Readying your home for prospective purchasers

Selling your home can be such a daunting experience.  You’ll have to accept that selling your home will be some effort whilst viewings are happening.  However, if you put in the work at this stage, you will hopefully be rewarded by attractive offers on your property.

Our friends Catherine and Patricia at Maven have put together a few ideas to help you make your home as enticing as possible to potential buyers.

Clear away clutter
This is an ideal opportunity to declutter.  You don’t want to have to carry boxes of clutter to your new place, so no better time to get ruthless.  Clearing clutter will create space and you want to show prospective purchasers that there is LOADS of space in your home.  It will help keep the place easier to clean too, and as you’ll be on cleaning high alert for the foreseeable then this can only be a good thing.

If you haven’t yet jumped on the Marie Kondo bandwagon then now is the time.
It's handy to have a couple of boxes around that you can fire stuff into before viewings to keep things looking tidy. These crates from Muuto are ideal.  Just stash newspapers, remotes, post etc and everything looks instantly under control.


(Baskets from Maven from £65)

DIY
This is the time to attend to any little DIY jobs around the house.  Take an objective look around your home and see what needs addressed. Get leaky taps, wonky handles etc sorted now.

Cleaning
Get into the habit of not leaving the house unless the dishes are done, towels and beds are straightened, bins are emptied and any remaining clutter is stowed away.
Keep cleaning wipes in the bathroom so that you can give the sink a quick squizz over every morning before you leave in case an unscheduled viewing happens that day.


(Image courtesy of Maven)

Neutral or not?
Despite what your repeatedly hear, don’t think that you have to go neutral.  A complete lack of personality in a home can just make it seem really boring.  I sold my apartment through GOC a few years ago.  It was painted black and didn’t seem to deter purchasers.


(Image courtesy of Maven)

Selling the dream
This is the most important bit.  People want to imagine their new life in their new home.  For them, this is the home where they will *finally* go to the gym regularly, get up an hour earlier every morning and host amazing dinner parties.
You have to make them believe that this is the house where all this can happen. So, make sure you have the garden preened, driveways power washed, attractive pots by the front door etc.  Inside, pretty flowers, leafy house plants, great cook books and candles are all winners. Clear away family photos, kids’ artwork and anything overtly religious, this is not about selling your lifestyle to a purchaser, this is about them easily visualising their new life in this home.


(Images courtesy of Maven)


Maven can be located at Reid Memorial Hall, 4a Maryville Avenue, Belfast, BT9 7HE or online at www.wearemaven.co.uk