Increase the Value of Your Home
You’ve decided to sell your most valuable asset: your home. UKNetGuide offers ten surprisingly quick and easy ways to get the maximum price.
You’ve decided to sell your most valuable asset: your home. UKNetGuide offers ten surprisingly quick and easy ways to get the maximum price.
- Increase your kerb appeal. First impressions count. Most buyers make a mental yes or no decision within three minutes of viewing a property, so make the outside of your house as attractive as possible. Pick up litter in the front garden, put council bins down the side alley and mow the grass. If you live in a communal block of flats, clear away the junk mail and old post.
- Basic
DIY can save you thousands. Clear gutters of old leaves, scrub mould spots off bathroom walls, paint over old water stains on walls and ceilings with white gloss paint, then repaint in the original colour. You want to give the impression that your home has been well cared for. Paint the front door for that extra wow factor.
- Clean the windows. It not only looks better, but clean windows let in more light, a key selling point for many buyers.
- Banish smokers. In a survey by the Woolwich in 2004, potential homebuyers listed the smell of cigarette smoke as the biggest turnoff when viewing a property. It can bring down the price of your property by an average £16,000.
- After smokers pets run a close second. Banish them outdoors when you have a viewing, and be sure to stash pet paraphernalia such as smelly dog baskets and cat litter trays outdoors. *Animal hairs on furniture would make up to 20 per cent of buyers think twice before making an offer*, (according to the Woolwich survey).
- Clear the hallway. This often neglected area is the first port of call for any viewer, so make it seem as large and clutter-free as possible. Clear away coats, football boots, bikes and other items that could turn buyers off. A spacious hall can whet the appetite of any buyer to see the rest of the property.
- Elbow grease is the key to getting a top price. Clean and clean again. For 10% of the Woolwich respondents, dirty fridges and ovens gave the impression that the house was not cared for, resulting in a lower offer price.
- Use lemon-scented household cleaners. This is associated with a warm welcoming environment, and gives the impression that your house is squeaky clean.
- Get used to living clutter-free. Depersonalise your space while you’re having viewings. Potential buyers have to be able to imagine themselves in your space. This means clearing away family photos cluttering the mantelpiece, children’s drawings on the fridge, and the pile of newspapers by the armchair. To be prepared for last-minute viewings, never be more than half an hour away from getting the house clean and tidy. Put the loo seat down and do the washing up.
- Be careful what you say to prospective buyers. Never say you’re moving because your house is too small, local traffic noise is too noisy, or because you hate the neighbours. Find a plausible reason.
