Category: Viewings

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Wow your buyers! 12 styling tips they’ll love

“Give your home the ‘wow’ factor!”

We’ve all heard this advice from property experts, but what does it mean? And how do you do it? Most importantly, is it worth the time and effort it may cost you?

All good questions, and the answers will be revealed in this article – so let’s dive in…

“What’s a ‘wow’ factor anyway?”

It’s that elusive magic ingredient that turns a home from standard to exceptional; from forgettable to unforgettable; from ‘meh’ to ‘wow!!’

“Ok I get that, but how do I create it in my home?”

Sometimes it’s as simple as adding a lifestyle touch to your kitchen, with a beautiful cake on a pretty stand, surrounded by fruit. Something like this:

Or you may need to spruce up a room by refreshing the décor with contemporary cushions, new furniture placement and some styling touches like flowers and magazines.

Bedrooms can be forgotten and unloved, especially if they’re rarely used, so treat them to some new bedding, a luxurious throw and even some new artwork for the walls.

“Is it worth spending time, effort and money on styling my home if it’s going to sell quickly anyway?”

As I write this, there is a definite scarcity of homes on the market. Homes are selling fast, and often over the asking price. But while today’s ‘sellers’’ market may make it seem that house selling is easy, no matter its condition, spending a little T.L.C. on your home to make it even more appealing is a smart move for two reasons:

  1. When the market turns, your home will still stand out in all the right ways, and
  2. Even in a sellers’ market, you need to be confident you’re not leaving any money on the table and losing out to competitive homes just because they are more attractively styled.

As you can see, styling doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive, and adding the ‘wow’ factor to your home could be simple and fast to do. If you’re feeling inspired and keen to get started, the team and I have compiled a list of 12 simple ways to wow your buyers. Let’s go! 

  1. Make a big, bold statement

To create a ‘wow’ feature, add a special piece to the entryway of your home. A large photographic print, original artwork or over-sized vase will instantly capture attention, pique a potential buyer’s interest and make them want to see more.

  1. Showcase your best spaces

To make a room feel large and open, moving or even removing unnecessary furniture will simplify it. This helps your buyers to make it their own in their heads, imagining how it will look with their furniture and accessories. When rooms are full of furniture, buyers find difficult to see past what’s there and envision your home’s potential.

  1. Romance your buyers

Think: date night. Soft lamps, gently flickering candles, a crackling fire and subtle music playing – these all set the scene for a romantic date, but also for a successful viewing. Buyers buy with their hearts, not their heads, so appeal to their softer side, stir their emotions and make sure they leave wanting more!

  1. Create a culinary experience

So many of us are budding chefs these days with the popularity of Masterchef and Bake-off, so create a mouth-watering experience for your buyers as they step into your kitchen! Try an Ottolenghi cookbook, casually open on the side, with some posh cookware and even posher ingredients, to create the impression that culinary magic is about to happen.

  1. Play it safe in the bedrooms

Bedrooms are no place for strong and vibrant colours, unless you are a professional interior designer, and even then you risk sending your buyers running for their car if your bedrooms are overpowering. Even if you love bold colours, when you’re selling your home, you need to pander to a buyer’s tastes, rather than foist yours on them. So keep bedrooms light and simple. Crisp white bedding with plump pillows, dressed with a throw and some cushions in a subtle shade will give your bedrooms a hotel quality a buyer will love.

  1. Set the table

Why not set your lovely dining table for dinner with your best dinner set? If you don’t want to go the whole hog with silverware and glasses, just add placemats, plates and glasses for an understated look. Add a floral centrepiece and voila! Your home is ready for its House Beautiful debut.

  1. Add colour sparingly and subtly

If you’ve neutralised your home so much it looks bland and maybe a bit boring, it’s time to add some colour. The safest way to add interest is with soft furnishings: rugs, cushions and throws add colour and warmth and can really help co-ordinate a room. If you’re not sure what colours might work, look at high street stores like Next and Wayfair for ideas, and Pinterest for inspiration.

  1. Use mirrors to make rooms feel bigger and brighter

Mirrors are a great way to bounce that light around your home and banish dark corners. Try a mirror instead of a picture over a fireplace or above a sideboard. Mirrors can make narrow spaces like hallways and landings look wider and help open up the space, and they can also transform a tiny bathroom.

  1. Give your dining room table a fabulous centrepiece

The dining room tends to be a place for celebrations, but it’s also a room that can feel a touch bland when it’s not being used. The perfect solution when you’re selling is to lift the look and atmosphere of the room by having a stunning centrepiece that gives a sense of occasion. Perhaps a large bowl of fresh hydrangeas, a tall vase of flowers and foliage (either real or good-quality imitation) or an arrangement of storm lanterns and pillar candles – something that will leave a striking impression on buyers.

