Author Archives: Sam

When clients come to HomeTruths because they can’t sell their house, the first place I look for clues as to why this is happening, is their marketing. Now, anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time at all, knows that property marketing is ‘my thing’ so I usually have lots to say about it! But what can a seller do when none of their local estate agents offer the kind of quality marketing I tell them is absolutely vital in selling their home for the maximum price possible? “Do it your way” I tell them. Let me explain.

There are four key components to a property’s marketing: photography, description, brochure, online advert.

Very few estate agents get all these absolutely spot on, so why not fill in the missing pieces yourself? Let’s look at these components one at a time:

Photography – source a good local photographer, asking to see his work. If he’s worked for local estate agents before, don’t use him! You’re only going to end up with more of the same. What you’re looking for, is an innovative and creative photographer, who can really bring the best out of your home, and cares enough to switch on lights, and move your sofa in order to get the best shots.

Expect to pay: around £300

Description – you need a copywriter for this. Start off by writing a couple of pages about your home; everything you love about it, and all the features that you think will make a buyer love it too. This will give the copywriter a head start, and something to work with.

Expect to pay: around £150

Brochure – a great brochure designer will come up with a creative layout and even a memorable logo. Printing costs depend on the size and number of pages and what paper your brochure is printed on. Most unique homes need at least 6-8 pages in their brochure, to show off all the key selling features of their property.

Expect to pay: around £500

Online advert – this is where your photography and description can help your advert to really stand out above the competition. Make sure your brochure is uploaded and both this and your floorplan shown as a link on all the property portals. Give it all to your agent and they will do the rest.

Expect to pay: nothing!

By allocating around £1,000 to your property marketing, you can create an amazing campaign, that will knock the socks off all the other properties for sale, Whilst it is admittedly a large up-front cost, relatively speaking, I would suggest you negotiate with your agent to make allowances for this in the commission you would be paying. A commission discount of 0.25% on most properties would allow you to recoup your investment, and you’d be doing a much better job than your agent would in selling your house.

Doing it your way is all about taking control of your own property sale; after all, it means more to you than anyone else, so put your passion and enthusiasm into creating a fabulous marketing campaign that will help your buyer to fall in love with your home, just as you once did.

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.

Branding is a symbol or mark that distinguishes one product from another, just as it was originally intended to ensure farmers and ranchers knew which herd was theirs. It’s now a kind of short-cut; think of the Nike swoosh, or Red Bull’s wings; all the brand personality and attributes are delivered through that one graphic: perhaps you think of ‘Just do it’, and the message of hard work and commitment when you see the Nike logo, and fun, energy and people jumping out of space ships when you see the Red Bull logo.

Of course, a logo doesn’t make a brand, it just carries its ethos and message in a little, efficient package. Large companies have a ‘brand bible’: a dossier of exact colours, fonts and basically rules, for every use of their name and logo in print or online.

People can be brands; just think of Lady Gaga, or Princess Kate. And so can houses. In fact, the stronger and more defined your house brand, the more likely you are to appeal to your buyer. But how? Let’s break it down:

Colours: the most visual of a brand’s personality, colours need to reflect the lifestyle and the tone of a house. So, muted, natural colours may accurately reflect a Georgian townhouse whereas a palette of white, black and even red may fit a bachelor apartment and convey its tone.

Mood: or atmosphere, is how your house makes someone feel when they walk through the door. Homely, impressive, calming, vibrant, cosy, minimalist; these are all feelings that a house can convey very quickly. As well as décor, music and lighting, and even smells, play a huge part in conveying a mood.

Furnishings: large squashy sofas and chunky wooden furniture will give your house a completely different feel to modern leather suites and glass and chrome pieces. What’s the style of your bed? Traditional or modern? Style above comfort? Or a huge wooden sleigh bed that all the family pile onto at the weekend?

Accessories: how is your house dressed? Is it formal, with tall, elegant vases and carefully chosen coffee table books? Or is it full of vibrant rugs and cushions in a jumble of colours? Look at your mugs – they can be a dead giveaway! If you are happy giving your guests mismatching mugs, then you probably have a relaxed attitude to your house style, and it may well be reflected in a casual, homely feel. A perfectly matching tea set could indicate a more reserved, uniform style that is apparent throughout the house.

