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tips to help you sell your home


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presenting your home’s exterior

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presentation is crucial when selling & can ultimately affect the final price achieved for your home & the timeframe in which the home is sold.

take a good, long look at your property – and do it from a buyer’s perspective. imagine it’s the first time you’ve seen the property. what needs repairing, repainting or renewing to make sure the first impression a potential buyer has is the best one?

the front garden, if you have one, should be tidy, no matter what time of the year. hedges should be trimmed, plants kept tidy & lawns kept immaculate. any sign of neglect to the exterior of your home could affect a potential purchaser’s impression of the interior. check that mould or moss is removed from the path.

windows should be clean & window frames repainted, if necessary. peeling paint is unsightly. let’s put on the best possible show for your property and one that helps to win a potential buyer’s heart.

the next thing to consider is the “sensory impression” that greets visitors as they enter your home. what they see, hear & smell will permanently colour their opinions, so it has to be really special.

is there an air of calm, light, warmth & welcome, or is there a dog barking in the background, the smell of fried food & a dingy & unattractive décor? communal areas, such as the hall, stairs & landings in a block of flats, can be a real problem. let everyone know that you are selling & gently remind them to help create positive not negative impressions.

to compliment the sale of your home & with the aim of presenting your home to its maximum sale potential mcconnell bourn offers clients a comprehensive range of services designed to remove the stress & burden of preparing your home for sale. we specialise in:

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presenting your home’s interior

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now is a good time to pack away as much clutter as possible. videos you dont watch regularly, piles of magazines & books & all those odds & ends you have been meaning to sort out. you will have to pack these away to move, so you may as well do it sooner rather than later.

clean the room thoroughly, from the ceiling down. have soft furnishings & carpets professionally cleaned. if necessary, redecorate. strong colours can alienate potential purchasers. if they do not like your choice they will be counting the cost of redecoration & that will undermine the value of your property. if your carpet is worn or badly stained, consider replacing it. no need for expensive carpet, but make sure that it looks reasonable. if wooden floors look shabby, have them refurbished, but employ a professional company (unless you feel totally confident about your diy skills).

soft furnishings are really important in living rooms because they can add colour & luxury. dressing a room attractively is important & many people forget the walls. choose mirrors & suitable pictures & hang them thoughtfully. large pictures will dominate a small room, dark paintings should be avoided in rooms with little natural light & family photographs should be kept out of sight.

if you have a separate dining room, it should be shown off at its best. you needn’t necessarily lay the table for dinner, as you might see in some show houses, but consider the quality of your tableware than the attractions of the room. a centrepiece, such as a bowl of fruit or a small arrangement of fresh flowers should suffice.

although it may dominate our lives, the television can be an ugly focal point for a living room. keep it in the background as much as possible & emphasise more attractive aspects, such as a fireplace or a feature piece of furniture.

to compliment the sale of your home & with the aim of presenting your home to its maximum sale potential mcconnell bourn offers clients a comprehensive range of services designed to remove the stress & burden of preparing your home for sale. we specialise in:

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presenting your kitchen

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good kitchens help sell property, but they have to be attractive as well as functional. a kitchen is also the most expensive & inconvenient room to refurbish, so its condition will substantially influence the value of your property. use your eyes: does your kitchen look dated? check out what’s new in kitchen design to pick up some ideas. new handles on unit doors, for instance, are easy to change & an inexpensive way to give kitchen units a lift, and replace damaged or missing cupboard doors.

naturally, you love your pet, but not everyone will feel the same way. hide bowls, beds, bones etc out of sight and never have caged birds or other fauna in the kitchen when showing your home.

kitchens should smell fresh & clean, so use your own sense of smell (even with extractor fans, kitchens can harbour odours, especially from fish, curries & other strong smelling foods).

contrary to popular belief, baking bread & brewing fresh coffee doesn’t enhance the saleability of property. the aroma of baking actually makes us feel hungry (which is why supermarkets use it to encourage us to buy food). it doesn’t make us desire a new home so leave the oven closed and the coffee machine turned off. it’s also helpful if you don’t run appliances in the kitchen when showing your property. you want to create an impression of calm, efficiency & style, not humdrum housework.

do any of your taps drip? if so, have it fixed (or think about replacing them if the style is dated or limescale-encrusted). use your sense of touch: is your kitchen really clean? run your fingers over the work surfaces & units to feel for stickiness or grease. units must be spotless, inside & out.

if your kitchen is large enough to accommodate a table & seating, make sure there’s one there even if you have a separate dining room. an extra eating area in the kitchen suggests value for money.

to compliment the sale of your home & with the aim of presenting your home to its maximum sale potential mcconnell bourn offers clients a comprehensive range of services designed to remove the stress & burden of preparing your home for sale. we specialise in:

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presenting your bedroom

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it goes without saying that bedrooms should be inviting, tidy, clean & fresh. keep surfaces & floors clear of clutter, especially shoes & bags. give the room a deep clean – including under the bed.

