By Melissa Porter and Charlie Smurfit
If you’re selling your home, or just wish to add value to a property, there are a few simple measures that will help. Property experts Charlie Smurfit and Melissa Porter impart their top tips for increasing a property’s selling power.
1. Who is your buyer?
Consider who are selling to and adapt your home to suit them. Many people buy into a lifestyle, so paint the picture for them. Allow them to visualise themselves in your home by the clever use of decoration and accessorises. For example, in a Chelsea townhouse we would paint the front door black, accessorise with steel door accessories and frame it with two Bay trees.
2. Go neutral
Love it or hate it, Magnolia is still the best-selling paint colour for a reason – plain shades make a room feel brighter and create a sense of space. It has been proven that buyers prefer neutral shades to bright colours when looking at prospective new homes, as it conveys a ‘blank canvas’ - so get the paintbrush out and cover up those aubergine walls!
3. Update your kitchen
The kitchen is one of the first things a prospective buyer will notice, but think carefully before putting in a brand-new kitchen. Unless the current kitchen is in a complete state of disrepair, your house value may not increase by enough to cover the cost of the new kitchen. Instead, if your kitchen is just in need of a little updating, you could paint or replace the cupboard units and add new door handles.
4. Beautify your bathroom
Like kitchens, bathrooms can make or break a sale so again, it’s important that your bathroom looking its best. White bathroom suites are very fashionable, so it is worth replacing older, coloured suites if you can afford it.
Again, neutral sells so if you’ve got a distinctive pattern on your bathroom tiles it might be worth painting over them in a plain colour. It will also make the bathroom appear bigger, as will putting up a large mirror. Finally, ensure the lighting is good enough for applying makeup and shaving.
5. Restore period features
If you live in an older house, rediscover its period features! They make a great selling point so make the most of high ceilings, picture rails, and especially fireplaces. Restore original doors - never replace them.
6. Finish off little jobs
You want to avoid buyers becoming distracted by unfinished jobs and encourage them to focus on the positive aspects of your home. Never leave your buyer with a bad taste in their mouth, so finish painting the front gate or screw that cabinet door back onto its hinges.
7. Depersonalise
Create an environment that your buyer can imagine stamping their own personality on. So, remove most or all family photographs and knick-knacks, and minimise the number of books on shelves and pictures on walls.
8. De-clutter
Get rid of all your junk – prospective buyers are trying to picture themselves living in your home and a blank canvas will help them do that! For example, if your house is full of kids’ toys, hide them behind cupboard doors or in a toy box.
9. Clean
The cheapest option of all! Before people come to view, make sure that everything’s spotless, as you would want a house to be if you were going to buy it. Don’t forget the windows - they make up around 50% of the front of your property so tease people into wanting to see what's behind them. A bit of window cleaner finished off with vinegar will leave them sparkling.
10. Kerb appeal
Potential buyers will form an opinion of your property within the first 20 seconds of seeing it from the outside. Freshen it up by repainting the front door and ensuring that all the door fittings are sparkling and attached securely - matching fittings are best.
11. Check out your competition
Look at the other houses for sale in your street and ensure yours will be the one that a potential buyer will want to purchase. Never mind keeping up with the Joneses, try to beat them!
12. Don’t ignore the garden
People often forget about the garden, but for many buyers a neat garden that looks like it doesn’t need much work is a real plus.
Revamp old wooden decking and fences - these can simply be stained, or use emulsion or spray to add colour for an immediate transformation. Use potted plants to create splashes of colour without having to plant whole flowerbeds – and they can always be taken with you once you actually sell the house.
13. Know the property’s limitations
Try to play down the property’s weaknesses. For example, if the neighbours are noisy, do viewings when you know they're out. If you live on a flight path, know when the planes are busiest and alter viewings accordingly. However, if the buyer asks about any drawbacks, be honest with them.
14. Finishing touches
It’s a cliché but finishing touches such as putting on a pot of coffee before the buyer arrives can make a huge difference to a home’s ambience. Also, having answers ready to questions about council tax, bills, and the local area can all help make a sale!
About the authors
Charlie Smurfit has worked in interior design for eight years and has run her own business for three, whilst Melissa Porter has worked as a BBC television presenter on various property programmes for five years and renovated homes for nine.
Charlie and Melissa recently launched a property renovation and interior design company, Porter & Smurfit Ltd. For further information please contact Porter & Smurfit at info@porterandsmurfit.com or telephone: 08707 662 585.
Melissa Porter will appear in the next series of Escape to the Country on BBC Two, scheduled to begin this June.