selling your home Blog

When you have buyers coming to view your home, questions are to be expected. With some, the estate agent will be able to real off the answer as they glance at their documents, but others will be more personal and in relation to your home.

With this in mind, we’ve put together some likely questions that may arise when potential buyers have a genuine interest in your house, and want to know a little bit more than the wallpaper colour…

Cupboard moseying – As well presented as your home might be when people come to take a look, how are your cupboards looking? While it may seem a peculiar place for people to take a look, some buyers like to scrutinise a home down to the last brick. Fixed cupboards, especially ones of the kitchen variety, offer a chance for people to suss out how they will display their bits and pieces. Taking this into consideration, don’t use the cupboards to store the mess you’re trying to hide while the lovely people are visiting; you might be left red faced when an over crammed cupboard spills out into the floor.

Cobwebs – By this, we don’t mean clean your home (it should be clean if you’re expecting company), but the houses past. If your house is quite an age, potential buyers might want to know about any odd particulars that have taken place. If your house has somewhat of a shady past (even if it didn’t bother you), buyers may want to know, and this could really swing a sale in a negative direction. An older house might also evoke questions about structural problems or anything untoward that causes a few hiccups with maintenance.

Nuisance Factors – While your viewers will want to picture their prospective home as the one of their dreams, they’ll still want to ask about any irritating aspects. Such examples might include traffic from nearby restaurants or shops, or sounds from motorways. These sort of sounds might be more clear at night. Other examples could include noisy pets, and even the politeness of the neighbours. As long as you’re truthful with your answer and don’t appear to be cleverly concocting a story, buyers will trust you.

Distances – The majority of your viewers will be local, but occasionally you might get some from outside of the area, looking to move in. In these instances, they’ll be interested in the area surrounding the house in regards to amenities. How close is the nearest shop, petrol station and railway station are commonly asked questions. If they have children, the distance to good and local schools will also be taken into account.

Be prepared for anything logical that might be asked when potential buyers come to view your home. You’ll be installing further confidence in their budding purchase and offer further promising selling points that make your home that little bit more special.

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.

If you’re selling your home, photography is possibly the most significant marketing tool at your disposal. The increasing popularity of smart phones such as Android and the Apple iPhone, mean that most people are equipped with their own personal camera. Will these do the trick? In short, no. Despite increased performance and popularity, personal cameras won’t hit the mark when it comes to photographing your home. This is a job for the professionals. If you want potential buyers to utter a wow beneath their breath and immediately make an appointment, bring in someone who loves photography as much as you love the idea of selling your home quickly.

Our guidelines for achieving the best pictures of your home:

Light it up – A shadowy cheerless picture of any room – despite its size or potential – will turn off any buyer from even making a viewing. It lacks attention or detail, and doesn’t give off any homely feel. Lighting is crucial when making somewhere look inviting; it evokes a lived in feel, a look of warmth and can change the atmosphere of a room in seconds.

Time of day – Nothing can beat a romantic sunset, and they are ideal as a backdrop for your home too. A picture-perfect time of day to make a home look inviting, warm and family orientated, an evening will enable your photographer to get a shot that will have budding buyers flocking to your door. Taking a shot in the middle of the day with a greying sky in the background, will leave your house looking as dreary as dishwater. Make it stand out, and choose your timing right.

Don’t deceive buyers; ban wide angled shots – Before buyers have even set foot in your home, through your images they have begun to visualise putting their own prospective mark on your property; where furniture would go, what room would be the office, and so on. Consequently, they need to have a good grasp of size. If wide angled shots are utilised, they can give the impression that a room is much bigger than it actually is. If your buyers turn up and realise their dream study won’t fit in more than a chair and a lampshade, they likely won’t be signing any forms.

Clutter? What clutter? – A big mistake of the amateur photographer, is taking a photo of a room as it is without any consideration of what is in the room. You still might not have sifted through the papers from the weekend, but do they really need to be in the shot? The washing pile too; do buyers want to think about housework when envisioning their new perfect home? A room needs to be as clutter free as possible. If this means shifting a bit of furniture around, and spending a few hours moving piles of junk to a few boxes that won’t be in shot, it will be worth it.

Choose your rooms – Everyone knows the rooms that every house comes with as standard, but if you only have a limited number of photographs to use, choose the rooms that really make the house shine. The kitchen and a living area will be images people will be very keen to see, and when choosing additional ones, pick your other favourites, whether it is a large pantry, a conservatory with views of the countryside, or a bedroom with en-suite.

By getting a professional in to take beautiful pictures of your home, you will be painting the kind of lifestyle that interested buyers are looking for. By just forking out a little additional money for some remarkable shots, your home could sell within weeks, and not sit on the market long term next to some unimaginative pictures that no one will look twice at. Allow your buyers to love your home as much as you have done!

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.