We’ve put together a
handy guide to help
you get your property
ready for marketing
and viewing.
If you’re looking to sell or let your property, there’s never been a better time to get things looking their best, ready for marketing.
Whether seeing your property on johnshepherd.com or Rightmove, or the first time they step through the front door, our applicants love to be wowed.
We believe our marketing is some of the best around, but here are a few things you can do get your property ready for the spotlight.
Depersonalise
We’ll start with probably the most difficult step, depersonalising the property.
Aimed at sellers or landlords letting their own home, it’s important to present as much of a clean slate as possible. While those photos of your family and holiday trinkets scattered around the property are lovely, the aim is for your potential buyer or tenant to be able to imagine their own life in that house. So tidy away any personal items. This also helps you main a high degree of privacy during a photography session.
De-clutter
Everyone has clutter. You have clutter, and it’s time to get rid of it.
All of it.
Whether you throw it out, give it to charity or put it off for another year and rent some storage space, take it from us, properties rarely photo well with large amounts of “stuff” hanging around.
Some things to pay particular attention to are:
- Loose Books/Magazines/DVDs. Find a home for them in cupboards or side boards
- Children’s toys and games
- Novelty posters, novelty decorations, novelty anything
- An over abundance of ornaments
- Other ‘knick-knacks’
You’ll want your home looking spacious, bright and simple, to allow the viewer to see everything that each room has to offer.
Spring Clean
Once you have de-cluttered, it’s time to clean, and we mean clean. Clean as in:
- Dust the skirting boards
- Clean the windows (inside and out)
- Dust light fixtures and furniture
- Vacuum!
- Get rid of cobwebs
- Polish taps and clean mirrors with glass cleaner
- Clean out the refrigerator and deodorise it by a) placing an open box of baking soda inside it to soak up odours and b) wiping down the inside surfaces with vanilla extract
- Bleach tile grout
- Scrub the oven clean – it may sound excessive, but buyers and tenants will notice
- If you have pets, get rid of all the pet hair and odours
Repair
Viewers will pick up on broken items on a viewing and they’ll have to be repaired eventually anyway (particularly on a tenancy). So get fixing all of those leaking taps, doors that won’t close & light bulbs that blew a month ago, it will all make the initial viewing that extra bit special.
Restore
Before marketing, it’s a good idea to give the decor a once over. Busy wallpaper that once seemed like a good idea can be off-putting. Instead, go for neutral colours. Again, this provides a nice blank slate for potential new home-owners and tenants.
Illuminate
We would always recommend getting as much natural light flooding into your property as possible, but sometimes, particularly in a built up area, that’s not always going to work. So we suggest you:
- Replace dim light bulbs with higher wattage
- Pull open heavy, dark curtains
- Repaint darker rooms with light-coloured and light-reflecting paint
- Prune any trees or vines that are casting shadows inside the property
Outside
Take a look at the exterior of your property and compare it with your neighbours. If you’re feeling slightly horrified, then remember this is the first thing your potential buyers/tenants will be seeing.
Here’s another handy list of things to take care of:
- Mow the lawn and trim back any overgrown hedges
- With paint, touch up any tired wooden areas such as window frames or fencing.
- De-weed
- Tidy away and children’s toys.
- Clean the gutters.
Bonus viewing day tips
To help your potential buyers/tenants walk away with the best impression, here are some quick fire bonus tips for viewing day.
- Pets: We love animals, but buyers and tenants don’t want to be greeted at the door by dogs, cats, rabbits etc. If possible, try and have your furriest family members looked after while the viewing is going on.
- Leave it to us: We know you love your property, but having the owner hovering around can make the applicant feel awkward. This means they’re much less likely to linger and get the full impact of how amazing your property is and how desperately they want to move in.
We’re there to answer any questions and showcase your property in the best possible way.
