Tag Archives: Home Staging

Selling a property isn’t just about selling bricks and mortar. It’s selling the idea of a life within those walls. Presenting a house as a home that’s ‘lived in’, which a potential buyer can buy into and picture themselves in.

This is where home staging is important.

It’s easy to think of home staging as a quick dust and tidy round your house before someone comes for a viewing – and who doesn’t love a clean and tidy home? But if you really want to maximise the selling potential of your house, there are other things that many property experts will recommend keeping in mind.

Catching a buyer’s eye

Staging helps to highlight the key features of a property and allows a potential buyer to see what they would be buying. It also makes it easier for estate agents to discuss the most attractive (and sellable) features of your property.

Tim Wright, Product Director at KeyAGENT says: “Thoughtful home staging is one of the key differentiators between a property that everyone ignores and one that seemingly sells itself.

“We define a successfully staged home as one that’s decluttered, while still promoting the character of the house,” he adds. “It’s a fine balance, but when it’s struck, the house sells quicker, and often for a higher price.”

Staging isn’t just useful for people viewing your home in person too. Many look online at property listings first, so it’s advisable to make your home stand out on the screen.

Home staging you can do

There are experts who can help with staging your home, which can be an option if you’re struggling to interest buyers.

But what if you’re on a tight budget? These top tips can help:

Get rid of clutter – the key to staging is to make sure anything that isn’t necessary to a room is hidden away. This makes a space look bigger and easier for a buyer to envisage living in.

Let in the light – A brighter home immediately feels more inviting. Open the curtains and pull back the blinds; let people see your home as somewhere for them to live.

Remove anything worn or tatty – an old rug, or scraggy cushions – anything on show that might detract from the effort you’ve gone to staging your home.

Paint the walls – simple, cheap redecorating, like repainting a room to appear more neutral, can help a potential buyer view your property as a blank canvas that they could put their own stamp on.

Staging also isn’t just about sprucing up the inside of your property. KeyAGENT explains the outside of your home needs just as much care and attention.

Think about keeping your pathway or driveway clear and make the garden look its best. Mow the lawn and get rid of any weeds, trim the hedgerow and fix the fence. It’s also advisable to remove any unnecessary clutter – store the garden tools and children’s toys in the garage or shed, for instance.

Helping you move house quicker

Staging your home might seem like a mammoth task, especially if your rooms are filled with a lot of clutter – trinkets, photos and ornaments – you need to sort out and remove. But it can actually work as part of your house moving process.

It’s a good idea to look at staging as a chance to get ahead of your packing, or have a clear out before you move house. You can put the belongings you want to keep into storage, or leave them with a friend or relative. That way, you’ve less to worry about shifting when you do move.

Having fewer belongings to move can help make you more reactive and help you to focus on speeding up the actual process of transferring ownership of your home, or conveyancing.

This is a sponsored post by Jonathan Mamczynski on the behalf of We Buy Any House the nation’s trusted house buyer.

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 gentleman called me recently, having struggled to sell his house for several months. I took a look at his property advert online and saw a house that was full of mismatched furniture and cluttered rooms. “Have you considered using a home stager?” I asked him.

He hadn’t heard of the concept. In fairness, whilst it’s something that the Americans do to sell their properties, it’s not an idea we have embraced in this country yet, though sellers who are struggling often find that it can make a huge difference to the interest they get from buyers.

So let’s look at your living room, and how best to present it for sale, and wow your buyers:

1. Your suite – I often visit homes that are on the market with old, sagging sofas that haven’t been in fashion since the 1980s! When the homeowner tells me they plan to replace their suite when they move, I urge them to do it now instead, to help the house become more saleable. Old sofa equals dated house, or that’s what a buyer will think. A new modern sofa will really add a stylish look to your living room and prove a worthwhile investment for you.

