Here’s 14 tips to help you prepare your property for Sale.

1: Remove the clutter.

It’s only when you move house that you realise how much “stuff” you have. The first step in preparing your house for sale, should be to go through each room and remove everything you don’t need. Not only will this help make your property look neater and the rooms bigger but it will also make packing easier.

2: Patch and paint the walls

It’s amazing how much a paint job can improve the look of your property both in your eyes and also for potential buyers. Depending on your budget, you should start off by marking down which walls have cracks and major scuffs which require urgent attention and then any other walls you think could do with a freshen up. This is also a good chance to paint any feature walls a more neutral colour. Also consider any windows, doors or parts of the outside of the house that require attention.

3: Give the property a heavy duty clean

Before any potential buyers come through your property, you will need to give your property a good clean from top to bottom. Keep an eye out for dirty vents, sneaky cobwebs and anything else that could make potential buyers think the property wasn’t well maintained. If you have badly stained carpets, have them cleaned or if heavily stained then replaced.

4: Maintenance and repairs to the little things

As you’re going through each of the rooms, make a list of all the little things that need repairing or maintaining and call in a handyman or tradesman or fix or replace them yourself. Check for cracked power points, broken heating ducts, loose door handles etc.

5: Don’t forget outside

If you have an outdoor area that needs a bit of love, it could be worth spending a bit of time on some gardening or getting your deck polished. Planting some flowers can be a cost effective strategy to add some colour to a property.

6: Upgrade your door handles

Replacing the door handles on both interior and exterior doors as well as any cupboards throughout your home can make a big difference for a relatively low price.

7: Add some fresh towels, flowers, plants

If you’re still living in your property while it’s being sold, you may want to invest in some ‘show’ towels. These are your display towels which are displayed during inspections. Make sure you don’t have old, stained towels on display, it’s just not a good look. Fresh flowers are a great way to fill a house with lovely fragrances and colour. They add ‘life’ to the property. Easy to maintain pot plants around the property also receive lots of attention during our open for inspections.

8: Neatly pile kid’s toys

If you have young children, you’ll probably need to find a solution for the mountain of toys that they have. Try to remove any toys they no longer play with and it would be a good idea to hide any of the messy toys while the sale campaign is running (eg. Lego, Play Doh, Paints etc)

9: Keep your private’s private

Make sure that anything you don’t want anyone to see is either removed from your property or well out of the way of prying eyes.

10: Keep your cupboards and drawers clean

If there’s a door that opens in your property, you can be sure that it will be opened by potential buyers at an inspection. So take the time to make sure that everything’s neat and tidy inside.

11: Keep curtains and blinds open

Before every open for inspection, you’ll want to make sure to keep all of your blinds and curtains open to let in as much natural light as possible.

12: Make sure all of your lights work

If you don’t get a lot of natural light, make sure all of your lights are working.

13: Make your home smell nice

There’s nothing more off putting for potential buyers than bad smells. It’s a good idea to make sure you have plenty of air fresheners and aides to make your house smell nice. Try to avoid cooking any foods with a strong smell and make sure you stay on top of any pet odours throughout the Sale campaign.

14: Professionally stage your property

Having your property staged for the sale is a great way to present your property at its very best without buying new furniture and artwork etc. Use a professional property stylist, who’ll come through your property and recommend a full or partial staging package to make sure your property presents its very best for all of your advertising and throughout the sale campaign.