It never ceases to amaze me how many clients I see who still don't know the simplest tricks to help sell their homes. Most of these are common sense, but if you haven't come across them before, feel free to stick my cheque in the post.
1. Start on the outside.
When people arrive to see a new house their senses are in overdrive and every detail is crucial. Make sure there's no trash in the driveway, cut the grass and make sure your garden looks its best. You'll get bonus points for hanging baskets and a fresh lick of paint.
2. De-clutter.
When it comes to your stuff, less is more. You need to give potential clients room to imagine your home in their own image. If you want to take your sale seriously then you need to start getting your stuff out, or at very least get it in storage. Remember, buyers will want to have a good look at the cupboard space and if you've piled them to the rafters with your stuff, you won't be doing yourself any favours.
3. Employ a fine-toothed comb.
From the moment you moved into your home until the day you leave it, you're likely to have spent most of your days in that house. We don't see the cracks in the paint, nor the cobwebs in the corners when we see the same place every day, in the same way we don't see our kids growing up day by day. You need to take a fresh look at your house. Clear your mind and try to see it as a buyer would.
4. A scent for the senses.
There's nothing more pleasing than a welcoming smell. You can play it simple and just invest in a nice scented candle, or go the whole hog and bake a batch of cookies to coincide with the next viewing.
5. Google it.
Strange as it seems, the first thing you're likely to do if you were considering buying a new house is to Google the local area and yet we never seem to consider Googling our own area. You might not be able to do much about what you find, but forewarned is forearmed. That said, it's not like you're going to be up against Apple, if you do want to push that local paper story about refuse complaints off the front page.
