Making a good impression

What we learned from numerous TV shows ten years ago was that you needed to do certain things to your property in order to ensure it sold. But are these things still relevant today, where we are in the aftermath of a banking crisis, a recession and mortgages are harder to come by?

One thing is for sure – you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression when selling your house. If you can create the impression of a bright and airy property that is clean and spacious, you stand a better chance of selling – and at the price that you want.

In these times, it is common for a buyer to offer 10%-25% less than the asking price, often citing instances of work needing doing or changes that need to be made. With a great looking house and a fairly neutral colour scheme, there’s not a lot that can be said that needs doing – you are effectively offering a spacious blank canvas for the buyer to stamp their identity on.

In any economic climate it is always worth making your property more desirable, but there is no need to go overboard, as long as jobs are done right. The quality of the finish is just as important as the kind of work that is done – a carpet that is fitted with gaps around the edge, or a bathroom that is re-tiled with tiles that don’t match or line up is liable to decrease the perceived value of a property rather than increase it in the eyes of the buyer.