1. De-Clutter
Your home may feel comfortable to you, but you need to look at it through a stranger’s eyes. You want it to look as spacious as possible when people come to view, and the interior photographs will look better on the estate agents’ details too.
Take out some of the larger pieces of furniture putting them in one of the many self-storage depots you find locally, do the same with your garage.
2. Leave the house tidy
You never know when someone will want to view your home, leaving dirty plates etc in the sink creates a long and lasting impression and not making the bed or hanging up your towel after a shower can be very off putting. This can then become a way of life.
3. Make sure the photographs are up to date
How many times have you looked at property websites to see daffodils in the garden or snow on the ground? It might have looked beautiful when the photograph was first taken but a buyer could easily be put off if looking at your details in August or September. A digital photograph is easily changed and virtually cost free.
4. Less is more
‘A picture paints a thousand words’ so do you really need so many photographs taken of your home? Where is the surprise when people come to view, when they have seen your kitchen from every possible angle? Before your estate agent posts all the photographs online ask to see them and then pick out the ones that show your home to its best advantage.
5. Smell the coffee
Stale odours are very off putting. Last night’s curry, Chinese meal or fry-up may have been tasty, but the lingering aromas will create a long and lasting impression when people come to view. “The house that smelled of fish and chips” is not the best way for your home to be remembered.
If you are home when people come to view, then brew some fresh coffee or bake bread (even warming a roll in the oven will do) the smells are evocative and will create the homely feel.
6. Subtle colours still work the best
You can blame makeover programmes on television for the horrendous colour schemes seen in some houses.
Painting the walls magnolia, for instance, can make a room look larger and brighter whereas heavy and dark colours can close a room in making it look small and dingy.
Keep it light where possible, leave the wacky paint scheme for your next home.
7. Tidy up the front of your house and garden
Does your house have ‘curb appeal?
What are people thinking as they do a drive by?
Will they see peeling paint, weeds in the front garden or a tatty front door?
This is ‘make or break’ time and in just a few seconds you may have lost the buyer of your home.
Spending a few hours repainting the windows and doors, clean up the path and cut the lawn, planting a few shrubs, even if they are in tubs, can make such a difference.
Again, look at your home as a stranger might and ask yourself “Would I buy this house looking the way it does”!
8. The entrance hall is very important
A house is generally sold within five seconds of a buyer walking through your door. You want them to look for reasons not to buy the house rather than why they should.
A bright uncluttered entrance is best for it creates that important first impression, if a buyer has to squeeze past coats or trip over discarded shoes it won’t bode well for the rest of their visit.
Tidy the coats away before the visit, move the shoes and put down a bright rug.
9. Switch the lights on
Even on a sunny day, switching on side lights can make a room feel homely and inviting.
Do so before the viewing takes place as the British weather is very changeable, what looked like a bright room can suddenly become dark and gloomy.
Increasing the wattage of the light in the hall will make it look larger, brighter and airy.
10. Clear works tops and window sills
This will create a feeling of space and the less cluttered a kitchen work top is the better. Putting some of the gadgets away in cupboards will help, don’t leave dishes drying on the draining board, take those notices off the fridge door and sweep the floor.
Window sills can become a dumping ground, this in turn cuts down the light entering the room and they can look very untidy from outside.
Less is best.
What about the emotional energies left behind?
The above is very much the practical approach to selling you home.
But don’t forget that the ‘energetic feel’ of a house is also very important.
Our subconscious can easily pick up on the emotional energy of the house, a divorcing couple can leave a lot of hurt, upset and hatred behind and that can be detrimental to the next family moving in.
Having your new home cleared of all past and unhappy energies is a good thing to do, ideally just before you move in.
See the Dowsing Spirits website for further details: www.dowsingspirits.co.uk