2. Your carpeting – how is your carpet looking? Is it heavily patterned, darkly-coloured, or both? Would a professional clean refresh it, or does it really need replacing? A dirty, worn and dated carpet will give the impression that the house hasn’t been looked after, so if you want to portray a well-presented home, it may be worth investing a few hundred pounds in a new, neutral carpet.

3. Your walls – you don’t need to paint everything magnolia, but you do need to present a buyer with a décor that they will like, as much as you can do. Whilst you haven’t got mind-reading powers (I assume!) few people will be put off by neutral, modern colour schemes. If you have a feature wall in say, vibrant purple, you are risking alienating anyone that doesn’t like purple, so play it safe and go for neutral shades.

4. Your lighting – this can really make or break the impact of your living room. Downlighters and table lamps can create a cosy atmosphere; uplighting can add a splash of drama. If you have overhead lighting, it’s usually best to leave that off and create a real feeling of homeliness with your additional lighting choices.

5. Your cushions – if you can’t justify a new sofa, perhaps new cushions will help to refresh the look of your living room. A recent client of mine bought a really inexpensive cream Ikea sofa, then added some lovely colourful cushions in rich fabrics, to add a real feeling of luxury without a big spend.

6. Your accessories – have a look around your living room at your ornaments and other accessories. Are any of them new and stylish? Or do you have little collections of old-fashioned ornaments you’ve gathered over many years? If they have sentimental value, why not parcel them all up now ready for your forthcoming move? That way you can clear the space for some pieces that are in keeping with current home style and perhaps that match your new colourful cushions.

7. Your art and pictures – if your walls and surfaces are covered in personal family portraits, it’s time to take them down, and box them up for your move. Generally speaking, it’s best if art is neutral and not distracting, like the kind of bland style you see in hotels. Lots of mirrors and large pictures in a style and colour to match your living room, will lift your presentation and add a feeling of coordination and harmony.

8. Your tv – these days, many living rooms are dominated by a large black box, aka your tv! Unless you have one of those high-tech mirrors that magically transforms into a tv at the touch of a button, you need to consider how you are going to diminish its impact however you can. Try rearranging the furniture around the fireplace or other feature, rather than grouping it around your tv. You may not be able to live with the furniture in that position, but it’s worth placing it especially for your photography and viewings.

9. Your ambience – how does your living room feel? Does it have a nice sense of calm and tranquility that makes it feel like somewhere you want to be after a busy day at work? Consider the way it smells, and sounds, as well as the way it looks. Lightly scented candles and some background music can really enhance the feeling of your living room and provide a restful space so that your viewers can relax.

10. Your finishing touches – before you have your photographs taken, or book a viewing, take a last look at your living room with a critical eye. Take away anything that doesn’t improve the look of the room, like wastepaper bins or piles of magazines, and add a vase of flowers and a beautiful coffee table book, and voila! Your room is ready.

Home staging really doesn’t have to cost much, but it can pay dividends! If you have a great staging tip of your own, please let me know in the comments below.

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 elements that go into making great property photography: the weather, the skill and experience of the photographer, and the features of the house itself – they all go into making or breaking the shoot. But did you know there are lots of things you can do to increase the chances of achieving the best images of your house? You need to ensure the images of your house not only do it justice, but also more importantly, indicate the kind of lifestyle that a buyer can aspire to. Here are some of my suggestions to do just that:

1. Clean and clear – we all know that tv can add inches to a person’s waistline, well property photography can take off inches! Rooms can look cluttered and meanly-proportioned, with dark corners and distracting colours. Clear surfaces and floor spaces, take up rugs where necessary, and clean everything until it sparkles. Light and reflected shine are the best ways to show off the size of your rooms. (Note: your photographer may want to use a very wide-angled lens, but I would caution against this; at best it can give the rooms very odd angles and at worst, mislead a viewer.)

