Preparing your property for market

First impressions are purely that… first impressions.

How your home comes across in the first few minutes of viewing with a potential buyer can critically determine the outcome at the other end of the sale process. Tasteful decoration, careful presentation, and clever use of space, can all often be the crucial differences between an ‘acceptable’ result and a ‘great’ result.

At Bayleys, our sales personnel are intricately networked among the area’s best home décor designers, ‘home staging’ companies, building services, and landscape gardeners - who can all provide you with expert advice on ways to present your home for sale. Putting you in touch with these people is all part of the outstanding Bayleys customer service experience we willingly deliver at no extra charge.

While some homes require a bare minimum to prepare them for sale, others need a little additional input to really attract the market’s interest. At Bayleys, we’ve put together just a few recommendations on how you can maximise the sale price of your home…

Street appeal Before a buyer even steps inside your home, they will see it first from the road. Therefore, it’s crucial that the first viewing beckons those buyers in, rather than raising potential objections. Improving your home’s street appeal encompasses simple gardening and home maintenance tasks such as mowing the lawn and pavement strip, removing any weeds, sweeping the front approach areas, and clearing the entrance way of any leaves or foliage.	Ambience Once inside the home, ambience is crucial because it appeals to the buyers’ senses. When it comes to house shopping, our three primary senses are sight, sound and smell. So how can you positively stimulate those senses? ► Sight - add fresh flowers ► Sound - play soothing or ambient music in the background ► Smell - the aroma of fresh coffee brewing, hot baking bread, or the delicate hint of a freshly scented oil lamp, all enhance the senses. The smell of polished furniture for example will subconsciously add to the feeling of cleanliness.	Space and light Create the impression of space by removing unnecessary furniture and ornaments. Open all blinds, clean the windows and surrounding sills, and assess the need to trim any branches that may be overhanging in the garden. Remove any posters from bedroom walls and magnets or notices from the fridge. Installing 100 watt light bulbs also brightens up dark rooms considerably.
Storage Clean out garages and sheds to show how much storage space is available. Similarly in the kitchen, it can be a good idea to clean out the pantry, while in the bedrooms, clearing out wardrobes creates the illusion of abundant storage space.	Property maintenance It is rarely necessary to conduct expensive work before selling your home, however do be prepared to carry out small maintenance upgrades such as repairing leaking taps, replacing faulty light fittings, adjusting sticking doors, or plastering over any small cracks or holes in the walls.	Finally, before every open home Open all blinds and curtains to maximise natural light. Remove pet feeding bowls. Turn on lights in darker rooms. Turn off the TV. Remove valuable items from sight. Leave doors open so that buyers can explore the feeling of space. Prepare for the climate – keep your home warm in winter and cool in summer. Highlight special features such as open fires or architectural quirks, and if possible, remove your pets from the property during inspection.