Author Archives: Sam

Needless to say, when selling the home, every room of the house needs to wow potential buyers. Viewers will enter your home with reluctance by default and will scour with a fine tooth comb for anything they can criticise. This is probably due to the fact that investing such a large amount of money into a property is a scary concept and buyers will want their new homes to be in mint condition, requiring no repairs. If your viewers can see your house has been well maintained and cared for they’re more likely to buy it.

Bathrooms in particular, can be hard to maintain when selling your home as they undergo such regular use. Rather than neglecting your bathroom, it should be given regular maintenance to reduce the amount of work required before each viewer is scheduled to arrive. Here are some quick maintenance tips that ensure your bathroom is pristine in preparation for every viewing.

Abolish the mould

Bathroom mould is unattractive and could be a deal breaker for potential buyers. It indicates damp problems and poor ventilation. Be sure to bleach mould before you put your house on the market and continually practice excellent ventilation when showering and bathing to avoid returning mould. Wipe down the bath and shower quickly after every use to avoid blackening grout and silicone.

Invest in some attractive accessories

Clean, sparkling mirrors can revive a tired bathroom whilst reflecting light to create the illusion of space. Replace any toothpaste-stained toothbrush holders with a new one that is used only when viewers are expected, to prevent it from spoiling.

Wash and fold towels

Wet towels strewn messily over radiators aren’t attractive and can emit a damp odour. Wash and dry towels before every viewing and ensure they’re folded or hung neatly. This will create a pleasant odour and a luxury appearance to your bathroom.

Bathrooms can be a major selling point for a house if presented well. If you have more than one bathroom then perform regular maintenance on them all. Try to put yourself in your viewers’ shoes, if you saw your bathroom in a house would you buy it?

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

My final blog post on the Henley Regatta, and some final thoughts for you. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time and will bring away some fabulous images and experiences with me I’ll probably never forget. My final takeaways and how to relate them to your house sale are:

The details matter – sprinkle clues around your home to appeal to your distinct type of buyer. Identify what they’ll love, and give it to them.
Stimulate the senses: serve homemade cookies or cake, have lots of soft and textured fabrics and interesting materials, use scented candles and keep linen freshly laundered, play soft music, and make sure your home is staged beautifully for each and every viewing.
Treat your viewers like special guests, because they are! Be an exemplary host or hostess, and really help them to enjoy their viewing experience.

Follow these three Henley Regatta lessons, and with a little bit of luck your viewers will realise that yours is their perfect home.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

People watching – what a terrific pastime it is! I’m a very visual person, with a background as a professional photographer, so I really enjoyed all the outfits, hairstyles, personalities and characters that Henley Regatta had to offer. Boaters, blazers and wedding-type hats were the order of the day, and some attendees were more creative than others!

What’s today’s lesson then? I suppose it is to be observant! When your viewers arrive, notice what they are wearing, how they carry themselves, and their gestures and try to deduce from their appearance what kind of buyer they are. Are they down-to-earth, jeans and trainers types? Focus on the garden, the garage and the practical elements of your home. If the lady turns up wearing high heels and perfectly groomed, then she will appreciate any touches of luxury and sophistication your home has to offer. Make sure you give her the best chair, and offer her a cup of tea made in a teapot and served in a cup and saucer. These are all little touches, but little touches all add up to become a buying motivation. Make the effort and see what happens!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

“Didn’t we have a loverly time at the Henley Regatta……”

It was fantastic! I went along with my husband Michael and my baby sister Kathy (the very talented photographer Katherine Ashdown), courtesy of a client of my husband’s. We dressed appropriately, as I hope you’ll agree, and Kathy and I were particularly pleased with our nautical styling! It was amazing to see everyone so beautifully dressed up, and as a lady, much of the enjoyment of my day was in watching all the other ladies, and admiring their gorgeous outfits. My husband was very content to cheer on the rowers as Kathy and I engaged in some serious people-watching. More of that in tomorrow’s blog.