2. Go shopping! Any self-respecting property lover adores seeing inside the homes of the rich and famous, but one of the reasons these houses look so fabulous is that they are staged for the shoot. Steal their style! Shop for staging accessories and give your home the star treatment:

Kitchen:

Croissants
Champagne
Fruit – stick to one type per bowl. Strawberries, limes and green apples look great.
Rustic board of artisan breads and cheeses
Flowers – in keeping with your home style; eg hand-picked posy for a farmhouse, Calla lilies for a contemporary home.

Living rooms:

Church candles in fireplaces
Flowering plants
Lifestyle magazines and coffee table books

Bathrooms:

Fluffy white towels
Luxury spa-style toiletries

Outside:

Flowering plant for patio table centre
Pretty tealight holders or church candle lantern

3. The better you brief the photographer, the better the images will be! Go round the house making a note of any particularly attractive angles or features, then call him as close as possible to the day he is due, so your requests are fresh in his mind. Suggest he makes notes, or follow up on your conversation by emailing him a summary. Talk to him about the house, and suggest any particular features of interest in the house and garden, that best portray the character and style of the home. Ask him to ensure that in addition to his standard shots, he also takes some ‘lifestyle’ images, eg bowl of fruit, coffee on an outside table, roses in the hallway. Suggest he also tries some ‘vignette’ shots; these are shots framed by a doorway, or in a mirror.

4. Make sure the photographer knows what time of day the sun will be on the front of the house. Think also about evening shots, and when the sun will be on the garden. This may necessitate two separate visits so make sure the photographer has allowed for this.

5. Follow him round! Plump cushions, move chairs, take away any distracting objects, remove bins and washing. Make sure you can see what he’s photographing so you can anticipate any potential for the room not looking its absolute best. Put lamps on, or turn lights off, to keep the ambient light at the right level. A good photographer will really appreciate your help and will guide you throughout.

6. Keep your images seasonal– it’s very telling to see a house advertised in September with daffodils in the garden, or in January with Wisteria in full bloom. Keep your property photography as close as possible to the current season. This often means asking your agent to revisit to refresh your images with new ‘foliage’ shots. At HomeTruths this is something we routinely arrange every three to four months. After all, you may not want your viewer to know how long your house has been for sale – and why give them an excuse to make a low offer?

Some improvements to the images can be made in editing, like putting in a blue sky or taking out a skip! But remember that if you aren’t absolutely delighted with your photography, you can ask for it to be re-taken. Insist on perfection and the viewers will turn up in droves!

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.

So you’ve chosen your estate agent, decided upon an asking price, and planned your launch date. Your home is looking wonderful: carpets cleaned, and the whole house spring-cleaned. All that remains is some finishing touches. But what accessories represent the best investment when you’re trying to give your house that extra presentation polish to wow your buyers?

1. Cushions – a really easy way to instantly update that fading suite and add colour, texture and interest at the same time.

2. Rugs – a large, deep rug can transform a room, adding warmth and style. You don’t have to spend a fortune on them; decide on a budget and stick to it. You should be able to get a large rug, say 8’ x 4’, for under £150 if you shop around.

3. Fruit and flowers – try big glass bowls or wide vases of fruit in the kitchen to add colour; fill full of just one type of fruit (oranges, green apples or lemons look wonderful) for instant contemporary style. Make sure flower arrangements are in keeping with the style of the house and also the room: long elegant Cala lilies are great on a large dining table, and little hand-tied posies are just right for a rustic kitchen. Choose carefully for maximum effect.

4. Toiletries – choose the very best you can afford here; it matters: a little Molton Brown goes a long way! Again, make sure that they are kept for viewings only.

5. New bedding – especially for the master bedroom, where it matters most to your buyers. Choose a subtle style that isn’t too garish or flowery, and add some cushions and a good quality throw. For the other bedrooms, adding new plain bedding with some tasteful cushions and throws can update them inexpensively.

6. Towels – used towels never quite look the same as brand new ones; treat your home to some gorgeous new towels, and make sure that no one uses them – they’re just for show! Whip them away and hide them after each viewing so they stay looking their best.