Position: no matter how hard you try to overcome your location, some of it will seep into the house. So if yours is the only ‘Grand Design’ on a road full of sixties’ bungalows, it will diminish the overall wow factor for someone walking in. Unless they’ve been blindfolded…. So, muddy lanes feel the right way to approach a farmhouse, whereas a smart tree-lined avenue can really ‘pre-sell’ a period townhouse to a buyer as they approach.

A brand is like a jigsaw: it needs all the pieces to fit in order to work. In a house, one piece out of place, like an incongruous colour, an inconsistent piece of furniture or an ill-fitting neighbour, can detract from the overall impression you’re trying to create. By being aware of what your house brand is, or could be, may well help you to attract that buyer more effectively. Take that one step further, by commissioning a graphic designer to create your house name or number as a logo, and use it on your brochure, to really push that message home to a buyer. If it resonates, and it’s authentic, it’ll work.

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.

There are many reasons why your house may not be selling: it could be the fault of your estate agent, a lack of market activity or maybe your house isn’t presented as well as it might be. These are all practical issues, and ones which we at HomeTruths help sellers to solve, every day.

However, there are other issues, which are much harder to spot. Maybe, for example, one party doesn’t actually want to sell. If the husband is very attached to the lovely family home that he has enjoyed for a decade or two, he may be rather hoping it WON’T sell. In fairness to him, he may not even realize that he is sabotaging the sale; perhaps by not remembering to tidy up after himself, might not pass on messages from the estate agent, or maybe he’ll decide to cook a curry the night before a viewing. This may be totally subconscious, of course, but no less effective at deterring a potential buyer for that.

Divorces are also very efficient at putting buyers off; even if the agent doesn’t know, or has been sworn to secrecy, somehow a buyer can sense the disharmony. It may be the physical signs: the separate bedrooms, the conflicting styles, the piles of paperwork; or there may be less tangible clues: muttered remarks, pregnant pauses, the odd sniff perhaps. There’s something about the atmosphere in a house being sold by about-to-be-divorced couples that is just plain sad.

If you’re trying to sell and it’s just not happening, maybe it’s time to have a big clear-out – not just literally, but emotionally – to make sure nothing is consciously, or unconsciously, sabotaging your sale.

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.

Crafting the right Rightmove headline is an art, and it might just be the key to selling your home too. As you scroll down a never-ending list of homes online, you’ll find a sea of dull, generic descriptions. Nothing catches your eye, or tempts you to find out more. Then you see a thoughtfully drafted description. It’s considered and personal, and invites you to click on the home to take a closer look. Let’s take a look at why the words you choose are so important.

When you take a walk down the high-street you see a patchwork of shop fronts. The Little White Company catches your eye. Its clean frontage and thoughtful window display is inviting. Two carefully placed posters catch your eye; the first reads, ‘Think timeless style, not fashion, quality, not quantity, and attention to detail in everything we do.’ The other reads, ‘Precious moments of uncomplicated happiness…We believe in making the most of life’s simple pleasures- it’s the little things that matter.’

Considered, delicate words, but there’s no mention of what you can actually buy; instead, it simply it asks you to think about ‘precious moments.’ Picturing how the treasures inside can bring your family happiness is far more personal; it creates emotional ties that are difficult to ignore. These headlines don’t sell the homeware and clothing products inside, they sell a lifestyle. Because everyone wants to make happy memories.

This little treasure sits alongside Matalan. The garish red sign sits above a cluttered display window; the clashing colours are off-putting, and the chaotic design is a harsh contrast to the elegant white and creams next door. There are lots of posters, but the biggest reads, ‘New rug collection. Delivering quality and value always.’ The words are concise and functional; they tell you exactly what is inside, but it’s generic. This poster could exist in the majority of homeware shops, and it would suffice. The words are far from offensive, but they are forgettable.

The words on the posters speak of the shops inside. Both offer homeware and clothing, but only one creates an environment you really want to browse in. Getting lost in The Little White Company is an indulgence. And the treasures inside are more than just products. What lies within the clean, thoughtful space is a lifestyle, an ideal.

Matalan offers functionality. It’s busy, cluttered aisles are well utilised and practical. But it’s a place you go if you have to go. Not because you have the luxury of time and choice. The Little White Company schmooses. And it’s thoughtfulness is memorable.

