It wasn’t too many years ago that the UK property market was flourishing and if you couldn’t sell your home in a matter of months, there was something fundamentally wrong with it. Nowadays, if you manage to flog your property in such a short amount of time, it’s generally regarded as a wonder case.
Unfortunately, the global financial crisis has hit the market hard and while the media keep suggesting that we are on the road to recovery, if you are still struggling to sell your home this probably isn’t going to be much consolation.
Bearing this in mind, it’s important to do everything in your power to try and prompt that quick sale. Unfortunately, some homes will always be difficult to sell, but most can be very appealing to a lot of buyers and you might simply have to make small alterations to tempt them into tabling an offer. Here are our top five tips.
Declutter
This is probably the most important tip you can follow. There’s nothing worse than walking into a property only to find piles of furniture clogging up the place. Instead, you should try and sell or throw away any items that you’ll no longer be using and let the potential buyers bask in the excess space. Alternatively, if you already know the theme for your next home, perhaps purchase your new furniture just to provide that premium image. Whether it’s a nursery range from a website such as, or a standard living room suite from the local furniture store, buying in advance could be more useful than you initially thought.
Paper over the cracks
All houses have small defects, whether it’s a small slit in the wallpaper or a missing floor tile. Unfortunately, these minor details can play on the mind of a potential buyer so it’s important to disguise any such problems as well as you can. Admittedly, you won’t be able to hide major defects as the property surveyor will be able to eventually sniff those out, but for smaller problems you can certainly make a difference.
Pick a fresh bunch of flowers
This is an old classic and is said to improve on the general feel of your property. Many people claim that flowers make a house feel more ‘homely’, while they can also aid with the smell which is another important factor you should be looking to work on.
Hack out the weeds
Curb appeal is one of the important things an estate agent considers and if your garden is overgrown or simply looks a mess, you are unlikely to draw up much initial interest. Furthermore, with many buyers usually seeing their prospective home whilst driving around, they are unlikely to stop if they see weeds overpowering your garden.
Create space
Another shrewd trick is to try and make your home feel bigger than it actually is. Mirrors are often perfect to achieve this, although you can also pull it off by allowing as much natural light in as possible.
