The Dos and Don’ts of Selling Your First Home

If you’re new to selling properties, the chances are you’re going to find the process a bit intimidating. It’s important that you secure a high price with minimum stress… so, follow these key dos and don’ts to make the process as pain free as possible!

Firstly, do have a move-out plan in place before you put your house up for sale. Will you need to secure your next property before you sell? Or will you be moving into rented accommodation? Deciding on these details will save you money and give your estate agent a clear timeline to work with.  

Secondly, do put lots of time into preparing your home for sale. Whether your property is located on an estate of new homes or is a listed property nestled in an old area, most buyers expect to be able to move straight in. As buyers often don’t want to do any renovations, repairs or redecorating, you’ll need to fill in holes, repair torn wallpaper and cracked tiles, replace worn carpets and clean up any stains. It’s also worth updating the windows, doors and guttering as these are relatively low cost improvements that will make your property easier to sell.

Better yet, do go one step further and repaint rooms that are currently too much of an ‘acquired taste’. For example, if you have a glamorous black bathroom or a bright pink living room, you might have more luck selling your home by redecorating it in neutral colours: buyers will find it easier to imagine themselves living there!

However, don’t get caught up in false hope that your home is worth more than it actually is. We can all fall into the trap of thinking our homes are worth more than they actually are because we work hard to maintain them, but the truth is you’re not going to make a sale if you’re overpricing your property. Take the emotion out of it, be realistic and start consulting a number of local estate agents: they’ll help you to determine what the asking price should be. 

While you’re doing this, do get a good understanding of your local housing market. As well as consulting estate agents, you might find it useful to spend some time checking out what similar houses are being marketed for in your area by using sights like Rightmove and Zoopla. You can also use these websites to read housing index reports to find out what the pricing trends are in your region. This will help you to get up to speed and make you a savvier seller, ensuring you’re going to get a fair deal.

It’s also really important that you don’t prohibit your estate agent from showing prospective buyers around your property. Try to be accommodating of viewings as putting restrictions on when people can see your house will cause prospective buyers to look elsewhere.

Similarly, once an appointment has been made to view your house, do let buyers walk freely around your property with your agent to guide them: there’s nothing more off-putting than the current owner hovering a few feet behind!