Buying and Selling tips

We will be selling our house in the near future.  Just wondering if there is anything we should do to make the house more sellable.  We re-did the bathroom and windows/doors two years ago and the kitchen last year.  Lucky for us the value of the house went up £25-35,000 more then if we had tried to sell last year.

We will be buying in the same area, but we need more space. (I needed more space even before Josh came along )  Any advice about buying, what to look for.

I've never done this before, I married into a house as my husband had bought it right before we met.

Thank you

We haven't bought or sold, but I know that all the property shows that I live vicariously through advise you to de-clutter as much as possible when you have a small place. Even if you have to put things in storage. This is especially true if you have kids and the toys and paraphernalia can easily take over the house before you know it!

de-clutter

That's Ann Maurice's mantra! People like to see a house and be able to picture themselves and their own furniture/stuff in it. So eliminate as much clutter as you can!

Definitely declutter!  Do a good clean and take some pictures of your rooms and really examine them as though you're looking at them for the first time -- chances are you'll see some clutter that you're so used to looking at that you aren't even aware it's there anymore!

Spruce up the outside as much as possible.  When we were looking, I realized that I discounted non-cute homes immediately!  Paint the front door.  Put out some tubs of flowers, etc.

That's Ann Maurice's mantra!

...and get rid of those gawd awful teapots!! 

(edit: just realised I don't know if the OP collect teapots - I was making reference to one of Ann Maurice's episodes...apologies if you collect teapots )

...and get rid of those gawd awful teapots!! 

 

And clean all the bird poo off the back of the sofa! (in case anyone saw that episode)

We're in the process of getting our house together for sale as well.  Our realtor recommended putting away most or all of the family photographs that we have out.  It neutralizes the house for buyers.

Another tip she gave us is to clear the kitchen counters as much as possible, even to bare countertops if you can.  Granted, it's not the easiest way to live (no coffeemaker?!), but it does look good.

A trick my friend used for her open houses was to have cookies baking.  She said it made the house smell great, plus she had little nibbles for the people who came by.

Good luck!

Thank you!!!!  LOL!  I would never have thought of all of this.

I don't know about bird poo, but baby sick we do have (Though not much anymore)

As for the teapots, I don't collect them.  I do however collect chickens (Not real ones) for the kitchen it's supposed to be good luck.  Lucky me my MIL bought me a life size one feathers and all a few years back.  It got "lost" when the kitchen was re-done.

Oy, we have so much clutter and crap, I guess buying some storage space for a few months would be wise huh!

A trick my friend used for her open houses was to have cookies baking.  She said it made the house smell great, plus she had little nibbles for the people who came by.

I did that when I sold my house in the US and it worked! Also, fresh flowers on a table are always a plus.

I kept fresh flowers on the table and had some cinnamon potpourri simmering on the stove if I knew someone was doing a viewing. I also did vanilla scented candles in strategic places and low background music. ( I used Bach)

Which reminds me... we're planning an all-out olfactory assault on our basement when we put our house up.  It doesn't really smell, but with three cats it's best to not take chances!

fresh baking bread does the trick, too! (do ya think the brown and serve rolls would work??!! )