I'm thinking of selling up

piperh

Hi. We are thinking (seriously) about selling up and moving to another country. Having just been into an estate agents to enquire about the process I am more confused than ever, she told me I'd be wasting money painting house and tidying the garden up and it wouldn't really help the sale. Surely first impressions count?

Is there a website which shows asking prices as well as sale prices? I looked on daft but as I was on my phone couldn't see much.

Any tips on selling up quickly but without giving my house away would be appreciated.

punisher5112

Rubbish.

If the house looks good has to help.

Make sure all rooms are de cluttered and no bulky items.

I think as they say less is more.

Don't spend a fortune on it if selling but having it easy on the eyes has to be a plus.

piperh

punisher5112 wrote: »

Rubbish.

If the house looks good has to help.

Make sure all rooms are de cluttered and no bulky items.

I think as they say less is more.

Don't spend a fortune on it if selling but having it easy on the eyes has to be a plus.

Thanks. Thought I was going mad and hearing things so actually said to her why wouldn't I be sprucing it up and she said buyers don't worry about a bit of d.i.y. I had asked if I'd be better off getting bits done and then calling them to advertise and she said no see if it sells without it first. Now my house isn't falling down but its a family home that we know ourselves we've looked at saying things need tidying.

Good idea about de cluttering thanks. We have bits everywhere including a sofa in a bedroom ;-)

The_Morrigan

piperh all the house hunting programmes on the tellybox tell you to spruce up your house, de-clutter it and de-personalise it.
Other advice given is that each room should have a purpose - don't have the downstairs living room as a bedroom for example or have a bedroom as a storage unit - Phil and Kirsty can't be wrong, they are in the business far too long over boom and bust years and they have given the same advice time and time again.

Maybe go to a few open viewings of houses and see how they are presented; it might give you an idea of how to present your house.

Senecio

You only have to watch one episode of Selling Houses to realise this EA is talking crap. Tidying up the place and de-personalising it by giving all the rooms a coat of neutral colour paint is the easiest way to maximise viewers and guarantee a fast sale at the best possible price. I'm not suggesting you spend €20K on a professionally landscaped garden and interior designer, just basics that you can DIY.

Blingy

Property price register will give you house sale prices. Good luck.

piperh

The_Morrigan wrote: »

piperh all the house hunting programmes on the tellybox tell you to spruce up your house, de-clutter it and de-personalise it.
Other advice given is that each room should have a purpose - don't have the downstairs living room as a bedroom for example or have a bedroom as a storage unit - Phil and Kirsty can't be wrong, they are in the business far too long over boom and bust years and they have given the same advice time and time again.

Maybe go to a few open viewings of houses and see how they are presented; it might give you an idea of how to present your house.

Thanks, I like the idea of open viewings to see what I could do to help. I do know having looked through a few sites I've wondered why people haven't tidied up before letting pictures be taken.

I also wondered about repainting the teenagers room as he painted it very dark. I suppose that's de personalising.

The_Morrigan

piperh wrote: »

Thanks, I like the idea of open viewings to see what I could do to help. I do know having looked through a few sites I've wondered why people haven't tidied up before letting pictures be taken.

I also wondered about repainting the teenagers room as he painted it very dark. I suppose that's de personalising.

Most definitely get rid of any strong colours in any of the rooms - I remember my parents having an ugly orange in their kitchen when we were younger, it was repainted to magnolia before they put that house up for sale so that prospective buyers could visualise their own colour scheme in there.

somesoldiers

I have recently sold my house and would agree with the above, though the wife had ours like a show house and it sold in no time anyhow. We were advised by the estate agent to make one of our bedrooms that we used for storage back into a bed room so we borrowed a bed for the viewings. if it looks crap, people won't even go past looking at photos on daft etc

we were also advised to get a professional photographer, am not really convinced that we couldn't have done without it but he did a good job- if you are interested, pm me I can send you a link to our house on daft to see the results

best of luck

freelancerTax

piperh wrote: »

Hi. We are thinking (seriously) about selling up and moving to another country. Having just been into an estate agents to enquire about the process I am more confused than ever, she told me I'd be wasting money painting house and tidying the garden up and it wouldn't really help the sale. Surely first impressions count?

