Your tips on how to keep your home glamorous #3

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Hamburglar said:
I’m getting my house ready to put up for sale eek. Any top tips for the photos & then for viewings??
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I did buy an Elton John amount of flowers for a viewing weekend, had them in vases all over the house. We also managed to line up the viewing weekend whilst we were away so the house was pristine and the cat was at a cattery 🤣 but that’s not always possible I completely understand!
 
Hamburglar said:
I’m getting my house ready to put up for sale eek. Any top tips for the photos & then for viewings??
Click to expand...

As someone who spends at least 30 mins each day on Rightmove, my advice would be:

For photos
- make everything look as tidy as possible, however you need to do it. Shove stuff in cupboards, or in the shed/ in your car if need be 😂😂 Loo seat down in the bathroom and beds neatly made (I see so many houses where this is not done!) Try not to have stuff stacked up on top of kitchen cupboards, under beds etc as it gives the impression you've not got enough storage. No washing up on the side in kitchen, and if you have pets, the less signs of them the better (especially cat litter trays, keep that out of shot if you have one)
- light is really important. If any of your rooms are naturally dark (or if it's an overcast day) put the lights on for photos
- make sure any outside space looks as good as it can at this time of year, sweep up leaves etc although I know that's an endless task this time of year!

Something you can do as well beforehand is stand in the doorway of rooms and think about how they look. You might want to move furniture, lamps, vases etc around to create the best shot, or work out angles that make the room look better than others. Sometimes estate agents will suggest this themselves when doing the photos but in my experience this is rare! If you can check the photos before they leave, make sure you're happy with them or if there are any others you want, get those done before they leave. Don't worry if there aren't photos of every room, but you will at least need the main rooms plus any other particular features (nice driveway, garage, decked area in garden, wide staircase/ landing - anything that makes the house more attractive.

For viewings it's all the above plus just making sure ithe house looks and smells clean. I know there used to be a theory about having your house smell of fresh coffee or baking but I think ideally smelling of nothing is best. If you can keep pets out of the house on the day that's preferable because some people are funny about cats/ dogs.
 
I would add don't have family photographs out. They may not like the look of you.
Make sure the toilet is clean for those of us that lift the lid.
Get someone to walk through your house to point up any red flags that might need explanation.
Get quotes for any work that needs doing so people aren't put off by a simple fix. E.g. you might not have tidied up the back wall of the house or had a new window/door fitted as everyone including you would extend if you were staying. A quote for the work wouldn't go amiss for that awkward person who wants to knock thousands off the asking price, for the new window/door/wall tidy up.
 
Hamburglar said:
I’m getting my house ready to put up for sale eek. Any top tips for the photos & then for viewings??
Click to expand...

i sold my house last year with strike so did all the viewings myself and it only lasted on the market for a week! I put it down to my amazing house staging skills 🤣

Nothing at all out, even if things are shoved in the wrong cupboards, as long as they’re out of sight.

I played a playlist off Spotify called ‘French jazz cafe’ really quietly in the background. I listen to this to relax all the time but thought it’d add to the vibe

I put a really nice wax melt on the burner (Owen drew Marrakesh) so it smelt good when people came in.

went over the carpets with the hoover before each viewing so the hoover lines were showing 🤣

dress smartly (not a problem if you won’t be there for the viewings)

Try and not cook until after the viewings are done for the day
 
All of the above on the viewings, and my own two cents: clean the fridge! I have had a viewer checking out the fridge once. We would have sold the kitchen so it makes sense to check that the inside looks good, isn’t mouldy and not smelly.
Also, in case you have any out, all kitchen towels and bathroom towels should be fresh out of the closet.
 
Pinhead Larry said:
i sold my house last year with strike so did all the viewings myself and it only lasted on the market for a week! I put it down to my amazing house staging skills 🤣

Nothing at all out, even if things are shoved in the wrong cupboards, as long as they’re out of sight.

I played a playlist off Spotify called ‘French jazz cafe’ really quietly in the background. I listen to this to relax all the time but thought it’d add to the vibe

I put a really nice wax melt on the burner (Owen drew Marrakesh) so it smelt good when people came in.

went over the carpets with the hoover before each viewing so the hoover lines were showing 🤣

dress smartly (not a problem if you won’t be there for the viewings)

Try and not cook until after the viewings are done for the day
Click to expand...
I’d agree 100% with the last point! I went to view a house in the evening once and they’d clearly just had their tea and every room stunk of curry.
 
Hamburglar said:
I’m getting my house ready to put up for sale eek. Any top tips for the photos & then for viewings??
Click to expand...
Some really good advice given already. A few things from me that I've learned when selling our house. The photo of the front of the house is really important. It was due to rain when the estate agent was coming to take photos, so I took a wide angle photo on a sunny day the day before they came and asked them to use it. Make it look as tidy as it can be.

I couldn't store everything away, so I was moving things between rooms as the estate agent was taking photos. Yes that means I moved the storage sideboard into the kitchen while he was taking photos in the dining room. I moved the extra chair from the bedroom into the bathroom and then back to the bedroom. It took a few minutes longer, but they didn't mind. Put all clutter away especially in the kitchen. Things like towels and little storage bits on the counter. Get rid of all of that. Make it look as spacious as it can be. Ask to see the photos on the camera screen and see if it's working or the angle needs to change. We had a quite small kitchen and the photo made it look even smaller. I spotted that we needed to see less of the ceiling and move the fridge a bit to the front to give illusion of space behind it.
 
We’ve been having an epic house clean and apparently we’re filthy bastards as our old corded vacuum has just died a death on us. I’d like some recommendations for a new one. We have a cordless vac and it is good, but we have a large house so I do want a corded for the ‘main clean’, I just find them better, more powerful and I need more than 20 minutes to get around my house!.

We have lots of stairs, everywhere except kitchen, bathroom and loft room have carpet. It’s a dusty old Victorian house and we have a cat and me who sheds an unholy amount of hair.

I would like bagless (but that’s kind of standard now), long stretchy hose for crevices and the stairs, won’t choke under all the fur and hair and dust bunnies. Preferably not insanely heavy, with a long power cable. Any thoughts?
 
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