Shop headlines and home descriptions both fall into the same two categories: the functional, and the emotional. Most adopt the former. These are the generic, copy-and-paste jobs, littered with cliché phrases and adjectives. Yes, they are quick to write, and yes, they probably describe the home to some degree. But when you take a leaf out of The Little White Company, and craft a considered headline, it makes people pause and want to find out more.

Now let’s compare two property headlines. The first reads, ‘*ESTATE AGENTS* are pleased to market this substantial property in a HIGHLY DESIRABLE location. The property is WELL PRESENTED and in brief comprises three reception rooms…’ It goes on. And there is nothing wrong with the description. Just like the Matalan sign, it’s practical, reusable and informative. But, except tweaking the number of bedrooms and reception rooms, it reads like every other headline. The generic capitalized adjectives could be used to describe most homes, and the overall tone is dull and forgettable. It doesn’t tell the story of the home, and it doesn’t help people to picture the lifestyle that can be enjoyed inside.

Alternatively, here’s a schmoozy Rightmove headline, ‘Is this the best view in the Lake District? Victorian splendour, views to make you swoon, and a wine cellar to boot. Welcome to the Old Vicarage.’ The opening sentence talks to you. It invites conversation, and it’s warm. There is just enough personality, and just enough detail, to make you want to find out more. The language and tone is elegant yet friendly, and the description is unique to the property.

Much like The Little White Company posters, this headline is less focused on functionality, and captures a lifestyle instead. Why? Because emotions sell homes. And everyone wants a home that is special.

So, to pinch a few words from our friends at The Little White Company, ‘It’s the little things that matter.’ Let’s take all the little things that make your home special, and invite families to see for themselves.

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 lady called me this week from rural Lincolnshire; she’s been trying to sell her lovely modern home for two years now, but with only a handful of viewings during that time, she was understandably beginning to feel very despondent.

Unwilling to drop her asking price, as it is funding her next purchase and lots more besides, she wondered what else she could do to add value to her home. As we talked, it transpired that she actually owned a paddock next to the house, which she was thinking of keeping hold of, in the hope of a future increase in its worth. As it was only a couple of acres, its value separated from a house could be very little, and I explained to her that added to the house, the perceived value to a buyer of the whole “package” would potentially be much higher.

Anyone looking for an equestrian property, or seeking a move for a better quality of life, will appreciate an adjoining paddock much more than say, a farmer who would like a couple more acres for his sheep. I suggested she add it into the sale, without increasing the asking price, to make the proposition for a buyer that much more attractive. After all, a modern, executive style home with new bathrooms and kitchen, and an adjoining paddock, is pretty rare in the area.

Whilst she ponders this issue, it got me to thinking about the whole idea of adding value without dropping your price.

I’ve come up with a list of possibilities for you to consider, if you’re not getting serious interest in your property, and want to attract a buyer in other ways than your asking price:

Updating your kitchen

Kitchens are always a bit tricky, as you’d be risking installing a kitchen that your buyer may not like. However, so long as it’s neutral, ie white or cream, and in keeping with your property age, for under £10,000 the extra value that it would give your home is far in excess of this. Definitely worth considering.

Install a new bathroom

Look at the latest trends, and make sure that you have a power shower, fully tiled walls, and towel rails. Bathrooms really matter, so make sure yours have the wow factor. If possible, keep the spend per bathroom around £5,000.

New carpets

Carpets can make a house look dated more than any other area, and they can also give a buyer a reason to make a low offer. A good quality, neutral carpet throughout the house can add several times its cost in the perception that the house has been kept up to date. Re-carpeting an average-sized house will cost around £4,000 but it’s definitely a very worthwhile investment.

New flooring in ‘wet’ rooms

By wet rooms, I mean kitchens, utility rooms, cloakrooms and bathrooms; the general rule of thumb with the flooring in these rooms is that it needs to be ‘moppable’ – in other words, a hard floor. It doesn’t need to be expensive, in fact there are some fabulous vinyls out there that will only cost a couple of hundred pounds per room. Again, the difference in how a buyer will see your home is high: a bathroom that is carpeted will look dated to a modern buyer, regardless of whether it is or not.

Adding a home office

Most buyers want the ability to work from home these days, or at least, to have a space in which they can keep their computer, paperwork and perhaps books. If you have a room in the house that can be dressed as an office, it would be a worthwhile investment to add some contemporary office furniture, and smart accessories.