7. Atmosphere – in the form of soft music and gentle fragrances. Choose soothing background music to encourage buyers to linger, and scented candles in subtle fragrances to provide the finishing touch.

Where to buy:

To stay up to date with current trends, colours and styles without breaking the bank, try these high street retailers:

Next – great range of coordinated soft furnishings and home accessories at value-for-money prices.

Marks and Spencer – usually a little more traditional, so better for older homes in the main.

John Lewis – my favourite, but the more expensive of my suggestions. Great for sumptuous fabrics and decorative touches.

Matalan – not the best quality, but you definitely get a lot for your money! Right on trend, and full of bargain pieces like vases and ornaments. Well worth a visit.

House to Home – great online website for sourcing all the things you’ll need, and finding inspiration too

eBay – A fantastic resource for homewares, both new and second hand. You can search by item, size, colour, shape, you name it. I once furnished almost an entire house for sale from eBay, and saved a fortune. Try 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.

So what do women want? It’s a question Mel Gibson attempted to answer back in the day in his 2000 hit, as he inadvertently delved into the female psyche. Whilst sadly he didn’t manage to cover female property desires, we can tell you that women want plenty. The whole women are from Venus and Man are from Mars comes into play here; a woman’s want list is pretty different than men’s.

Research has shown that women are more centered on their emotions while property hunting, whereas men have a mental checklist that they’re aiming to tick off. And whereas plenty of couples are house hunting, there are a lot of single women wanting to jump on to the property market too. It is illogical to not consider the female buyer when you put your property on the market. You want to appeal to everyone, and females are a large segment. If you’ve got a pretty swanky bachelor pad on your hands and are looking to move on, it is going to prove pretty difficult for a woman to picture her life amongst the masculine styling.

With this in mind, this month we’re going to be focusing on The Female Buyer, looking at marketing for women buyers, and the differences you can make to your home. Over the next few weeks we’ll be looking at various different marketing tactics, so stay tuned!

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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If your house has been on the market for more than three months, there are some questions you need to ask your estate agent to find out why it hasn’t sold so far, and what to do about it. A good agent will be able to answer all seven – let’s see how many your agent can answer…..

1. Who have you sent our brochure out to? – to what kind of buyers? How many had asked specifically for your property details, and how many had been sent out to their mailing list? How many did they print, and how many do they have left? Sometimes, agents won’t reprint when they run out, preferring instead to keep costs down by printing off the office printer – tacky!

2. Can you show me our Rightmove Performance Report and your analysis? – (see blog post Your Rightmove Property Performance Report). Most agents these days can provide you with one, but can they analyse it? If they can’t – send it to me! [email protected] – I’ll tell you what you need to know.

3. Can you change our main image and test the results? – if your online activity is low, I’d suggest you change your main house shot. However, this is only useful to you if you can then measure the results. If it doesn’t improve your statistics, try another, and keep trying until you get the click-through rate you need (see post as above). Sometimes, a fresh new image improves your rate temporarily, so try changing it regularly to keep your results as high as possible.

4. What did our viewers buy? – this is a great one! Your agent should be keeping in touch with your viewers to discover what they eventually went on to buy. By doing this, you can build up a picture of the types of buyers looking at your house. For example, if they went on to buy a completely different style of property, it could be that your marketing is appealing to the wrong target market. If they bought somewhere very similar, you need to compete better. Even the best agents need nudging to find out this information, so nudge!

5. What’s happening on any comparable properties? – who is achieving viewings, and who isn’t? Which houses have been reduced in price, and has this made any difference? Which are under offer, after how long, and at what kind of value? If you aren’t getting viewings and everyone else is, ask why!

6. How do you think our marketing can be improved? – ask your agent for a marketing review, and analyse as dispassionately as you can, your brochure, photography and online advert. Identify areas that can be improved, and make sure they are acted upon.

