1. Prepare your budget and visualise your next home
Before you put your home up for sale you need to try and form a realistic idea of your requirements, you will need to have an image of where and what kind of home you want to move to. Get a feel for the house prices in your area and the area you would like to move into, with any house sale, once you have a realistic idea of your likely sale price, you can easily calculate your buying power. It’s amazing how many house sellers miss this planning stage. One in three house sales in the UK fail every year; to be a success story you need a plan.
2. Prepare your Home
Prior to placing your property on the market, it is key to prepare your home; you will need to remove your personality from your home as much as possible, this can be achieved by rearrange the furnishing, pictures, accessories to show each room with space, a clear function, and emphasise the good points.Key elements include: making your home neutral by removing your personality and allowing potential buyers to envisage themselves living in your home. Ensure the front of your home looks clean and well cared for. Maximise your space in each room by removing any excess furniture and getting rid of clutter in cupboards. Keep up with the little DIY jobs that show you care for your home. Tidy the garden. Keep your home clean and smelling fresh. Spending a little time and money on getting your property ready for selling is money well spent will enhance the saleability of your property. Remember first impressions do count.
3. Communicate with your estate agent
Ask for feedback. This is crucial. Your agent should be giving you feedback from viewers within 24 hours to enable you to make decisions and to react to points that will inevitably be made. This will allow you to make your home even better for next time.
4. Know your target market
Where your home is and its size and layout will give you clues as to who your target market will be. Your target buyer could fall into a number of different categories including: family with young children, family with older children, retired couple with grown up children, young couple, single people and students. You need to have a clear idea of your target market and try and plan your home to be as appealing as possible to that market.
5. Be ready for the viewing
You should always be ready for a viewing at short notice; they could be your buyers. Whilst your house is on the market you should never have a messy or uncared for home. Invite a good friend round, and give them the full “grand tour” and ask them what they think. Take good and bad criticism on the chin and listen to what they suggest.
6. Lower the asking price
To make your property more attractive to a potential buyer, particularly if there are lots of properties like yours for sale, lower your asking price. If a buyer is faced with two very similar properties but one is less expensive than the other, which one do you think they will choose to buy?
7. Keep Positive
It may take weeks or even months to find your ideal buyer and through it all you must remain positive and focused. Never come across as desperate. How quickly you sell your home will depend on the time of year, the current market and other factors too. You will get there in the end, don’t lose faith and keep in touch with your Estate Agent.
8. Select the best estate agent
The best estate agent for you will be the company and individual that you feel most comfortable with. A company that has good local knowledge and has well developed marketing skills.
9. Stage your viewing
A viewing is a chance to sell your home and you should use every second for maximum impact. Presenting or “staging” your home does not involve redecorating it. Redecorating your home would be about you, the seller and your personality. Staging focuses on the buyer.
10. Don’t overvalue your home
It’s tempting to instruct the estate agent that promises to market your home for the highest price. This may not always be the best decision. Overvaluing your home can mean that it stays on the market, unsold for many weeks until you realise that you have to reduce the price, by which time your home is “ old news” and this can cause problems.