The highlights of our day were:

The delicious catering, absolutely in line with the quality and creativity you would expect from such a prestigious event.
The outfits: some outlandish, some beautifully elegant, but almost all worth looking at!
The shopping: all the best of British shops selling lovely pretty things.
The atmosphere: and the rowing, of course! Seeing all those young university men competing against each other was a real treat. Just think, they could be competing against each other in the House of Commons in a decade!
The company: I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with two of my loved ones, but also the other people we met really made the day fun and it was over before we knew it!

So what’s today’s lesson from Henley Regatta? Well, I suggest you look at your home and ask yourself “What are my highlights?” Looking at my five highlights above, can you arrange some visual and sensory treats to wow your potential buyers? How about homemade cookies, served by you wearing a special outfit, having staged your home with some pretty things, and to create atmosphere, some well-chosen music playing? Then all you have to make sure you do, is to be the best host or hostess, and make your viewers feel like the very special guests they are.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

My second blog post on the Henley Regatta is on the subject of ‘vignettes’. What exactly are these and how do they relate to selling houses? Well the dictionary describes a vignette as “A short story that presents a scene or paints a picture.” The key word here is ‘story’. What’s your home’s story? Where has it come from, and where is it now? What is your home’s personality? Kindly, warm and cosy, or else sophisticated, elegant and poised?

Let’s look at the Regatta. The vignettes below all tell a story. The man with the chirpy boater and the characterful beard; I bet he’s a really interesting person, full of wisdom and twinkly eyes. If he were a house, he’d be a thatched cottage with big chunky beams and a flagstone floor. Or the couple with the ice-creams. If they were a home, it would be a good solid village house, extended several times over the years and full of family laughter and memories.

What’s your story? What is your home’s personality? I once helped sell a house in the Cotswolds that had been on the market for over two years. Its owners had come from London, and the house ‘felt London’ with dark coloured hallway, large bold abstract prints, and ethnic ornaments and rugs. This kind of styling was completely alien for the Cotswold buyer, who was looking for a life that would include village fetes, long dog walks and longer pub lunches, and a large glass of Merlot in front of a roaring log fire. Not exactly a London life. I helped them understand their buyers, and give them the clues that they were looking for. Out went the prints, rugs and ornaments, and in came the muddy Hunters, vases of hand-picked flowers and big soft throws. The comfortable Cotswold life was snapped up immediately at the asking price for the first buyers that walked through the door.

And where had these buyers come from? London of course!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

My family and I were lucky enough to be invited to the wonderful Henley Regatta recently, and I had some great takeaways from it I wanted to share with you. I always see marketing lessons wherever I go, and feel that something as uniquely English as the Henley Regatta has a lot to teach us about super-successful marketing and branding.

I’ve blogged on this each day this week, and here’s your first: The Brands.

Look around at the companies who have associated themselves with the Henley Regatta and it really is a “Who’s Who” of branding, as well as a “Who’s Going to be Who” selection. Think about sophisticated ‘river fashion’ mixed with quintessential English style and food, and you’ll come up with brands such as Joules, Boden and Crew. The cars were all Range Rovers, BMWs and Mercedes. The drinks on offer were Champagne and Pimms, and the food would not have been out of place in the tearooms of the Ritz.

But what’s the lesson when we’re trying to sell our house? Firstly, look at the kind of buyers you expect to find your home the most appealing. Are they Henley Regatta goers? If so, give them clues that your home is for them. Take a leaf out of the Henley Regatta Marketing Book for Beginners and sprinkle some appropriate lifestyle clues liberally around your house. A jug of Pimms and a fruit cake on the side in the kitchen, Cath Kidston wellies by the back door and a Mercedes in the driveway – even if you have to borrow one! These are all signs to a buyer that your home is right for them.

If your buyers are not Regatta types, then you need to identify what type they are. Are they doggy people? Then leave out a copy of Your Dog magazine, and a map of local dog walks, and perhaps borrow a muddy Volvo! Maybe they are the sophisticated urban type; then leave around West End tickets, an ultra modern laptop or iPad and a bottle of Champagne in the kitchen. You get the idea.