7. Why hasn’t our house sold – other than the price? – I have often asked agents this question, and listened to them trying to come up with an answer. The truth is, there are often several reasons, and it’s highly likely that none of those reasons will be the asking price! Ask your agent for constructive ways you can help him to attract viewers, and make sure he knows he can be honest. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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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“It’s all in the lighting”, as house doctor Ann Maurice says. The lighting you choose can make or break a colour scheme or a design idea, and lift the ordinary into the extraordinary.

In a climate where natural light can be short-lived and weak, it’s important to let as much as possible of this precious commodity into our homes. Pull back curtains and blinds, position mirrors adjacent to windows, and make sure they are spotlessly clean to really make the most of the light available. Any shiny surface, such as glass ornaments or chrome accessories will really shine near a window, and bounce light around the room.

Remember that the direction in which a window faces will alter the quality of the light; the light through north-facing windows, for example, will have a bluish tinge, and careful choice of décor will either enhance or combat this. So if you want a very cool-feeling room, painting walls bathed in this cold light in pale blues, or cool greens, will emphasise this fresh, calm atmosphere. A warm palette of terracottas, corals and caramels on the other hand, will combat this blue light, and give the room a warm, cosy feeling.

The right lighting for the right room.

The lighting you choose for each individual room needs to reflect not only the desired atmosphere, but also the practical use of the room. Here are some tips to help you make the right lighting choices:

Living room:

This is usually a well-used room, so make sure the general level of lighting is suitable for a variety of different tasks
Picking out a feature wall, or else an architectural feature such as cornicing, beams or stonework, with directional spotlight helps to create interest and drama
Any ‘hidden’ lighting, for example, under pelmets or behind cabinets, will diffuse the light and create soft uniform lighting
Use dimmers to change lighting moods
Highlight artwork and plants with individual lighting arrangements
Shades on floor, table and hanging fixtures will help soften the glare, and create pools of light
Display lighting can draw attention to collections or unusual objects

Dining room:

The lighting you choose for this area depends on your use of the room. An intimate space for entertaining small numbers of friends and family will have different needs to a more open-plan arrangement, perhaps off the kitchen:

The lighting in a family dining area should be kept relaxed and easy, with a good level of light, and many sources to create a consistent level.
To create a more intimate atmosphere, try hanging a large fitting, such as a chandelier, low over the table, so that a pool of light is created in the centre of the table, whilst the guests are in the dimmer light. This creates a very cosy atmosphere; just right for a small party of dinner guests.
Candles are another way of creating a special feel to the room; their light is very flattering to skin tones, so your female guests will thank you!
Candles placed near mirrors or by other reflective surfaces will make for really interesting light plays and shadows, and enhance the intimate mood.

Kitchens:

Kitchens need to be really well-lit, with both overhead and directional lighting, for maximum functionality.

Overhead lighting is best served by spotlights, either ceiling sunk, or else on a bracket. This way the lighting is well-distributed, uniform and as free from shadows as possible
Under-pelmet lighting will light the worksurfaces and sinks so that the chef doesn’t cast a shadow over the food preparation
Special features, such as Agas or feature tiling, can be specially lit with directional lighting to enhance them and create interest
Shiny kitchen accessories, such as chrome kettle and toaster, will add to the lighting level by sparkling and maximising the existing light

Bedrooms:

Keep bedroom lighting low-level to preserve intimacy. Overhead lighting is best controlled by a dimmer switch, and lamps will make bedroom reading easy without raising the overall lighting level too much
Keep any wall lighting directed downwards to help create a calm, intimate atmosphere
Touch lamps are ideal for bedrooms, as they are so easy to turn on and off when you’re half asleep.

Bolder Lighting Ideas:

Lighting isn’t just for the interior – don’t forget the garden! At night, lights can help your garden become a whole new world of shadows and interesting shapes.
Lights these days are often pieces of art in themselves: try over-sized stone lamps in your living room, or huge, ornate multi-stranded light fittings over your dining table. Steer away from the traditional shapes and use lamps and light fixtures to really make a design statement.
Try replacing floor tiles with underlit glass for real impact in your kitchen or bathroom

Creative and thoughtful lighting can really transform the dullest darkest house: just think carefully about the mood you’re trying to create and the use for the room and plan accordingly.

