![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.glentree.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mary-potoplyak-Ve9MOJ2BAxk-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
With the crocuses starting to blossom and spring around the corner, if you are thinking of selling your home, don\u2019t forget that buyers decide how they feel in eight seconds<\/strong>, even before they have rung the bell.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t get a second chance to form a \u2018first impression\u2019.<\/p>\n Titivating your home in advance of a sale is so important.\u00a0 Here are a few dos and don\u2019ts for you to contemplate.<\/p>\n The simple stuff<\/strong><\/p>\n Paint the front door<\/p>\n Clean the path<\/p>\n Wash the windows<\/p>\n Tidy the garden<\/p>\n Yes, even the garage door.<\/p>\n Kerb appeal isn\u2019t fluff \u2014 it\u2019s money.<\/p>\n Sort the garden (it\u2019s free square footage)<\/strong><\/p>\n It costs nothing and adds thousands in perceived value. Mow. Edge. Trim and tidy.<\/p>\n Plant something cheerful \u2014 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, all would be good.\u00a0\u00a0Spring buyers want lifestyle, not DIY punishment.<\/p>\n A tidy garden equals \u2018move-in ready\u2019 and a jungle equals \u2018money pit\u2019.<\/p>\n Declutter like you\u2019re moving tomorrow<\/strong><\/p>\n Less stuff equals bigger rooms equals higher offers.\u00a0It\u2019s math\u2019s, not magic.<\/p>\n Get a brutally honest friend to walk round and tell you the truth:\u00a0\u2018Bin it, box it, or charity shop it.\u2019<\/p>\n If your house looks like an antiques warehouse, buyers mentally discount it.\u00a0Space is luxurious. Clutter is chaos!<\/p>\n Fix the silly little things<\/strong><\/p>\n Dripping taps<\/p>\n Loose handles<\/p>\n Cracked tiles<\/p>\n Creaking boards.<\/p>\n These are cheap to fix, but expensive in the buyer\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n Tiny defects scream:\u00a0\u2018If this is what I can see\u2026 what horrors lurk beneath?\u2019<\/p>\n Confidence evaporates. So does money.<\/p>\n Natural light is invigorating<\/strong><\/p>\n Open the curtains. Clean the glass windows. Add lamps where necessary and let sunshine in (remember the song!).\u00a0Bright homes feel bigger, happier, and more valuable.\u00a0Dark rooms feel like a Victorian crime novel, with a bad ending.<\/p>\n This is psychology, not witchcraft.<\/p>\n Price it sensibly (not emotionally)<\/strong><\/p>\n Your memories aren\u2019t worth hundreds of thousands extra.\u00a0Sorry.<\/p>\n Never forget, price is either an accelerator or a brake.\u00a0Plenty of the former and less of the latter. A keen price creates competition which creates bids, and this leads to a happy ending.<\/p>\n Overpricing puts the sale in the freezer.<\/p>\n Professional photos + drone<\/strong><\/p>\n You\u2019re selling a seven-figure asset.\u00a0Don\u2019t market it like a car-boot sale. No toilet seats up or\u00a0dirty washing on display.\u00a0Dress it like Sunday best. Think magazine shoot, not Monday morning chaos.<\/p>\n Smell matters (more than you think)<\/strong><\/p>\n Fresh air, subtle candles, preferably ones that don\u2019t smell like Harpic, create ambience. Hide the dog bed and bake bread or cake if you can, it works a treat.<\/p>\n Create hotel vibes<\/strong><\/p>\n Fresh towels, crisp bedding, neutral colours – you\u2019re staging, not living.<\/p>\n Buyers pay more for homes that say:\u00a0\u2018Bring your suitcase and food and live the dream.\u2019<\/p>\n Pick the right agent (not the cheapest)<\/strong><\/p>\n Exposure plus negotiation skill equals a bigger price.<\/p>\n Saving 0.5% in fees but losing 5% on value is\u00a0not savvy, it’s self-harm.<\/p>\n You want a dealmaker, not someone who just opens doors and nods.<\/p>\n \u2018Beware of Greeks bearing gifts\u2019. If some \u2018silver tongued\u2019 agent gives you an inflated idea of value, take no notice. In a challenging market, realistic prices provoke a dynamic reaction and over pricing is a \u2018Debbie Downer\u2019 on the sale.<\/p>\n Offer the negotiator a bonus<\/strong><\/p>\n Incentives work. Always have. Always will.<\/p>\n When your sale competes with five others, guess which one gets the prize?<\/p>\n This is not rocket science!<\/p>\n Money talks and \u2018BS\u2019 walks.<\/p>\n Serious<\/strong> Don\u2019ts \u2014 avoid these own goals<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t start half-baked renovations.\u00a0Half a kitchen and missing skirting boards with bare plaster scream, \u2018I ran out of money or energy.\u2019<\/p>\n Finish the job properly or don\u2019t start it in the first place.\u00a0Half measures equal lower offers.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t hover during viewings<\/strong><\/p>\n Nothing kills romance faster than the owner shadowing buyers like a security guard.\u00a0Disappear and feign indifference.<\/p>\n Mystery sells better than monologues \u2013 less is more.<\/p>\n Rugby tackling a viewer of your home when they leave, to beg them to stay longer, is never a good idea.<\/p>\n Remember, when you are in a clothes shop, how uncomfortable you feel when a salesperson is \u2018over you like a rash\u2019!<\/p>\n Don\u2019t restrict access<\/strong><\/p>\n If buyers can\u2019t view, they can\u2019t buy.\u00a0Simple. Spring markets move fast. Be flexible or be forgotten.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t leave paperwork to the last minute<\/strong><\/p>\n Planning consents, guarantees, leases, service charges, local searches \u2014 gather it all early. When a deal is agreed, speed wins.\u00a0Delay kills momentum and sometimes the buyer.<\/p>\n Forewarned equals forearmed.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t skip the For Sale board<\/strong><\/p>\n It costs nothing and it works ridiculously well.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the cheapest marketing device in the agent\u2019s toolbox.<\/p>\n When you lock the front door for the last time, do it in the knowledge that you couldn\u2019t have done anything else to get better sale terms. Very satisfying.<\/p>\n No board equals plenty of doubts.<\/p>\n Final word<\/strong><\/p>\n This is mostly common sense.\u00a0Which is precisely why so few people actually do it.\u00a0But every tiny detail adds thousands to your bottom line.<\/p>\n Do it properly and you just don\u2019t just sell\u2026you sell faster, you sell efficiently and often, you sell for more.<\/p>\n After 52 years as an apprentice in the estate agency business, if you follow these basic pointers, you can\u2019t go wrong, or so the theory would have us believe.<\/p>\n Trust me, I\u2019m an estate agent!<\/p>\n By Trevor Abrahsohn, Glentree International<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the crocuses starting to blossom and spring around the corner, if you are thinking of selling your home, don\u2019t forget that buyers decide how they feel in eight seconds, even before they have rung the bell. You don\u2019t get … Continue reading