Get to know your buyers; read what they read and go where they go. The more you can convince them that they can lead the life they seek in your home, the more likely you are to persuade them to buy it. It takes a little research work and some staging effort, but it’s oh so worth it.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Selling a house is often difficult and fraught with emotion. Add a divorce to the mix and it’s downright traumatic.

By its very definition, divorce is rarely amicable, and in most cases, one party is much more eager to separate than the other. When finances are tight, it can result in the couple continuing to share the house for much longer that they would like to, and this in itself can severely hamper a sale. Some of the consequences of a home sale caused by divorce are:

Two master bedrooms
A lack of harmony, evident in there being two opposing tastes
A polarization between two personalities, eg football suddenly becomes more important, and evident
Evidence of children being spoilt, eg too many toys in their bedrooms
Teenagers can become rebellious and uncooperative, leaving messy rooms, perhaps smoking or playing loud music, even during viewings
One party sabotaging the viewings, sometimes subconsciously
A feeling of sadness and desperation can pervade the house.

Often, the initiating partner in the divorce wants a quick sale, whilst the more reluctant of the couple usually prefers to hold out for the best offer. This can really hold up a sale, and leave the poor estate agent having to negotiate between both sellers and the buyer, and play counsellor too – not an easy task!

At HomeTruths, we understand the issues, and promise to help you achieve your goal with sensitivity and discretion. Often acting as a go-between or even a mediator, our role is to help both parties sell the home, and to move on with their lives, in every way possible.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

A home is another member of your household. It’s the scene for dramas and joys, of discoveries and growth and change of people – of families. Your story is ready to be played on elsewhere, but this home needs another family to appreciate all it has to offer.

But who should buy your house? If you start to understand who will recognise the potential and appeal of your house, what you show them, (or what you get the estate agent to show them) takes on a different tack; it’s now about why this could be a home, rather than a house. Suddenly it’s about what makes the house magic and special, and having a role to play in people’s lives.

Is it great for socialising, or bonding the members of your family over meals? Is the kitchen a place for experimentation and baking, or convenience and ease? Where would you sit and have morning coffee? Could you snooze in a chair here in the last of the autumn sun? Is this a great baby room, or a gem of a spare room? How long has the house lived? What kinds of character does it offer hidden away – or proudly on view, and how will this matter to who lives there? Why should they buy this house and have it for 20 years?

When a buyer’s imagination is captured – the curve of the staircase, the real wood floor, working fire place in the snug living room…family meals and discussions or dinner party occasions…the rooms tucked away perfect for teenage loud music or study…the outstanding school a short walk away, or the unbelievable little Italian place around the corner – magic can happen.

There is nothing quite like the hunt for a new home. The exhilaration (the bathroom was gorgeous!), the frustration (will this ever be over?), and often complete disappointment (how can they call that a kitchen?), offer quite a journey. What about your home can create that oasis – the one that gets the heart fluttering – the inner voice that says – this the one?

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

This great post is courtesy of Louise Reynolds, the director of Property Venture.

So do you want to live the dream of having a holiday home but don’t want the hassle? Or not sure if you’ll know a bargain when you see one?

Some of the most time-consuming parts of finding an ideal 2^nd home can be doing due diligence: finding the right location, right property and making sure it is all that it seems.

An Agent can do a lot of the due diligence work up front, whether your search is in the UK or abroad. Sourcing all the necessary third parties that might get involved in a second home purchase, can be more onerous abroad than in the UK. For example you might need: a “Sworn” or Certified translator (translating for legal equivalence is a legal requirement in some countries) an independent lawyer, a suitable bank that offers a decent mortgage rate and whose account you can operate remotely over the internet from the UK.

An Independent Agent can help an inexperienced buyer acquire an overseas property in up to a third of the time it might take them to do it on their own, thereby saving time.

In the UK, sourcing a property against a specific brief can save a busy, professional lots of wasted, “first-viewing” time. Are we talking year round facilities needed because holidays will be taken throughout the school holiday season? Or ease of access to beaches? If these are deal-breakers, better to get them checked out first before seeing the property yourself.

