Property Not Selling?

It's hard not to feel a little downhearted if your property has been on the market for a while and you don’t seem to have the same influx of potential viewers. More people are using the internet to view properties’ than ever before and your property may be being discounted before potential purchasers even venture through your door. Just visually changing the look of a few rooms could generate some new interest or make a previous viewer see your home in a new light. Your estate agent will be more than happy to come and snap a few new photos and update your properties profile, never forget that your estate agent wants to sell your property just as much as you do.

Make sure your estate agents photographs and details really sell your property. Imagine you are a potential purchaser and you are searching on a property portal website - there are two properties in a similar price band and area to your own – but the other properties estate agents have taken fantastic, bright, clear, flattering photographs and given the properties a great write up? Which would you look at first? Have a good look then at your properties details - compare the way your estate agent has marketing your property and ask the questions?

1.      Have all the great selling points of my property been photographed and shown? Are the photos clear and bright?

2.      Have all the great selling points of my property been written out?

You have a newly fitted kitchen with fantastic gadgets that you’re leaving behind but you only have one kitchen photograph and there are no details of the kitchen or the gadgets in the details. You have working fireplaces – you can see the fireplaces in the photographs but it isn’t in the details that they are working. You have a family bathroom and an en-suite but the photograph shown is only of the en-suite, which a viewer could mistakenly be assume is a ‘very’ small family bathroom.

Here are a few tips

Firstly - walk around your property or better still get an ‘honest’ friend to walk around and make a note of things that catch the eye - scuff marks, peeling paint, overflowing cupboards or grubby grouting. A room full of furniture – you use six dining chairs which makes the room look cluttered but for the estate agent photographs and viewings take out two chairs and instantly the space looks larger. You’ll be amazed at the things you overlook that a viewer could be put off by.

Before your estate agent comes around to take photographs of your property, make sure its clutter free, that there aren’t dirty clothes or dishes spotted about. Open all your curtains and blinds if the photos are being taken in the day and turn on the lights in all the rooms so that you get the full effect of your homes warmth. If possible make sure you are at your property when the photographs are being taken, ask to see the photos and details before they’re published on any sales material or websites - if you’re not happy with the photos and details – speak up and ask for re-takes and re-writes.

Give your property a really good spring clean and as much as possible remove personal touches and clutter. You want your potential buyer to imagine living in your home. Make your home as neutral as possible it will help the viewer to visualise his or her own family in your home. By removing clutter you’ll also make your rooms look larger, remove furniture that may be blocking the view of any features. Remember buyers are looking at the whole of your property and storage is always key, whilst it’s tempting to hide clutter in a wardrobe or spare room your viewer will want to know how large those rooms and storage areas are. Consider storing items in boxes, neatly stacked away in the garage, or even ask a friend or storage unit to temporarily store these items.

If you feel your property may have ‘gone off the boil’ it could be time to give your property a small budget makeover. There is potential in everything you own, even if you've been living with it for so long that you're blind to it. That nondescript kitchen dresser that suddenly takes centre stage when you wallpaper the inside with a vibrant print or paint; what was previously viewed as a large cumbersome piece of furniture suddenly stands out after being given a lick of something colourful. Alternatively, if you hate a piece of furniture but don't want to pay to replace it, you can hide it by painting it the same colour as the walls of your house. This will also make the room look much bigger.

Paint, wallpaper and fabric are key to unlocking a new look for every area of the home. Tester pots of paint may not cover a wall, but there is enough in those little bottles to paint old picture and photo frames and then hang them together on what was an empty white wall. A tablecloth made by stitching together clashing off-cuts of fabric can brighten even the dullest dining table. Buying new bathroom towels and rugs in a vibrant colour can instantly make a room look brighter, newer and inviting. Re-organise your books according to the colour of their spines to form bold batches of colour on your shelves. Change the focus of the living room from the TV to the fireplace; or face a sofa and chairs towards each other for a more sociable set-up. Buy a few cheap plants and pot them in bright or unusual planters for a stark corner.  Any of these little touches can bring life to a room and refresh your property instantly.

And for people who still harbour concerns about whether all this is worth it, make some simple changes first and see what a difference it makes: Once you have done this you will see that it really is worth moving on to the bigger stuff. Above all, don't be afraid to have a go – you can always change things again if you don't like them.

Remember its all about creating or re-creating interest in your property – to sell your property and never forget that your estate agent wants to sell your property just as much as you do.