9 viewing tips for selling your house

Are you looking to sell your home, but you’re not sure how best to advertise it on the property market? Fortunately, the experts at GD Property Solicitors know a thing or two about selling your home and how best to achieve it.

In this blog, we’ll go through the nine most important steps of how to prepare your home for sale on the property market, and the best way to make it more attractive to prospective buyers.

Do you want to sell your home for as close to the asking price as possible? Continue reading this insightful guide.

Declutter – but keep things personal

The first thing you should do is clear a few things out of your home to make it more spacious and attractive to buyers. When someone looking to buy a house starts browsing listings online, they’re looking for a home that showcases potential, and somewhere they can see themselves living with their own furniture.

If all the pictures show a cluttered home lacking space and potential, they’ll quickly move on to the next listing. Remove things like cat litter trays, fold-up tables and any bulky furniture that you love but is taking up too much space.

Now, decluttering doesn’t mean you should throw all your belongings out. There should still be some personality about the property, so make sure it still looks ‘lived in’, but a lot tidier than it was.

And, if you don’t want to throw your things out, consider putting them in storage for a few weeks while you go through the advertising stage of selling.

Maximise kerb appeal

If you want to make good first impressions with potential buyers, then you simply have to improve your home’s kerb appeal. The front of your home is the first image many buyers see online when browsing property websites. If your home looks damaged, tired and in need of some serious TLC, people will simply scroll past.

It can all start with your front door and some minor repairs. Does your front door look modern and safe? Or, does it require updating to make your home look much more appealing to buyers?

In terms of the front of your home, do you have a broken fence panel in the driveway, or some cracks in your rendering? All these small things should be fixed before you list your property for sale. Not everyone wants a property that requires maintenance before moving in.

Fresh coat of paint

Even if your internal colour scheme is neutral, it can’t hurt to give your home a fresh coat of paint. It could make all the difference in your listing online.

You may not think your white hallway needs a touch-up, but you’ll be surprised at the difference just one extra coat provides.

Fix and clean

Make minor repairs throughout your home so it’s in a better condition for pictures and property viewings. Things like loose hinges, broken light switches, small cracks and dirty grout in the bathroom and kitchen can all be improved with minimal effort.

If you have grass in your garden, ensure it has been trimmed and is tidy. An unkempt garden is a red flag for many buyers, so ensure it looks great and people can imagine living in your property, enjoying themselves in the garden.

In terms of cleaning, the house should be spotless for both the picture-taking process and the viewings.

Update the kitchen

The kitchen is a huge part of a buyer’s decision to arrange a viewing on a property and put an offer in. If your kitchen is outdated and tired-looking, it may be worth the extra money to upgrade it so you drum up more interest on the market.

It takes just a few small steps to massively improve the appearance of your kitchen. Things like refacing your kitchen cabinets, using tile stickers to brighten up the space, a fresh coat of paint, and new door handles for your drawers and cabinets are inexpensive items that can hugely increase interest.

Light and airy

When advertising your property, try and ensure there’s as much natural light as possible for your pictures and viewings.

Remove any objects in front of your windows and open your blinds and curtains as wide as you can. Then, open windows so there’s plenty of airflow.

This is all about making your home as attractive as possible, so do all you can to achieve the perfect look for buyers.

Make it look pretty

Ensure all windows have blinds or curtains, as naked windows can make a home feel impersonal and empty. You don’t have to break the bank here either, just some relatively cheap curtains with neutral colours tucked away to the side can make a huge difference.

Plants and flowers can add a lot of colour and life to a room, as well as smell good. A full fruit bowl can add a touch of character and colour to a kitchen, too.

Ensure the house smells fantastic

When people arrive at your home for a viewing, you want to make sure there are no nasty smells in the air. If someone entering your home is immediately hit with an unpleasant scent, it’ll put them off for the entire viewing.

Place a candle near the front door, open windows throughout the property and ensure you have cleaned thoroughly. This should make your home smell fresh and inviting.

Host viewings

Now that you’ve prepared your home in every way possible, it’s time for the house viewing stage. Many homeowners opt for their local estate agents to handle viewings, but we strongly recommend you do them.

After all, you know everything there is to know about your property, the local schools, transport links and any local facilities, like shops and doctor surgeries.

You can also discuss the property’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and how energy efficient your home is, talking in detail about energy bills. Buyers may also have questions about planning permission, which – again – you can answer best.

This stage of the house-selling process is all about how you sell the property to buyers. You’ve prepared your home as best you can, now it’s time to sell it. Be open and welcoming to buyers, answer their questions and allow them space to view your home.

You’ll sell it in no time!

Contact expert property solicitors to sell your home

So, now your home is ready to be sold, it’s time to hire conveyancing solicitors to ensure everything goes through smoothly.

That’s where we come in. At GD Property Solicitors, we’ve helped thousands of people all over the UK complete the sale of their homes and move onto something bigger and better.

You can too, simply by calling 0161 710 1786 or by emailing info@gdlegal.co.uk.