The important moment is the photo shoot of the house. Shortly thereafter the viewings will follow. It is important to ensure that your home will appeal to the target group. That is why here are some important tips to prepare your home for sale:
- If your home is full of things, make sure you make it a lot more empty. Not everything has to be gone, really not, but if you can’t see the house because of the stuff, then it’s really time to tidy up. Ask your broker for advice about what should go and what can be left. A good tip is to rent a mobile storage for this, such as pickupbox.nl
- Make sure your entire house is completely clean. Tighten everything. Make sure there are no clothes hanging or lying down, make sure that the laundry baskets are empty, that there are no loose items in sight, that the bins are empty and that all windows are cleaned clean inside and out.
- Make sure it smells fresh. If you do not have a sense of smell yourself, ask someone else to smell if it is fresh. Sometimes there is a nasty smell somewhere without you realizing it yourself and that scares off! There is one exception and that is if you want to bake some cookies or an apple pie. That smell is always welcome.
- Take a good look at your plants. Are they still looking pretty lively? Once they have had their best time, put them away. A fresh flower or nice flower arrangement always works well, so put it down.
- Remove carpets, then the house becomes more spacious and lighter.
- Take a tour of your home and find and remove all the spider webs.
- Make sure your home is as light as possible. So open the curtains and shutters. If there are things outside the windows or too close in the neighbourhood, remove them. Open the doors to the garden.
- Bedrooms: make all beds nice, sleek and neutral. By neutral we do not mean a bright red comforter for example. At most leave an alarm clock and a night light on the bedside tables. Do not leave or hang bathrobes, slippers, pyjamas, etc. Open the curtains completely.
- Children’s rooms: make the beds nice. Tidy up the toys and centre everything that cannot be stored in one fixed location. Check the floors carefully to see if there are any toys that you can fall over.
- Bathroom & toilets: remove the bathroom rug and all drying towels. Close the toilet lid. Empty the washbasin and also remove all loose shampoos and other care products from the bath and shower. Also make sure that the mirrors are clean. If there is mould in the bathroom, remove it with HG mould remover.
- Kitchen: Provide a sleek, empty and clean counter top. There may well be a few things on it, such as a coffee machine or a knife block, etc. but don’t overfill it! Remove the trash can and hand & tea towels.
- Garden: make sure your garden or outdoor area is neat and tidy. Throw away all the old junk. Spray terrace tiles clean, mow the grass and remove dead plants and weeds. Also go with the broom and a garbage bag to get started for the entrance of your home. The front of your home and the street is the first thing viewers of your home get to see: the first impression!
- If you have cats or other pets, make sure they go around the block for a moment when the photos are taken.
- If you do not want people to see your photos in the house during the viewing, you can possibly remove them. In principle, the photographer must ensure that people are made unrecognizable on the Funda photos. You do well to check this with your broker.
- Ensure that valuables that are sensitive to theft are out of reach. A lot of strange people are probably going to walk through your home and it is possible that your broker will be short of sight to keep an eye on a group of viewers.
- Make a list of all small and unfinished jobs or maintenance in the house. A loose handrail, lights that need to be replaced, a leaking faucet, holes in the wall, broken installations etc. Solve all these points before you start selling. If something is expensive to remedy and you doubt whether you will recoup this problem, ask your broker for advice.
- And one last tip: What we want to see in your home is space. Open your home. If there is furniture in the room that splits the room, make sure that these (if possible) go to the side or go away completely. See here what I mean:
