the masses. Opening up your home to more potential buyers than it would initially. The first look someone has of a potential house is the pictures they see online or in the brochure. If something doesn’t appeal to them from that picture, they may likely never go and view that property. So put your best foot forward from the start.
Think about your home’s exterior look
Once someone has made an initial appointment to view your home their first physical impression of your house is the exterior. An unkempt front lawn, a messy driveway, a shabby door, can all be quite off-putting. However, these are all easy fixes with just a little time and effort. Make sure your first impression is a lasting one. So tidy up your gardens and get those lawns cut and trimmed. Brush away any debris or fallen leaves from a driveway or path. By foxing a doorway and even making sure the windows and door panes are cleaned you are making your home look its best. It may not cost much more money, and it may cost a lot of time. But it could be the difference between a sale being made and not be doing.
Make any necessary repairs
Sometimes when we live in our house, general maintenance can get put to the bottom of the list. But when you are selling your home you won’t want to have any reason for a sale not to be made. So take care of those odd jobs and repairs. It might be as simple as fixing a fence or replacing something in your garden. It might mean plastering a wall or fixing a door frame in the home. Whatever that job is, just get it fixed. It can sometimes be the simplest of things that can let a house down when it comes to selling. Again it’s all about imagining what a buyer would see and making the changes to make it more appealing. All of these things may cost a little money for materials or labor for some of the big jobs, but in the long term, it could add more to the value of your home.
Think about the rooms that sell a house
It’s common knowledge that a good kitchen and bathroom can sell a home. They tend to be the two major jobs that cost a considerable amount to replace or renew. While no one is expecting you to put a new kitchen or bathroom into a home you are selling, you could spend extra time making the best of them. A clean and concise kitchen showing storage and space will be appealing. As will a clean and tidy bathroom with no clutter on the sides. Take a look at this website http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-corbett/these-are-the-2-rooms-tha_b_5456275.html for a better idea.
If you want to make the big profit
Understandably you are moving for a reason. Whatever that reason may be. But you also want a decent return on your initial investment. If you have the time and some funds behind you, then there are a few things you can do to your home to make a bigger profit. If you have an outdated kitchen or bathroom could replace them, making them much more appealing. If you have the space to create any extra rooms in the house like a loft conversion, this could add quite a bit to the resale value for the extra bedroom. If you have the time, you could consider adding a conservatory to the house or extending further. All of which will add considerable value. The only downside is that some people would want to do those things yourself. So you may have to pick and choose what you do to make that extra profit. Money well spent will always be on the initial decor and functionality of a home.
I hope this guide will help you in the future when it comes to selling your home. It can be quite a daunting prospect, and it can get the emotions running high. But if you can take a clinical approach and plan the process then you should be able to get a quick and profitable sale. Allowing you to move forward with the next steps of the process.
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