Great advice on how to sell your home in a slow market

*Rule number one now and always is to find a good estate agent and that does not necessarily mean the cheapest. You generally get what you pay for. Ask family, friends and neighbours who they would recommend and research the agency reviews while looking at their listings on property portals.

The latter will tell you a lot so take a long, hard look at the pictures and check that these are good quality and well shot. You should also read the property descriptions to check that they are well written and compelling. Choose what you think are the best two or three estate agencies and invite them round to give you a valuation and details of how they plan to market the property. Remember that the highest valuation is not necessarily the best. It could be a ploy to flatter you and get your business.

Double check that an estate agent will do viewings if required and check their terms and conditions, including their commission rate and tie in period. Pictures are a priority, which means two things. You should employ an agent who uses a professional property photographer or, if they don’t to keep seller costs down, then make sure they are suitable or employ your own photographer, if possible.

Poor images with no thought given to presentation are a huge turn off and may make the difference between someone booking a viewing and someone dismissing your home out of hand. Properties pictured with loo rolls piled on the toilet cistern, bottles of shampoo on the bath and knickers drying on radiators, washing up on the sink and badly made beds are not unusual.

Talking of presentation. Make sure that the front of the house and the front door look pristine as this is the first impression a buyer will have of your home. Also repaint walls and woodwork if it looks grubby or chipped.

Hiring a professional property stager is the norm in America and Australia as it can make all the difference to the selling price and to the speed of sale. Wakefield based Rachel Smith, who trades as clutteristheenemy.co.uk, has shown it works in Yorkshire. She specialises in home staging, styling and decluttering homes at the mid to low end of the property market and has had some great results.

Rachel, who charges £370 to £600 depending on the size of the project and amount of support needed, devises a plan that can include anything from decluttering to repainting walls and she also has props, including plants, cushions and throws you can borrow until the property is sold. “I try to make the most of what people have already got to keep costs down and I find that people are so used to the way their home looks they don’t see issues,” she says. “You need to make someone fall in love with your property, because you aren’t just selling bricks and mortar, you’re selling a lifestyle.”

Another common presentation issue comes with marketing empty properties. While some buyers have great imaginations and see in their mind’s eye exactly how a place would look once furnished, others see a desolate space. Louise Wynne, a former showhome interior designer and founder of WildKind Interiors and Staging, reminds us that ninety per cent of buyers are unable to visualise living in a space that is unfurnished and that staged homes sell faster and for up to 15 per cent more than un-staged, empty properties.

She says: “Property staging will always be cheaper than your first price reduction so it’s a no brainer if your unfurnished property won’t sell.” Her prices, based on a six week period, including rented furniture and furnishings plus photography for a one-bed property start at £1,595 plus VAT.

Don’t forget the garden, if you have one. Make it look as tidy as possible and finally, make sure your expectations are not too high as it’s easy to be disappointed if you don’t find a buyer or have very few viewings in the first couple of weeks.

As mentioned, more would-be buyers are taking their time now that the frenzied rush sparked by the pandemic is over. Keep in touch with your estate agent for regular updates and advice.

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