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 to put your home on the market, and why timing is so important.

Often, when we decide to sell our property, we simply engage an estate agent and then ask them to market it immediately. However, putting your house on the market at the wrong time of year for your particular buyers may mean that your property launch is more of a dribble. You need early and strong interest from buyers who want to move, and that takes a little planning. Newsflash – certain times of the year are better for selling particular properties than others.

The key is to know your buyer and plan according to their timescale, not yours. Different types of buyers like to move at different times of the year, according to their own needs. It’s not healthy for your eventual sale price, or for your emotional wellbeing, to have a property languishing on the market for months, so the better you can plan your launch, the more likelihood there is that your property will sell quickly.

Who buys when?

Young couples and singles: First time buyers often begin their first home search very early in the year. Perhaps they have spent one Christmas too many at home with their relatives, and realised it’s time to move out. Their search often starts in earnest in January and February, and their purchases at the lower end of the market – apartments and terraced homes – then supports the second and third time buyer market – semi-detached and detached homes. This, in turn, supports the larger properties, and so the cycle goes on. One thing to remember about young couples and singles, is that they tend to look at lots of different properties, and as they are not in a hurry, their search can go on for months, and even years. So be patient with them, and let them take their time to make up their minds.

Families: Family buyers tend to buy at three distinct times of year: autumn, spring and early summer. Do you recognise the significance of these times? They are school term times. Buyers with children don’t usually like to house hunt during the holidays. First, they have better things to do, perhaps going on holiday, and second, it’s a whole lot more stressful viewing a home when you have a bored and whiny child to contend with. Mums and Dads tend to wait until the children are in school, so they can view the house in peace.

Downsizers: Older couples and singles usually prefer to look at homes during the warmer months, so bungalows and retirement homes will often languish on the market over the winter time. The elderly don’t want to venture out to look at homes in the rain and snow, and nor do they want to move house in the winter time. For them, summer is the ideal time to sell, and to buy, and this type of buyer tends to look at fewer properties, and make their minds up more quickly.

If you know who is most likely to buy your home, you can plan your launch to market more effectively. Remember that the less time your home is on the market, the closer to your asking price you are statistically likely to get, so plan for a quick 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.

Making sense of the Mortgage Market Review and how it affects us all

I recently sold a house I’ve owned for eight years, but my successful sale at a great price had a sting in the tale….

Although I lived in the house originally, I’d left it rented out whilst it recovered equity (having bought at the very top of the market, as we property experts do). When the tenant gave notice, I thought it would be a good time to finally buy, having rented since I’d moved out.

I went to my lender and asked for half the mortgage I’d originally had for those eight years. They said no.

“But it’s half the mortgage I’ve been paying every month without fail for eight years!” I protested. Not only that, but my income has shot up during that time.

They wouldn’t be swayed. And after a few conversations with friends and on social media, I realised that I’m not alone. Far from it, in fact. There are many, many homeowners who are trapped in their homes because they cannot borrow sometimes a fraction of the mortgage they currently have.

In April 2014, the Mortgage Market Review (MMR – not to be confused with the immunisation) brought into force new rules about mortgage lending. These rules, introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority, were designed to ensure that lenders would be more careful about thoroughly checking how affordable and suitable the mortgage product was to a particular borrower.

I recently attended an event hosted by Experian, at which they explained the ramifications of the MMR, one year on, in their report The Mortgage Muddle, One Year On From the MMR. Here are some highlights:

12% of borrowers can’t get the mortgage amount they want
5% don’t meet the lending criteria
11% have no idea why their application was refused

Not being able to move home can have huge implications for your quality of life; maybe you have children and as they grow, you urgently need more space, but can’t buy a bigger house. Or perhaps your children have grown and left, and you need to downsize, but can’t afford to buy a property outright with your equity.