If you don’t have any space in the house, can you add one outside, in the form of a garden office? These cost from around £10,000, including fitting and adding an electricity supply, but having such an important feature will really help your property stand out to a buyer.

Consider it this way: if you were to do all the above, the investment would be in the region of £40,000, but your home would have all that a buyer is looking for: it would be ready to move into, and give a buyer no excuse to think that it needs work.

If your home is on the market for £400,000 or more, this investment would represent only 10% of its value, and given that asking price to sale ratios are only around 90% at the moment, and much less in some areas, surely it’s better to consider improving your home than dropping the price by say, £50,000. I’ve seen price drops recently of £100,000 and more on properties previously marketed at under £1 million.

Giving the buyer what they need is not always about price; increasing its value may just get your home sold for more.

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.

There are many resources estate agents and valuers can draw upon to ascertain the value of a home, but they all rely, in one form or another, on precedent: what other properties have sold for in the road, village or area. But how much can past performance really be an indicator of what a future buyer is prepared to pay for their dream home?

A property that has similar neighbouring properties, perhaps in a terrace, row of semi-detached houses, or a small development of detached homes, usually has ample precedential evidence; sales over recent years will paint a picture of rises and falls in the local market; ‘done-up’ properties setting the glass ceiling for achievable sale prices, houses in need of renovation bringing up the rear. They all make up the rich tapestry that determines your asking price.

When valuing a unique property however, the tapestry starts to unravel. You can look for precedent: perhaps at the last sale price for the property, though if that was more than five years ago, and the house has been the subject of an improvement programme, what can this really tell us? It might help to look at the price per square foot, which can indicate a benchmark pricing for comparable properties, though it’s a pretty complicated process to add or subtract swimming pools, acreage, a Clive Christian kitchen or an Amdega conservatory. Ultimately, the only real way to ‘value’ a unique home is to look at four saleability factors:

Affordability – what kind of buyer does your home most appeal to, and can they afford it? A London buyer may be able to afford more than a local, but if your home is dated, or unsuitable for a contemporary buyer, an urban buyer may dismiss it in favour of something with move-in appeal.

Scarcity – how unique is the house? Is it unique because it’s been extended so much over the years, the original house is unrecognisable, or is it a sixteenth century house that Elizabeth I once stayed in?

Appeal – if you were a buyer, would you want your home? Does it tick lots of boxes? Does it have all that a family buyer has been dreaming of? A pony paddock and a swimming pool may not be on their list, but may just clinch the deal for you, making sure they are thinking with their hearts, and not with their heads.

Competition – what else could they buy for the same money? How does it compare with yours? Be honest – which one would you choose?

If you’re trying to sell a unique home, and would like some honest, independent advice on its saleability, why not drop me a line? You may just be ready for some HomeTruths.

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.

I spoke to a lady recently who hadn’t had a viewing in six months; another gentleman seller called me who had been trying to sell his house for three years, and in all that time had only had three viewings. If you’re in that boat, you have my sincere sympathies. It’s even harder if a friend or neighbour is getting a viewing a week. So what can you do today that would help you get more viewings?

1. Review your marketing – look at your photography, description, online advert and brochure, and make a list of improvements you could make to them. Ask your estate agent about getting the house re-photographed, and whether they would cover the charge of a professional photographer. Write the description from scratch, including ‘owners’ quotes’, interesting historical anecdotes, and any other human interest element you think might intrigue a buyer.

2. Call your agent – my experience has shown that the more often you talk to your agent, the more likely your house is going to be in the forefront of their mind if a prospective buyer calls. How often have you phoned your agent to ask them why you haven’t had a viewing in a while, only to be told a day or two later that someone wants to view?

3. Take a break – taking your house off the market for a little while may seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes it’s all you need to increase the interest in your house when you re-launch. It’s also a good idea if you are going to revamp your marketing materials, as your home will have extra impact when you go back to the market. As a general rule of thumb, I would suggest a month off the market for every six months you’ve been for sale. Upon your re-launch, an email alert will hit all the inboxes of buyers who have registered with Rightmove and the other portals, and this alone could help encourage viewings.

By taking action, not only will you give yourself the best possible chance to increase interest in your property, you will you feel reassured that you are taking control of your own house sale.

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.

House buyers are a fickle lot – often deciding the biggest purchase of their lives within moments of getting through the front door.

