Getting a Property Ready to Sell

As this blog is being written, there’s changes to stamp duties that mean many people across the UK are preparing to finally sell their homes after the COVID 19 lockdown. This blog post is about the preparations to make in order to sell your property. A great reminder for property managers who may be out of practice, as well as all the first time home sellers. However, these are great tips in general to help those ready to sell their home. 

If you need to sell your home, or any property, it can be easy to put it on a website and forget about the changes and alterations you need to do before you sell it. Remember to get tasks done before you think about handing over the keys! Here’s a little list of all the tasks to do, and why it helps to get these sorted, both for real life appeal on the first view, and for the virtual greetings you need to make (which is far more common in the current climate). 

 

Cleaning and tidying 

The first step is to clean, tidy, and declutter the house. This means running through the whole thing with a hoover, maybe going through with some cleaning fluid, and ensuring that the place is spotless. Decluttering gives the impression of a larger space, a clean house can help future inhabitants invision themselves living in the property more comfortably, and tidying works to better paint yourself as a responsible previous owner, developer, or property manager.

 

Get all your rooms in order 

If you have marketed your home in a specific way, make sure to match that in the flesh. So a three bedroom property should have three bedrooms, and not two bedrooms and a study-come-napping room, it helps to enable visualisation by providing a clear vision to prospective buyers. Remember that most people prefer to see what they want to see in a property, if you can help them see ‘the finished article’ then there’s a much greater chance of them buying it. 

 

Correct Documentation 

You need to make sure that you have the correct documentation to hand, in case you get a sudden sale, for future reference, and because it helps you appear as a someone that has managed the property correctly. Doing this step will also avoid tedious delays for you and for those looking to move in. The list of documents should include, the HM Land Registry title documents, evidence of gas checks completed by a Gas Safe registered engineer (or Corgi-registered engineer prior to 2009), proof of electrical checks (an Electrical Installation Condition Report, a NAPIT, or NICEIC certificate/report from a registered electrical competent person), possibly FENSA or CERTAS certificates for windows, planning permission for any major work carried out, building regulation completion certificates and builder’s guarantee certificates for alterations or additions, subsidence guarantees/warranties, damp guarantees/warranties, and if a listed property – listed building consent for interior and exterior works. This may seem like a lot, but having all the right documents will definitely help in the long term, and will probably be useful in the short term. 

 

Any Minor Repairs

It’s the best time, just before you sell, to get all the minor works done to your property. If there’s a few odd jobs that need doing, like any guttering repaired, get them done now. You aren’t going to want to have to explain to a prospective owner that you have left the small hole in the attic insulation, even though you knew it was there and needed to be fixed. Some more examples include re-grouting the kitchen, touching up the mastic in the bathroom, refilling cracks and picture hooks, and taking limescale off the taps. 

 

Keep the garden looking as clean and watered as possible

A clean garden is a must have for anyone moving in, but sometimes when making a house sale you can miss some of the smaller bits of rubbish that are laying around in the corners of the room. A front garden is the first thing that a potential buyer will see when they come to physically look at the property in the flesh, so work to make sure that the first impression isn’t negative. A back garden can be similarly important, with a beautiful large back garden being a deal maker, and a unkempt garden can be a deal breaker. Try a quick cut to the grass, give any overgrown hedges or bushes a little prune or cut back, or even give the fence panels a bit of a paint.

 

Create a sense of space

This seems rather abstract, but people often prefer rooms and properties that they feel are more light and airy. This means curtains are open, blinds are pulled back, and if you have any mirrors remaining in the house try and position any of the mirrors that are staying in the property optimally. 

 

Spot the little features

There are small features that are important, like making sure that the toilet seat is down, making sure that the toiletries are put away before someone comes around, and trying to make sure you aren’t going to recieve any calls or messages if showing them round personally. These seem obvious, but every little element constructs someone’s opinion of a property, and the smallest feature could be a make or break moment. 

 

So if you are looking to sell your property, there’s loads of small jobs you can do to the get the property ready to be sold. Until you feel ready, there is a great range of Nick Fox books available that features how to easily sell a property. Head to the ‘Shop’ page on our website to browse the whole range. 

Nick Fox started his property investment career 10 years ago and his portfolio has grown to one of the largest in the UK. Nick now mainly focuses on HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) and works to help others achieve property success too. Visit here to find out how he can help you.

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