Brexit is fast approaching, and many homeowners are generally unsure about selling their property in a turbulent market.
With reports recently from RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) that the housing market is at an all time low, many homeowners are choosing to stay where they are until there is a clearer outcome. However, this doesn’t help those homeowners who need to sell quickly, for whatever reason, but still want to achieve the best possible price for their homes.
Creating Kerb Appeal
Regardless of the current property climate, there are always going to be buyers and sellers looking to trade up or down in property. During more turbulent times in the property market selling a property may be more difficult but never impossible. If you are currently looking to sell your house and need to sell quickly – there is still light at the end of the tunnel if you ‘stage’ your property correctly to achieve the best possible result when it comes to viewings.
The starting point to selling a house quickly is to plan and prepare. Take one room at a time and depersonalise, clean, and repair. Once you have done this you can start to set your ‘stage’.
Our simple house sale formula to attract buyers goes as follows:
Step 1. Clearing the decks
The starting point to clearing out your home in order to stage it for a quick sale is to rent a storage unit. These units are relatively cheap these days (around £10 per week for an average sized unit). Begin to fill the storage unit with all of your personal belongings. This includes family photos, religious items, kids’ toys, books and collectables. Anything you would consider precious and personal to you needs to go into storage.
Step 2. Clean and repair
Next you want to start giving every room in your property a deep and thorough clean. This doesn’t just mean polishing around things; buyers notice fine detail; therefore, you need to go over every part of the room down to the finest of things. Make sure to clean skirting boards, door knobs and light switches. If you have any plaster work than needs repairing, paint that is cracking or walls that need sanding now is the time to do it. If you have rooms that are painted bright colours or wallpaper that is too vibrate, now is also the time to replace these with neutral colours.
Step 3. Exterior presentation
The first thing potential buyers are going to see is the exterior of your property, therefore you need to make it a priority to clean it up. This includes cutting the grass, sweeping the doorstep and hiding the bins. Remember the nicer your home looks from the outside, the more it will stick in a buyer’s mind.
Setting the Mood
Once you have depersonalised your home and cleaned and repaired as best you can – it’s now time to stage your home to get as much interest from buyers as you possibly can. Our method to setting the mood in your home is a simple four-point procedure:-
Step 1. Arrange the furniture
Take a course in Feng-Shui and arrange your furniture so it fits naturally and neatly within your home. If a room is looking cluttered and over filled because of a certain piece of furniture, consider moving it to the storage centre. If your furniture is looking old and shabby, you could also look at hiring staging furniture until your home has sold.
Step 2. Minimalise
Be sure to keep every room as minimal as possible. This means everything you are not using should be out of the property when it comes to viewings. You can have some accessories within each room but make sure you coordinate and place them effectively to not cause too much distraction. Cupboards and fitted wardrobes should ideally be left empty to ensure they look big and roomy.
Step 3. Smelling sells
If you have fresh coffee brewing, the subtle scent of fresh oranges or lemons lingering in the kitchen or a freshly cooked batch of bread in the oven it’s certain to trigger a homely and warm feeling to potential buyers. If this sounds too much, you could always buy some potpourri and place it near the entrance to your home.
Step 4. Fresh flowers have house sale powers
Fresh plants and flowers throughout a property give a ‘house’ a sense of being a ‘home’. Be sure to keep all plants well-watered and in sunlight.
Getting the Sale
As you are thinking of your home as a ‘set’ you need to visualise how your potential buyer looks and feels when they walk into each room. You also need to be as friendly as possible (if you are doing the viewings yourself) and give them space and time to look around.
It’s always a good idea to set out an area for when your buyers have looked around to sit for a coffee and a few biscuits. The longer you keep them in your home the more chance they have of falling in love with it.
If it is a quick house sale you are after, and you want to move in as quick a time possible you may ultimately need to consider discounting your asking price in order to get the sale time you require. The average house price has fallen 0.8% across the UK, and selling quickly means you may need to discount even further than this.
Still Struggling to Sell?
If you are a homeowner that has been on the market for some time, needs a quick house sale but struggling to find a buyer; one further option you could consider is a quick home sale using a ‘we buy any house service’ like the one offered by Ready Steady Sell – readysteadysell.co.uk/we-buy-any-house/. Quick house sale companies offer to buy your home from you for cash, and Ready Steady Sell in particular can complete on a sale in as little as 7 days with no fees.
