FOOL'S EYE VIEW
9 Useful Tips For Home Sellers

By David Kuo (TMFDragon)
June 11, 2002

Property experts are calling this a seller's market. You can believe that if you like, but in my book there is no such thing as a "must have" house. Property buyers still have a choice, namely they can either make an offer for your home or alternatively simply walk away. So if your objective is to achieve a timely sale then you must ensure that your home creates the right first impression to any potential buyers.

Just bear in mind that there is no such thing as a "must have house". You need to treat the sale of your house in much the same way that any sales organisation would market a product. Your key objective as a seller is to package your home properly to ensure that as many buyers as possible come beating a path to your door. Additionally you want them to come through your door to see what you have to offer on the inside. And to achieve that you need to make sure that your house is friendly and inviting.

More importantly you want to remove all the possible obstacles that could prevent you from achieving your asking price. And the easiest way of doing that is to improve the appeal of your home. Here are nine cheap and easy tips that will go some way to help you attain your selling price.

1. First Impressions Count

The outside of your house is what potential buyers will see first. A tidy front garden with a well manicured lawn and neatly trimmed shrubs will indicate to any buyer that your house is well looked after. Make sure that the garden path is swept regularly and any unsightly weeds removed. A couple of well-positioned potted plants near the front door or on the porch will make your home all the more welcoming. Give those windows on the front of the house a good scrub and if necessary dab some paint on the windowsills.

2. Don't Ignore The Back

Spend as much time on the back of the house as the front. Make sure the flowerbeds look fresh and if necessary throw on a couple of bags of chip bark. They help to keep the weeds down and give your garden that professional finish. (It also gives the impression that you care about your garden even if you don't, really.) Also pay special attention to alleyways that can often be a wind trap or a store for unsightly rubbish.

3. Tidy Up The Garage

Get rid of clutter in the garage. Be ruthless and only keep those things that you really have a need for. Now is the time to dump that second lawnmower that you were planning to fix up on a rainy day. Remember that any potential buyer will be assessing your house based on the amount of space that you are selling. The more organised your garage the more spacious it will appear.

4. A Bright House Is A Welcoming House

Draw back the curtains and drapes and give all those windows a good clean both inside and out. This will ensure that natural light can enter and brighten up your rooms. Inspect each room meticulously and make sure that all the light bulbs are in good working order. Should it be necessary then give the bulbs a good wipe because good lighting can help to make your home feel much more roomy.

5. Less Is More

It is amazing just how much unnecessary furniture we accumulate when we have occupied a property for a few years. Now is the time to think seriously about getting rid of some that extraneous gear. Place an advertisement in your local newspaper and if you happen to have quite a lot of furniture to get rid of then a garage sale can be a worthwhile exercise.

6. Time For Some Elbow Grease

Wander through your home and make a note of all the places that seem to be a magnet for dirt. These will normally be major thoroughfares such as hallways, cloakrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen. Giving the place a good clean won't cost the earth but it can help to add appeal to your home.

7. Don Your Overalls

Now is the moment to finish off those odd jobs that you could never quite find time for. If there are any dripping taps then put that spanner that's been lying dormant in the toolbox to work. You don't want to lose a sale just because of a washer that costs only a few pennies.

8. Clear Out Those Wardrobes

Let's face it. We all keep old clothes in the hope that maybe, just maybe, one day we will squeeze back into that 16-inch collar Ben Sherman shirt, when our double chins would suggest otherwise. So clear your the wardrobe of old clothes and donate them to charity. Remember a better-organised wardrobe will look all the more spacious.

9 Home Sweet Home

Now that your home is clean and sparkling try to keep to that way because you never quite know when a buyer will call on you at short notice. You don't want all your hard work to be undone for the sake of a few unwashed dishes or an unmade bed. If you have time then put on a fresh pot of coffee. Not only have you deserved it but there is something very homely about the aroma of coffee that makes a house almost irresistable. 

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