There is a solution, but it won’t suit everyone. Like I did, you can simply rent your home to a tenant, and rent the home you need. Many homeowners have done this since 2007, resulting in a strong ‘accidental landlord’ market. This is coming to an end now, as property prices in most areas of the UK have finally surpassed the 2007 peak prices, and owners are again able to sell, but like me, will they be able to secure a mortgage? Not only that, but the ‘profit’ you make on your rental – i.e. the difference between the rent you charge and the interest on your loan, plus allowable expenses – is taxable, giving you even less in the pot each month. Evermore complicated legislation for landlords also means that unless you use a professional letting agent, you could find yourself in trouble with tenants who are often more clued-up than their landlords, thanks to organisations like Shelter.

What I learned at the Experian event, was that before you put your home on the market, or accept an offer, taking these six steps can help to make sure your home move has a happy ending:

1. Know what you have to spend – make a list of your available savings so you know what deposit you have to put down.

2. Do your research – use mortgage calculators and talk to your financial advisor at an early stage, to find out the best lending route for you.

3. Assess your spending – look at the last few months’ outgoings. With online banking, this is surprisingly easy. You can simply download your transactions onto a spreadsheet so you can total incomings and outgoings easily. Are you overspending each month, or do you have plenty of month left at the end of the money?

4. Check your credit report – before you take any action, check your credit report – preferably with all three credit reference agencies: Equifax, Experian, and Callcredit.

5. Improve your credit score – Experian advise to take steps early to get you’re your credit report into shape before making your mortgage application. For example, ensure you’re registered on the Electoral Roll and paying down outstanding credit card balances. This handy guide from Experian on Demystifying Your Credit Score l may help you with this.

6. Last step – check every last detail of your credit report to make sure it’s 100% accurate. Name and address spellings, date of birth and accounts – these all need to be shown exactly how you would enter them onto a mortgage application so there are no discrepancies.

Finally, Martin Lewis on his Money Saving Expert website has a great guide to credit scores here.

I’m still working out the best route for me to home ownership again, and I’ll keep you posted.

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.

The agent calls this summer, and a viewer will be there within the hour. What can you do to ensure they see your house in the best possible light? Here’s my ten top tips to make your house shine in a hurry!

1. Grab a washing basket, and go through each room removing any bits and pieces that don’t belong there: paperwork, laundry, dirty dishes, shoes – anything that’s cluttering up the space. Pop the basket in your car, out of sight

2. Swap the towels in the bathroom for freshly laundered ones. Even better is to have new white fluffy towels that you keep especially for viewings

3. Make up the master bed with laundered or new bedding. Again, if you can keep some new bedding to throw on for viewings, it will always look at its best. One tip is to put your usual duvet cover and pillow cases over the top of your special ones, and whip them off for viewings – ta da!

4. Open a window in each room to let some fresh air into the house

5. Fill the grate of your fire with church candles and light them for a cosy glow; this is perfect for the summertime when it’s too hot to have a fire lit

6. Unless it’s an extremely bright day, have your lamps lit upstairs, and a mixture of overhead and low level lights lit downstairs

7. Create the right atmosphere with low and relaxing music, to encourage your viewers to linger over their viewing

8. Make sure your home smells as good as it looks: spray beds with a tiny spray of perfume, pop a tumble drier sheet in the bottom of all your bins, and put a vanilla pod in the oven on a low heat for a subtle, homely scent. If you don’t have one, try some drops of vanilla or lemon juice in a bowl of water and put that in the oven.

9. Raid your garden for some summer greenery and colour, and arrange in vases.

10. Finally – give yourself a mini-makeover! Make sure your outfit is smart, your shoes are clean (never slippers!) and you are well-groomed and looking professional. Your image should reflect that of your home – neat, well-kept and stylish

Keep these 10 quick staging tips taped on the inside of a kitchen cupboard, so you can implement them quickly, and make sure your family is well-trained so they can leap into action when required!

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.