Hints on selling a house

Increase its appeal by attention to the following details:

Kerb Appeal

Tidy the garden, mend broken fences, hide rubbish and rubbish bins (if possible, remove empty milk bottles, children's toys etc.

Windows should be clean. Net curtains are not generally considered very tasteful, especially the ones with lacy flowers all over.

Original floorboards

Sanded, polished, original floorboards are very popular today. Cheap laminates tend to be frowned upon. Bathrooms and lavatories must not be carpeted.

Original cornices, fireplaces etc

Prospective buyers always want to know if it's a working fireplace - even in the bedroom! With central heating they still have romantic visions of roaring fires in the bedroom!

Remove the dogs for viewings (and young noisy children)

It's difficult to concentrate in the midst of mayhem.

Valuable, treasured ornaments

Sometimes viewers arrive enfamille with several inquisitive children who disperse into different rooms. I would recommend that treasured items are not displayed, especially within reach?! Buyers like to imagine their own photographs on the piano, not yours.

Pale walls.

Generally speaking neutral walls are best. Not everyone will like your raspberry pink ceiling.

Bedrooms

If a bedroom has been used as a study or dressing room try to return it to a bedroom. Purchasers never believe that your cluttered study is really a desirable double bedroom. Unless they see a bed in it.

Cooking Smells

Not everyone will enjoy your fondness for curry, boiled cabbage, or garlic. Fling open a few windows_

Don't tell buyers about the lovely grass snakes in your garden. Not everyone likes them

Swimming pools only appeal to a niche market. They require a great deal of maintenance and are very dangerous for small children.

Conservatories are popular if they are well constructed and uncluttered.

Everyone wants lots of light, but, unfortunately many people extend their houses in such a way that existing rooms are much darker.

Tell buyers about the wonderful schools, shops, transport, library, church etc nearby, and that you are only leaving because the children have fled the nest etc.

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