Here are some top tips and seasonal advice from Simon Barnes of H.Barnes & Co on what you need to do to best prepare your property for a spring sale :
OUTSIDE
- During the winter months, buyers do not look closely at gardens, but as soon as the weather starts to improve, their focus changes
- Don’t neglect to tidy outside space, and ensure roof terraces are in good order with nicely maintained garden furniture on display and planters filled with fresh bulbs and seasonal plants.
- Tidy lawns and flower beds and de-clutter, both outside and in.
Buy new garden furniture and a barbecue to give a taste of what the summer will offer. - Spend a bit of time on any paths, windows and doors and paint and freshen up if needed.
- In early spring, it is absolutely worth investing time and money in showing your garden, terrace or any outside space to their best advantage.
INSIDE
- Take a long hard look at the inside – after the winter months spent indoors some rooms and hallways may be looking a little tired and in need of attention.
- Paintwork may need retouching, children’s clutter may have invaded and investing in new storage and clearing out anything that is gathering dust in a corner, or has been outgrown should be handed on or donated.
- Examine scuffed skirting boards, grubby light switches, electrical sockets looking lose and ensure that that bathroom taps and plugs are repaired or replaced if dripping or looking worn.
- It’s worth undertaking a thorough spring clean and bringing in a professional company, who can steam clean grubby carpets, particularly in hallways and stairs, which are the buyer’s first impression after seeing the exterior of the property.
- Do pay attention to the windows inside and out; on a spring day sunlight will reveal smeary dirty windows inside and out. Having the windows cleaned at this time of year will make your entire property lighter and brighter, boosting the amount of natural light that will flood in and will make a noticeable difference to the look and feel of the property.
SPRING SALE VIEWING
- Ideally a spring sale viewing works best when the vendor isn’t present as it tends to be an unwelcome distraction for both the selling agent and buyer. The buyer worries that they are inconveniencing the vendor and the selling agent now has two people to focus on rather than just the buyer.
- Consider how you currently use your interior space. If a spare bedroom has morphed into a dumping ground or laundry room, or a study has become a space for newspapers and plastic toys, this needs attention.
- Buyers can lack imagination, so it is important to show off rooms for the purpose that they originally had. Try to make your rooms look dressed for their real purpose. If you have used a bedroom as a study, try to put back in a bed and make it look like a bedroom; if a room is used as a dining room, make sure there is a dining table there and it looks practical and attractive.