And more often than not it is the trivial that sends them scurrying away – instead of concentrating on numbers of bedrooms or structural stability they are put off by pictures, plants and pouffes.

Despite the fact personal effects tend to leave the home with the seller, our own sense of taste can easily make or break a sale.

But if we love our home, we often cannot see how off putting our children’s artwork or cat’s scratching post can be to a potential buyer.

This is where home staging comes in. First made famous in the UK at the turn of the century by Channel 5’s House Doctor, Anne Maurice, the concept has caught on and not only can sell your home quickly but can even add thousands of pounds to the price.

Today the Home Stager Network can put sellers in touch with a professional quickly and easily – and it boasts more than 250,000 unique visitors a year.

The trick is not to undertake major alterations but to make the best of what you have – albeit maybe with a few accessories or tweaks to make your home seem more appealing for the majority.

What would you do to prepare each room so it looks its very best for the photographer? Perhaps you would move furniture around to accentuate a feature, or have a grubby wall repainted – it is really about looking at your house with a critical and objective eye.

For those of us too close to our homes – or just short of time or a creative eye – spending some money on a home stager can see the investment returned multiple times.

A typical home stager may cost £300 for a first visit and recommendations with time charged by the hour after that. This could include shopping for you or just making a shopping list that you take to Ikea. It is rare someone should have to spend more than £1,000 on a successful home staging and often much less.

And if you choose the shopping well – those beautiful new cushions, rugs, lamps ad pictures that look so good in your old house, well, they get to go with you to your new 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.

Maybe you’re looking at your little ones, and you realise they’re just not that little anymore. Or you’re fed up of shifting essentials from room to room, because there’s not really a place for them to call home. Either way, the spacious home you once lived in somehow just feels a little squishy now. Perhaps your brood is made up of a baby or two more than expected? Or maybe you now work from home, and an office wasn’t on the tick list when you bought. We’ve all been there. The home was once roomy, but now there’s simply no room. Let’s look at the options, and figure out your best move.

Extensions

Extensions always seem appealing. It’ll be the same home you fell in love with, just bigger. No compromise, right? Let’s see…

Perhaps you’re thinking of a modest 5mx5m addition. Nothing indulgent, but just enough to turn your humble kitchen into a more sociable space. What’s the cost? Outside London, expect a bill of around £30,000. And that’s just for the build. Now let’s add on 10-15% for professional fees, because the architect, structural engineer, building regulations and planning permission won’t come for free.

Yes, extensions leave behind a long list of receipts, but what’s the real cost? The council typically takes eight weeks to consider planning permission applications, and longer for more complex builds. So that means two months of thumb-twiddling before the project has even had the thumbs up. And to what extent will your family-life be compromised if the builders do ascend? In amongst the dust, noise, and mess, you start to wonder if it was really worth sacrificing your garden for a larger kitchen. And was turning the children’s playground into a construction site really the right move? To extend is to compromise.

Loft conversions

Now let’s consider creating more space by moving up, not out. Loft conversions don’t usually require planning permission, so that’s one headache less than extensions. And unless you’re set on changing the properties exterior, creating a straightforward loft room is, well, pretty straightforward. From a legislation perspective anyway.

It’ll create a new room without nibbling into your gardens, which again, makes it more appealing. And it’s the least disruptive member of the extension family too, since all the work is contained to one unused space above. So as the new room takes shape, mess, dust, and noise is kept well away from family life.

And while grub is kept out, heat is kept in. On average, a home loses a quarter of its heat through the roof. But when converting a loft space, reinforcements are made to the walls, ceilings, and floors. This naturally packs in extra installation, so in the process of creating a functional space, you’re trapping warmth inside the property. This means friendlier heating bills, and a toastier house.

It sounds promising, so let’s consider the finer details. Like floor plans. Architects design homes based on the plot size, and to optimise useable space. So, since your home wasn’t designed with a loft room in mind, how much wiggle room is there for an extra flight of stairs? Spiral staircases are an option, but they’re not in keeping with most interior design and styles. Then there’s the building legislation to think of; the width and headspace of the staircase all need to be in compliance.

Now let’s talk money. A loft conversion isn’t cheap, but it’s generally cheaper than an extension. And it can increase the value of a home by up to 25%. So what does it cost? Like extensions, it varies, but expect a modest conversion to set you back upwards of £20,000. And an elegant master bedroom, complete with an en-suite? £45,000 minimum.