a build up of dust (mostly human skin cells) makes a roomm smell musty. open the windows before the viewers arrive. remove all of your personal items too. think of elegant hotel rooms. comfortable & stylish, they are impersonal. no one wants to be confronted with someone else’s make-up or tubes of cream etc. such distractions can prevent visitors from noticing the positive aspects of the room. bedspreads make beds look tidier.

do not be fooled into thinking that your visitors will be too embarrassed to open cupboards; they will want to see how much storage space you have. they won’t want to see a jumble of clothes, magazines etc. the decor in a bedroom should ideally be neutral. off-whites, creams & pale yellows have much wider appeal than feminine pinks & lilacs. don’t forget to hang some suitable pictures or mirrors.

spare bedrooms crammed wall-to-wall with boxes & junk are not attractive. show a spare room as an appealing bedroom. it should have a bed, bedside tables, lamps, pictures/mirrors on the walls & if space, a chair. it should look just as attractive as your main bedroom, so if it hasn’t been decorated for a while get painting.

if you use a bedroom as a study/office, try and keep it tidy. boxes of files & personal papers all over the place just aren’t acceptable. the room, usually the smallest bedroom anyway, will look cramped & cluttered. you can’t realistically expect all potential purchasers to be able use their imagination, so pack as much as you can away out of sight.

to compliment the sale of your home & with the aim of presenting your home to its maximum sale potential mcconnell bourn offers clients a comprehensive range of services designed to remove the stress & burden of preparing your home for sale. we specialise in:

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presenting your children’s room

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the same basic rule applies to children’s rooms as to other areas of your property; clear out the clutter. as you know, children are expert hoarders & love to have all their possessions around them. if you have small children, encourage them to pack all toys away in boxes, keeping one or two out & storing the rest. bring different boxes out of storage in rotation, every week or so. older children should be encouraged to make choices & keep no more than half a dozen of their favourites on display. whatever you do, get them involved in the excitement of selling “the old place”.

children like to express their developing personalities in the décor of their rooms. however, orange walls & black ceilings may not be to everyone’s taste. if your children have ‘distinctive’ rooms it may be time for a serious conversation about redecoration. many teenagers have posters stuck to their walls & doors. not only does this distract the eye, but it can look untidy.

keep posters & stickers off doors & mirrors. reduce their number to a minimum & frame them. this can be achieved inexpensively using clip frames.

the flooring in children’s rooms is often pretty abysmal. over the years carpets can become stained & tatty. if you do not wish to go to the expense of replacement, buy a bright, but plain, rug to cover the worst. themed rooms have been popular over the years, with curtains & bedding sporting a range of tv & sporting characters. while a bedroom decorated in st george colours will appeal to a fan, it will not create a positive impression if your potential purchaser’s children support the roosters.

make sure clothes, shoes & games are tidied away before you have visitors. cupboards should also be tidy inside; potential purchasers may want to inspect storage space.

last but not least, don’t be too hard on your children & turn their rooms into an impersonal desert. there must be some compromise between show house & home. they can have fun finding an outlet for their creative ability in your next home.

to compliment the sale of your home & with the aim of presenting your home to its maximum sale potential mcconnell bourn offers clients a comprehensive range of services designed to remove the stress & burden of preparing your home for sale. we specialise in:

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presenting your bathroom

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some people see their bathrooms as just a functional room. others may think of it as their personal relaxation and indulgence area. of course, you have to appeal to both of them!

as ever, keep your bathroom free from clutter. clear out the cabinet & put away day-to-day toiletries. clear surfaces will make the room look bigger. hide rubber ducks & toys. bathrooms must be super clean. scrub basins & baths on a daily basis & get rid of any scale or staining with a lime scale remover. use caustic soda to remove stains from toilets and make sure drapes and blinds are free of dust. dont forget to clean basin & toilet pedestals.

coloured toilet suites are out of fashion. consider replacement with a plain, white fitting or update your bathroom with new taps & shower head.

look at the flooring. updating the flooring will give your bathroom a fresh, clean & modern look.

grubby grout should be removed & replaced. kits are available from hardware shops. if your tiles have seen better days, bleach them, or if that doesn’t work, replace them. if your bathroom is small, tiling every wall completely will make it seem bigger. think of hotel bathrooms; small, but stylish & generally tiled throughout. check the sealant around the bath, shower tray & sink. if it looks less than perfect, replace it.

if the light fitting looks dated, replace it & consider adding an extractor fan, if you don’t already have one. make sure your bathroom has a good-sized mirror. this will help to reflect light & make the room look bigger. the mirror could be on the front of a cabinet, or you could add a wall mirror with lights.

once the basics have been completed you can dress the room. invest in some luxury toiletries, buy some new towels, preferably white or a pale colour that tones with the décor. if you think the kids will ruin them, keep them only for show. one or two pretty candles & if you have good natural light, a leafy fern or other suitable houseplant will finish the room.

to compliment the sale of your home & with the aim of presenting your home to its maximum sale potential mcconnell bourn offers clients a comprehensive range of services designed to remove the stress & burden of preparing your home for sale. we specialise in:

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