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Spring is Sprung!

Stephen Stone, Manager of Outlet’s Brighton office, gives us some hints and tips on how to make sure your house sells or rents for the best possible price.

As spring finally blossoms, many people’s thoughts turn to moving home and unless you are a first time buyer or have bundles of cash stuffed under the bed, this will probably mean that you have to sell (or let out) the home you currently live in. The object of the exercise then becomes to achieve the maximum price you can for your existing home in order to have as much money as possible to set against your new home. As Estate Agents, Outlet are often asked what, if anything, we suggest can be done by a homeowner to maximise the potential price achievable on their home. Often it is the most obvious things that can make all the difference.

With the utmost powers of diplomacy we sometimes have to advise clients to get the cleaners in! We really do see some ‘horror stories’ that even Kim and Aggie would blanch at. Baths and shower cubicles which were probably originally white but are now a delicate shade of grey and loos which should be condemned; cobwebs hanging off ceilings so full of dust that they could drop at any time; piles of newspapers in the sitting room dating back months and kitchens you wouldn‘t let a dog eat in. Outside the house there can be gardens so overgrown that nothing short of napalm will clear them and garages so full of rubbish that you’d be hard pushed to park a Dinky toy there. Ironically, these are the properties that the owners seem to expect top dollar for. 

There has been a fair amount of press recently about how people’s homes are devalued because of the state they’re presented in for sale. It’s really very obvious that simple things like cleaning and tidying a home can make all the difference between getting a sale or not and can make a difference of thousands of pounds on the selling price. Simple things like removing paint splashes from light switches; sticking down wallpaper that may be curling up; replacing broken light bulbs or brightening up the lighting; removing lime scale from around the bath and polishing mirrors all go to create a good impression and its first impressions that count. If you have a front door with peeling or grubby paintwork and a doorbell that doesn‘t work or if there is a broken down car or rusting bike on your driveway, you‘ve probably put off your potential buyer before they even enter your home. Your buyer will be on heightened alert for any faults within the home which probably wouldn’t be the case if you had a welcoming, tidy, clean entrance.

And finally, don’t commit probably the most heinous crime of all. NEVER have carpets in bathrooms and kitchens. They get soggy, stained, come in the worst possible designs and invariably smell. Enough said…

Outlet offer rooms and properties to rent across the UK – see www.outlet.co.uk for more details. Outlet Brighton offers sales and lettings in Brighton & Hove – see www.outlet4sales.com for information and a selection of available properties. Outlet also manage properties on behalf of landlords in London and Brighton. See www.outlet4homes.com.
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