Although spring is traditionally the busiest time for estate agencies, autumn is the time that you are most likely to sell your home. Statistics of sales by season over the last 30 years shows that 27% of sales have been made in March, April and May. This makes sense when considering that this is the time of year when the summer holidays are at an end and the new school year has begun. Some people may have started a new job, others may have made a New Year’s resolution to change their home. Some may have had their extended families over to stay over the holidays and decided that their current house is just too small.
So – with the autumn selling season almost upon us – now is the time to act if you are thinking of putting your home on the market.
However, before you do so, here are some things that you need to do in order to have the best chance of a quick sale:
- 1. Clean your property thoroughly – both inside as well as outside. Ensure that there are no pet smells in the home – this can deter would-be buyers unnecessarily.
- 2. Ensure that your garden is tidy and well-trimmed with weed-free, well turned beds. Planting a few seasonal bedding plants can make all the difference to the kerb appeal of your home. If you have a courtyard or patio – a few well-placed potplants which are green, healthy and well watered will enhance the appeal of this area of your home.
- 3. Attend to basic maintenance – go round your home and identify all of those basic maintenance jobs that need to be done. Leaking toilets, taps, grubby walls needing a coat of paint, loose handles on doors or cupboards and so on. Attend to worn/marked carpets and refresh any dirty grout in tiled areas.
- 4. Go and view other homes on the market - make a point of visiting any open homes and attend any auctions in your area – make comparisons to your home and identify what is on the market that compares unfavourably to any aspects of your home, and what you can change/upgrade easily and relatively inexpensively. Bathrooms and kitchens are very important - a coat of paint, new cupboard doors, new countertops, handles and faucets can make the world of difference to the look and feel of your bathrooms or kitchen.
- 5. Remove any clutter in your home – this will allow prospective buyers to more easily get a feel for the size of the rooms and will make the rooms feel larger, more airy and appear to have more olght. Pack up the extra items – this will save you time and effort once your home has been sold and you are preparing for your next move!
Popular opinion is that Spring is the best time to sell – however at an average of 26% of sales in this season over the last 30 years – it comes second to autumn, and if you put your home on the market in autumn, you are likely to avoid the overcrowded springtime market and have a better chance of tapping into a greater pool of buyers.