Is there a website which shows asking prices as well as sale prices? I looked on daft but as I was on my phone couldn't see much.

Any tips on selling up quickly but without giving my house away would be appreciated.

please don't give this ea any business - they are clearly the sort of ea that believes "houses sell themselves" no effort required - no details need be known....
i can only imagine the amount of "work" they would put into selling your house for you

piperh

somesoldiers wrote: »

I have recently sold my house and would agree with the above, though the wife had ours like a show house and it sold in no time anyhow. We were advised by the estate agent to make one of our bedrooms that we used for storage back into a bed room so we borrowed a bed for the viewings. if it looks crap, people won't even go past looking at photos on daft etc

we were also advised to get a professional photographer, am not really convinced that we couldn't have done without it but he did a good job- if you are interested, pm me I can send you a link to our house on daft to see the results

best of luck

This was my thinking because I know i have been put off even enquiring about places that fit what we want by the pictures. I was just very thrown by how sure the agent was about it being a waste and wondered if it was just me being a bit picky.

Pm'd you.

somesoldiers

EA will charge you the same amount regardless of how many interested parties you have. The more interested parties the likelyhood you will get a better price so it is in your own interest to have the house looking as good as possible

bleary

There are a number of reasons why I would imagine the estate agent advised you not to carry out improvements
The first is that they want the house on the books quickly,either because they imagine there is strong demand or they worry you may procrastinate about selling over the work you think needs to be done first.

The second is probably not applicable if you are genuinely talking about tidying up and painting only. I kept seeing houses (mainly executor sales ) where the sellers had obviously spent a few grand 'doing' the place up with new carpets laminates or kitchens.
Usually these were the cheapest of the cheap or influenced by someone in the family thinking they had a flair for interior design, they didn't.

In most cases they then inflated the price they thought their improvements merited and delayed the sale date by months
In most cases their improvements would need to be ripped straight back out again after buying.

hfallada

Honestly I think you need to look at another estate agent. One who actually knows what the buyer wants. I used to view houses on a weekly bases and no joke, some potential buyers would be not buy a house due to the horrible walls or wardrobes. Some people just cant imagine themselves in a house if it looks like it needs a ton of work.

Paint the whole house a light grey. Cream and white is out dated at the moment. Spend a few hundred on flowers for the garden to make it look presentable.

DivingDuck

With deposits needing to be so high at the moment, it's madness to suggest that a house will move as quickly or for as much if every potential buyer would need to immediately spend money and do work upon moving in. Some will not like your taste, which is unavoidable, but if every person who comes to see it begins totting up the money they'd have to spend before they could live happily there, you're onto a loser.

Unless you're in an area with far greater demand than supply, your house will not be instantly snapped up just because it's on the market, but there are things you can do to make it move more quickly. Others have given good advice, but here's how I would prioritize things for a quick, reasonably priced sale:


1. Begin detaching yourself from the property emotionally.
This is the most important thing you can do if you're going to sell, particularly if you're going to do a bit of work to it beforehand. You might love fuchsia carpets and flamingo-print velour wallpaper, but not everyone will share your fondness for them. Some people also find it really difficult to see "past" ornaments and wall-hangings, so if you've got tons of plates or masks or mallards on the walls, take them down and pack them away for their journey to their future home.

Painful as this may be, the minute the house begins to "no longer feel like home", the closer you are to a sale and to moving to your dream destination.


2. Be flexible with viewings, and keep the house tidy for them.
A huge pain in the backside? Utterly. Will it sell your house faster? Absolutely. People won't buy without seeing, so the more people who see the house, the better. Bear in mind also that buyers might see a huge amount of houses while searching for a new home, and you want yours to stand out in their memory for the right reasons.

