A lot of people will ask whether they are obliged to clean their home before selling. And although there’s no rules or regulations preventing you from doing this, you can most definitely sell your home as is. However, by not cleaning your home before trying to sell you may be reducing your potential to gain more equity from the sale. Spending a little more time and money up front before the sale can have a massive impact on the sale price.
Although to you it may seem like a minor issue, having lots of clutter around the house when potential buyers come for a viewing can give them the impression that the house wasn’t maintained very well, pushing away potential buyers and may even mean you have to reduce due to lack of interest.
If all of your furniture is in good condition, and your house is too, marketing the house as a turnkey rental may bring interest from landlords and other investors. Bringing on an estate agent to help with this will help massively, as they have a network of buyers already that they can market the house to.
One thing to keep in mind with estate agents is that employing them often costs money – which can be up to 3% of your home sale. Bringing them on may also slow down the sale in the beginning, as they will aim to stage your house, bringing more costs along with it.
Although this can be a good strategy, if you’re house and furniture aren’t in good condition and you just want to get rid of it in the fastest time possible, traditional investors are the best route to choose here. You may get a lower return than if you chose to declutter and do some repairs, but time is money.
If you have the extra time and you are willing to put in the effort, a few repairs and spending the time to clean everything relentlessly to make your home presentable will benefit you profoundly. Below are a few pointers which can help you get your property market ready as quickly as possible.
Remove the things you want to keep
Removing highly personal items like family photos and clothes, or even just hiding them from view can make the house a clean slate. This helps prospective buyers to envision themselves living in your home as family photos and lots of personal belongings can cause buyers to feel like they’re invading and leave with an uncomfortable feeling.
Select all of the furniture you think is nice to include as a package with the property, everything else that’s left you should either sell, donate or dispose of. When choosing what to keep and what to get rid of, try and include items that will create a nice aesthetic, ambience and most importantly, a sense of function.
Some other items you may want to include for sale are antiques, rare items and jewellery. You can put them for auction, post them on websites, or sell them online on sites such as Ebay and Facebook Marketplace.
Hiring an Estate Agent to do the rest
When making a decision about which agent you want to work with, remember to check their license and research their experience. Take the time and check customer reviews, even better than this is reaching out to previous clients and asking them about their experience in working with them.
Keeping an inventory of all of the things in your home is also hugely important. This allows you and your agent to accurately estimate the cost of the items included with the sale. It is also useful for prospective buyers to have so they can make sense of the selling price and consider what is/isn’t included.
Make sure to include flattering photos of the property and all of the furniture in it.
Correct Pricing
You may be tempted to push the price of your property up because of the furniture you’re including in the sale. However, keep in mind that not everyone will share the same design tastes as you. Sometimes, the furniture included can become a burden to the buyer or even scare them off altogether.
In conclusion, there are many different ways to sell a house full of furniture. What you choose should depend on your preferences and capability. If all of this seems like a lot of work, we buy houses from people in any condition so don’t hesitate to give us a call!