In his guest blog Howard Bottomley, Director at EweMove North Leeds discusses the importance of a good de-clutter prior to selling your house.
Start with this golden rule…
Give away or recycle anything that you’re not going to take with you to your new home – NOW!
You need to place yourself in the shoes of your buyer. When they come into your home, full of its treasures and nick-knacks, they don’t picture a house full of character. All they’ll see is a space that’s crowded full of somebody else’s items. This makes it difficult for them to imagine themselves living there. You need to overcome this barrier, because by doing so it will help you sell your house quickly and for more money.
I find the best way of tackling this is head on, in one fell swoop. This involves setting aside at least one weekend: it’s actually quite liberating and very cathartic!
You must make sure that you remove or repair all items that are broken. If your potential buyer sees something that’s not working, subconsciously they’ll be thinking; “What else in this house needs fixing and how much is it going to cost me?”.
When it comes to cleaning your home, it needs to be spotless, paying particular attention to the bathroom and kitchen. These rooms should be washed down with lemon fresh bleach, leaving a nice fragrance for every viewing. And remember to remove any personal hygiene items from the bathroom. Nobody likes to see a used toothbrush, toothpaste or razor when they are viewing someone else’s home!
Now this may all seem like a lot of hard work, and it’s very easy to put it off until you get your first viewing, but if you do it before your agent takes the marketing photos, your house will really stand out. The fact is that a couple of days of hard work can quite literally add thousands of pounds to your house value and help you ensure that the sale goes through quickly.
As ever, please give me a call on 07470 44 63 66, if you’d like a chat about your house. Even if you have no immediate plans to move, I’m always happy to help.
Howard Bottomley, Director, EweMove North Leeds
07470 44 63 66
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*Advertorial blog for EweMove North Leeds
