Thinking of selling your home and want to maximise the value and saleability?
Although the urgency seems to have subsided from the market – most probably caused by the continual issue of Brexit and general uncertainty within the market as a whole there is still a great deal of activity within the property market and if you position your home correctly you will maximise the value and saleability.
Here are our top tips…
Throughout life we will always try to achieve the most we can. Be that doing well at school, getting a great job or finding that dream home. Essentially we all want to reach our full potential, so why do we not always allow our property to reach its full potential as well? Simply put, it’s because we don’t always know the best ways of doing this. It is for this reason we have put together some suggestions and tips to help get you moving at a faster pace!
There are TWO key aspects to making your home as saleable as possible: Price and Presentation.
- Always price to sell
Ensuring your property is marketed at the correct price from the onset is important. It is never a good idea to market your property at a price higher than your agent feels is achievable. With the use of sites such as Rightmove, which allow purchasers to see how long a property has been on the market, the old idea of testing the waters is not necessarily a good one. A property that has been on the market for a while may have purchasers questioning why this is the case. The most likely being that it is overpriced – any house WILL sell if priced correctly.
- Presentation, presentation, presentation.
This will be one of the key factors to how quickly your property will sell, along with being a big contributor to achieving the best price. A fresh coat of paint, a clean property and a well maintained exterior go a long way. First impressions count. The pictures of your property online will be the first thing most prospective buyers see and will likely effect whether or not they decide to even view.
There are many ways to increase the value of the property but in our opinion these are time and time again the most effective.
- Maintain your property
A house that looks cared for will achieve the highest value. As a seller what you really don’t want are prospective purchasers walking around your property seeing lots of £ signs every time they see cosmetic work that needs to be completed. It is likely your purchaser will think these works will cost far more than they actually do and will be asking for you to take a lower offer than really is acceptable.
- Adding an extra bedroom or bathroom
If you can do this without incurring too much cost this will definitely increase the value of the house. By changing the layout of your property to add an en-suite, an extra w/c or a bedroom you will be making your property appeal to a wider market and increase its premium. But always remember the cost of implementing any significant changes such as a loft conversion will not necessarily increase the value by enough to justify the expense. If you are unsure what works are worth doing, ask an expert.
- Spruce your house and garden up
This can be completed at a relatively low cost, with paint, a new carpet and a few well-placed pot plants. If your property looks, fresh, new and modern purchasers will pay the premium to not have to do the work themselves.
Written by Michelle Cheshire, Senior Negotiator Oxted