First Time Buyers Guide
Outside
Compare your home to
that of your neighbours. How does it
compare?
Have you:
- Mowed the lawn?
- Cleaned the gutter?
- Painted the woodwork?
- Put away all the garden clutter?
Don’t have time to make
it good? Consider
hiring a handyman or gardener. They can take
care of it quickly and inexpensively.
De-personalise
Those photographs of
your family or favourite pet that line the
hallway and stairwell. Take them down. All
of them. The ones in the rest of the house
too. Don’t forget the cute finger painting
your daughter made you for your birthday
last month that's still stuck on the fridge.
Your buyers don't want
to see the great life you've made for
yourself. They want to imagine the life they
could make for themselves in their beautiful
new home. Don't allow anything to spoil that
vision.
Speaking of a mess…
Get rid of your
clutter. If you're a hoarder now's the time to either
throw away or give them to charity or find a
home away in a cupboard. You might even
consider having a car boot sale (you might
make a few pennies along the way). Do
whatever you need to so that your buyers
never have to lock eyes on it.
Be aware of:
- Books, CDs and DVDs /li>
- Ornaments
- Kitchen tools and appliances that live on the workbench
- Plants
- Posters on your bedroom walls (we all know what kids are
like)
How about temporary
storage, clear the floors to impress.
Spring clean
AA good clean is needed,
pay attention to;
- Dust and repaint the skirting boards
- Clean the windows
- Dust light fixtures and furniture
- Polish taps and mirrors(a
nice shine will impress)
- Clean tile grout
Pets
Would you want to be
greeted at the door by a charming King
Charles Spaniel. Remove pets altogether when
you're showing your property.
Showing Buyers Round!
Your estate agent should and probably does know what he/she's
doing and has sold several houses already.
Why not leave the professionals to do their
job?
Buyers don't really
want you hovering over them while they're
trying to look around your home. They don’t want to be pressured into
the amount of time they can spend looking,
they like to linger. If they feel awkward,
they're much less likely to linger in your
home and get the full impact of how great it
is and how they'd very much like to buy it.
Fix It!
The devil is in the details, and the sale of your home could be
hampered by simple little things that you've
stopped paying attention to. Try to look at
your home from the perspective of your
buyer, and think about the details that
would impress or dismay you if you were in
their position. Then take care of those
details immediately.
- Ensure all light bulbs work
-
- No dripping taps
- Fix doors and
drawers that don't open or close
properly
- Repair cracks in the walls
- Touch up paint and
repaint altogether where necessary
- Hang up fresh
towels in the bathroom
- Make the walls
neutral ( a few pounds on fresh paint
will make all the difference.
- Eradicate odours -
particularly those from cigarette smoke,
mildew and pets. Open the windows and
air out your house. Simply masking bad
smells with a perfumed air freshener
won't do the trick
- Replace cushion
covers, bedspreads and curtains that are
worn or have garish colours and patterns
Make it bright
Use natural light as
this is the top of the list of things people
want in their new home. There are other ways
to maximise the light in your house -
natural or otherwise - and give the
impression of having plenty of bright, airy
space.
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