Saving money is often a key motivator, which drives some people to cut corners. One way of thinking about this, is as an inexperienced DIYer. Doing a job properly first time round can save a lot of time, money and aggravation.

A good Agent can guide on what is and is not, a good purchase for a Second Home or an Investment Property. Are you looking for a renovation project, but not sure what state “irreparable” is? A decent Agent will be able to check out and advise on whether a project may be biting off more than you can chew, or will blow the budget for post-completion work.

So the “point” of a professional Agent or Buyer’s Agent is to save:

Your time, particularly if you have a full-time career
Your money, so that you buy within your budget, including any work that might need to be done post-purchase
The amount of hassle involved in acquiring the property you intended to.

Written by Louise Reynolds – Director, Property Venture

Property Venture, a UK-based agent who helps people buy holiday homes and investment property in Europe, more easily and safely than they can on their own. http://www.property-venture.com

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

When a house is being described in print or online, the words used can either have the effect of making a reader switch off, or else making the house lift off the page, and come alive. The difference between telling the reader all about a property, in terms of bricks and mortar, and the way a good writer can draw you into the detail of a home, full of welcome and memories, is a profound one. Look at these examples:

‘A beautiful detached family home, set in pretty gardens extending to about an acre, with a wonderfully secluded swimming pool, far reaching views and well planned accommodation. No onward chain.’

‘On a warm, summer’s morning Mark and Anne Clarke like nothing better than to take a dip in their heated, outdoor swimming pool, before enjoying their breakfast al fresco on the terrace, overlooking the back garden.’

The pool is actually at the side of the house and not overlooked by anyone. “That side of the house gets the sun all day, so we often like to take an early morning swim,” Helen explained. “The minute we first saw it we knew we were going to buy it,” she added. “There are wonderful views from every single window in the house.”

Would you believe these two passages are actually describing the same house?

How about these two; which house sounds more appealing?

This one…. ‘A wonderful country house situated in an enviable position within this hamlet. The property, which has been well maintained and improved by the current owners for over 30 years and is presented for sale in excellent decorative order throughout.’

Or this? ‘Wandering past the glorious roses in full bloom, and on through the Japanese and Italian gardens, Ian and his wife Sophie soak up the wonderful tranquillity of their exquisite English country home.’

They have lived at the expansive four-bedroom house in this picturesque hamlet for more than 30 years now. There they have created an attractive and comfortable family home, which sits beautifully in its magnificent grounds of almost 6 acres. The property is overflowing with delightful features that include intricate plasterwork and open fireplaces, while the fabulous grounds incorporate a tennis court and a number of outbuildings, including converted stables, as well as a semi-walled garden with pond, and an arboretum.’

Beautiful prose and evocative words written in a stylish and nostalgic tone, can really capture a reader’s imagination. Dull, flat copy full of clichés and ‘estate agent-speak’ can have the opposite effect. Here’s my 5 point checklist to make sure your home sings on the page:

1. Create a snappy headline.

‘Executive five bed home with luxury fittings and well-maintained gardens’ isn’t enough to get anyone excited. ‘Are these the best views in Sussex?’ will get your property noticed for all the right reasons.

2. Supercharge your adjectives.

Is your copy sprinkled with adjectives that evoke homely warmth and comfort? Words like cosy and welcoming are very appealing to buyers, and will pull at their emotional buying strings.

3. Ban all agent-speak.

Scour your descriptions for words that are clichéd and typical of the worst kind of property description. Make sure you take out offending phrases like ‘double aspect’ or ‘benefitting from’ and eliminate any mention at all of power points, telephone points and radiators.

4. Room-by-room descriptions are old hat.

Much better is a well-written opening paragraph, followed by a written ‘tour’ of the house, including the garden, and peppered with pretty quotes from the owners.

5. Dimensions belong in floorplans; not in the written description.

They interrupt the flow of the writing, and are very difficult to understand when taken out of context. As part of the floorplan they are useful because they make sense.

Of course, it’s not always a straightforward process, persuading your estate agent to add such imaginative and attractive style to your written description, but even if you can get him to use some of your words, it will make such a difference to the way your buyer understands what your home has to offer them.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.