Selling your house can be a long and laborious process. There’s choosing your estate agent, getting the property valued, then the wait for prospective buyers and preparing for all of the viewings that lie ahead – and let’s not even get started on the actual buying and selling process! It’s a long road, and there is a lot you’ll need to organise and do, but there are some things you can do to speed the process along, and make it that little bit easier. If you’re selling your house in the near future, then here are some of the things you can do to ensure it sells successfully.
Get Your Timing Right and Target the Market
Whether you’re selling a tenanted property or your house is ready to go, it’s always a good idea to try and sell at the right time, and target the market as best you can. After all, if you’re going to sell in a time when no one in the market is looking to buy, you’re going to struggle – that’s just common sense.
Although the market is unpredictable, for example the UK are currently sitting in a strange economical place with the impending possibility of a no deal Brexit going through, there are times that are right to sell your house, no matter what. Let’s take a little look at the available options:
- The worst times to sell your house are undoubtedly Autumn and Winter. It goes without saying, the short dark days and the long nights don’t bode well for the potential mover. It’s a time of hibernation, rather than a time of new beginnings, so think about it like that. If you’re eager to sell, these months could be a good time to prepare your home.
- Summer and Spring are far better. We get more daylight hours, and generally people feel a lot more like moving and having a fresh start. After all, Spring is the time of new beginnings, isn’t it? There does tend to be a slow down for families around the six week holiday period, but other than that it’s fairly positive.
- Then of course, there’s the new year. January is that month where everyone promises to be a nicer person, they go on diets, join the gym, and generally treat it as a do-over. This is why it’s a great time to sell – people are eager for new starts and new beginnings in the new year.
Declutter and Depersonalise Your Home
One of the worst things you can do is leave the decluttering of your home until you start the moving out process. Not only will your house look worse for viewings and photographs, but you’ll also find yourself a lot more stressed than you would have been had you done it in advance. A great way of organising clutter is into three simply categories:
- Clutter that isn’t clutter at all, it’s something you want or need to keep but just don’t have storage for it. Either put this stuff away until you move, or find storage for it – but don’t leave it as clutter.
- Clutter that you don’t need, but could be of use to someone else. Why not donate this stuff to your local charity shop? After all, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!
- Clutter that is clutter – and you shouldn’t be hoarding it. Take this stuff straight to the skip!
Freshen Up the Rooms
Last but certainly not least, freshen all of your rooms up. You can do this however you see fit.
You might choose to rearrange the furniture, or add some new accessories. Something as simple as a lick of paint goes a long way, and light, neutral colours can make the rooms look more spacious, and again, more impersonal.
A cheap way to liven up any space is simply by adding house plants into it. It really brings the outdoors in, and helps the room to feel fresher and more connected to nature. A little air freshener goes a long way too. All of these tiny details really make the difference when it comes down to the crunch – so what are you waiting for?