Human memory is an incredible fickle thing, and it's easy for someone to blow small details out of proportion. "The house with the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink" can quickly become "the one with the dirty kitchen", and would you be more interested in buying "the lovely tidy house with the fresh paint" or "the house with the dirty kitchen"?


3. Spruce up the inside with a fresh coat of neutral paint.
As suggested, greys are more modern than creams/browns at the moment, although either one is better than strong or dark colours. We actually got our place professionally painted before we moved in, and I still had to spend almost 20 hours "pre-painting" over the previous occupants' purples and reds because the professionals said it would cost an extra €350 to bring those walls to the light colour we wanted. Twenty hours and four coats of white later, it was ready for the painters, who we then had to pay, as well. Never again! If I ever I am considering buying a house with dark walls, I'll be telling this story and knocking €500 off my offer automatically.


4. Tidy up the outside.
Trip hazards and long grass should be dealt with immediately. Have the lawn mowed, and deal with any loose flag or kerbstones. A fresh coat of paint goes a long way, again, in a neutral colour that doesn't clash with the neighbours' homes. If financially viable, have the guttering and windows checked, and any issues with them cleared up.


5. Tidy up the inside, depersonalize, and give each room a purpose.
Don't under-estimate how genuinely terrible some people can be when it comes to imagination. There truly are people who will be confused by a bed in what should be the dining room, and who will walk away with the impression that the house is pokey and badly-laid out as a result.

De-clutter wherever possible. If you can use a relative's garage or off-site storage facility, all the better, since if buyers see an overflowing garage, they might get the impression that the house is "too small" to contain a family's stuff, and could move on. Again, the faster it stops feeling like your home, the quicker it becomes somewhere someone else can call home. Don't strip the place down so it looks like an abandoned rental, but remove non-essential furniture and decoration.

Accessorise with removable touches like coloured lamps and cushions. They'll add visual interest and stop a room from feeling bare and unloved, but since they'll go when you do, buyers know they won't have to deal with them if they're not to their taste. Don't go overboard, or the room will feel over-stuffed and therefore smaller, but "empty" and "sterile" rooms tend to put people off, as well.


6. Evaluate your agent, and consider others.
What you've said about your agent so far isn't encouraging, so you might want to examine alternative representation.

Take a look at the other properties your agent has on offer. Are they representing them to their fullest potential? Are the photographs good, has the copy been proof-read, and are they priced competitively against other houses in the area? Are the agents themselves charging a similar fee to others for their services?

Do a search on Price Register, as suggested already, but also take a look at sites like Trovit and a Google Search for street names in your area. Once a house goes sale agreed, the asking price seems to disappear very quickly from the agents' own sites, but they're often cached by others and so can be compared against the actual price achieved on Price Register.


What I wouldn't bother with:

New carpets/new wood floor. People tend to have quite strong preferences about flooring, and will assume a new installation has been added to the price. If you have carpets, have them cleaned, but that's about all.

New bathrooms/kitchens. As above, they're incredibly subjective taste-wise, and buyers will assume the cost of replacement has been built into the asking price. If the new ones aren't to their taste, they're going to be looking for a discount on the asking as they'll want to replace them in the short to medium term.


Good luck, OP! I hope your move goes well for you and that you're happy in your new home.

CBFi

Agree with the above. Look at other ads online and who the agent is. Ring them, see how good they are at selling what is already on their books. Just after buying a house and some agents are woeful-not returning calls, etc. test them as if you are a buyer before you give them your house to sell.

I'd agree with advice that having it clean and tidy, freshly painted and looking like it needs minimal work will appeal to buyers with more money. We weren't in this category-we've no kids and we were willing to take on more work for a better bargain. However, We noticed a completely different crowd of buyers at houses which were in turn-key condition (mid-late 30s with kids with more buying power). Those houses always went for way more than asking!

piperh

Thank you all. You've given me a lot to think about, starting with ringing other estate agents. The decorating and de cluttering won't take long so I'll make a start on that.

Diving duck your reply is very helpful and detailed thank you. I have printed it off to use as a reminder.