But, again, what does enduring an extension or loft conversion really cost? Let’s take figures and statistics out of the equation. Because mathematics doesn’t have the answer to a happy home.

Time for a move?

Growing your home to accommodate your changing family, or circumstances, seems appealing. Romantic, even. But how many romances end in tragedy? You may gain an extra room or two, but dust, disagreements and dissatisfaction are other likely add-ons too.

A home is a retreat. It’s the place you should look forward to returning to, and it’s a place that can make or break family time.

Perhaps you could put up with turning your kitchen into a construction site. And maybe you could sacrifice some of the gardens to accommodate the new kitchen-diner. The build is temporary, and the garden is plentiful after all. But once the build is complete, will it be just right? Compromising for planning grants, pinching floor space from gardens, and fighting the restrictions of the original house design. When you bought, you bought a home that was built for your needs at the time. It was comfortable, and it was just what your family needed. But when your circumstances change, perhaps it’s time to look for a property that was designed for your family as it is now.

To extend or convert is a compromise. It’s making the most of what you can do with what you’ve got. They both come with limitations and restrictions. And compromises, limitations and restrictions aren’t the homeliest adjectives around. Choosing a new home is an indulgence. It’s a fresh start, and a new beginning. And this time, you know exactly what your family needs.

So if you’re constantly looking for extra room, maybe it’s time to reassess. Families change with time, and if the home can’t keep up, it’ll start to drag you down. When you bought the home, it was right for you and your circumstances. But with time, your tick-list of priorities will naturally change. Write down the things you’d like to stretch, rejig or knockdown in your current home, and it’ll help draw a picture of what your next home looks like. So don’t compromise, move!

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.

It’s difficult for both you and your agent when the market is slow; they don’t have anything to tell you, so not only will they stop calling, they may even start avoiding your calls too. Meanwhile, you’re left feeling frustrated and powerless, wondering what on earth you can do when no one wants to view your home.

Communication between you and your agent at this tricky time becomes all the more important. Without communication, there can be no trust, and without trust, there is no worthwhile relationship. But when you’re in a locked loop of your agent not calling because there’s no interest, yet you need to know what you can do to improve the situation, it’s easy to become despondent.

Here are my top five communication tips when you’re trying to sell your home, to ensure the relationship doesn’t degenerate irretrievably:

1. Pre-empt any issues by agreeing a communication schedule before you launch your home to the market. This is over and above any calls to arrange viewings, or to give feedback afterwards; this plan outlines your expectations and so your agent has some chance of meeting them. For example, you could ask for a fortnightly call on a Friday, regardless of whether there had been any viewings in between. In this call you could ask them about market conditions and trends, recent sales, viewings on other comparable properties, and updates on any of your recent viewers. With a plan agreed in advance, there are clear expectations and if these are not met, you can refer your agent back to their original agreement.

2. Keep your communication positive – if your agent feels that they are being told off, or held to account, for a lack of interest in your property, they will be increasingly reluctant to pick up the phone to you. If however, your tone is encouraging, friendly and supportive, they will look forward to speaking to you, and they will be only too happy to have a chat to you, even if there is nothing concrete to report.

3. If you’re in town, near your agent’s office, pop in. Take them cakes, or flowers out of your garden for the office. If they offer to make you a cup of tea, even better. Take the time to really get to know the staff in the office, and you and your house will be at the forefront of their mind when they next receive a suitable enquiry. Agents are just like me and you; they have favourite clients, so make sure you’re one of them.

4. Ask for advice: lots of vendors do this, but then they either don’t listen to any suggestions, or else they argue with it. If you genuinely listen and show that you value any input that might improve the level of interest in your property, you will find your agent much more confident about discussing the issues with you.

5. Share your plans with them: if your agent knows how important your move is, perhaps to be closer to a special relative, to give yourself more financial security, or to realise your long-held dream of living in the country, they will be able to genuinely identify with your aspirations. By taking them into your confidence, you are showing that you trust them, and the resulting enhanced relationship will allow them to do the best possible job of selling your home for you.

Don’t forget, your agent is just a person, like you or me. They like people who are nice to them and bring them cupcakes!

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.

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Updating your kitchen

Install a new bathroom

New carpets

New flooring in ‘wet’ rooms

Adding a home office

Extensions

Loft conversions

Time for a move?