  1. Make the fireplace a focal point

Fireplaces are certainly an attractive selling feature, so make the most of them. If you have a working fireplace, make sure the hearth is clean, the fire is always laid and you have a lovely store of logs beside it, ready to light for viewings. And if you can’t or don’t want to light a real fire, why not fill the recess with a selection of pillar candles? That can look really pretty, and even if there’s no actual heat, the flames will give the illusion of warmth.

  1. Bathrooms that wow

In the bathroom, tidy away the products you use every day – toothbrushes, toilet cleaner etc. – and make sure your sanitaryware is sparkling. Add a set of fresh white towels and luxurious toiletries (Jo Malone or The White Company), a room diffuser and a couple of pretty plants, and your bathroom is ready to show off.

  1. Bring your doorstep to life

And let’s not forget the front door. Plain styles tend to work best for contemporary homes, whereas if you have a period home, a red or navy front door can look classically smart. Adding bay trees or shaped conifers completes the look. If you’re lacking in inspiration, google “front doors” plus your type of home. For example, “front doors for contemporary home”. You’ll see pages and pages of beautiful ideas to copy and make sure your buyers are wowed on the doorstep.

As you can see, we’re big fans of styling a home to wow buyers! And we know it works. The homes we sell that have been skilfully styled tend to get more viewings, and better feedback too from buyers.

If you’d like a complimentary consultation on how your home could benefit from being styled – either a little or a lot – we’d love to share our ideas with you too! Just call 01772 252136 or email info@stonehousehomes.co.uk and we’ll have your home wowing buyers in no time.

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6 Simple steps to prepare your home for viewings

We know from experience that the better your home looks and feels when potential buyers come to view, the more likely you are to get an asking price offer.

For many people, the decision about whether to buy a home is an emotional one, and we’ve found that, more often than not, they make that decision very quickly. By the time buyers see your home in person, they already know the size, layout and location, and the photos have been enticing enough for them to book the viewing. So this step of the buying journey is mainly about them making sure that your home is as good in reality as it looks in the brochure, and that it feels like the right place for them to live.

Speak with your agent about how they can help.

You may already have your own thoughts about how your home should be presented for viewings, but it’s always worth speaking to your agent to get their input. We’re dealing with buyers and showing homes every day and can often suggest things that might not have occurred to you.

The best agents will have stylists on their team, who work together with a professional photographer to make sure that your home is shown in the most attractive light. Remember that these marketing photos are one of the key aspects that help to secure viewings, and that specific look is what your buyers will expect to see. So, while your home is listed for sale, the closer you can keep it looking to the images in your brochure, the better.

Nevertheless, no matter how neat and tidy you are, there are always those last-minute tweaks and little jobs that need doing before a viewing. So here’s our handy checklist of 6 simple steps to ensure your home is perfectly prepared to welcome what could be your dream buyer:

1. Make buyers feel great about your home before they even step through the front door

First impressions really do count, so think about how your home looks as buyers approach it. One thing that sellers often forget is to check how the ‘For Sale’ board looks – is it clean and straight? If there’s any damage, let your agent know right away and they can arrange for it to be replaced.

Try to ensure there’s somewhere for people to park their car, even if it means moving your own fifteen minutes before the viewing. Make sure the path to the front door is clear, the garden looks tidy and you have some welcoming potted plants at the entrance. Don’t forget the door itself – give it a wipe down, clean the handle and letterbox – and check that any outside lights are working properly.

2. Make the space shine

It’s really helpful if you can try to have the mindset that once your home is on the market, it’s no longer primarily ‘your’ home. You might have been used to leaving projects laid out across surfaces, having children’s toys and play equipment to hand and not worrying about keeping absolutely everything stored in its proper place. But buyers can often ask to view homes at quite short notice, so the cleaner and tidier you can keep each room, the less you’ll have to do at the last minute to get it ready for viewings.

If you can get used to living in a clutter-free way and manage to stay on top of the housework, then all you should need to do before potential buyers arrive is perhaps run the vacuum around and pop your teacup in the dishwasher!

3. Carry out a ‘fresh check’ on bathrooms

When it comes to bathrooms and toilets, your two watchwords are: ‘clean’ and ‘fresh’. As with the rest of your home, if you can make sure they sparkle on a daily basis, then you should only have three little things to do before a viewing:

  1. Drop some scented disinfectant in the toilet or spray a gentle air freshener
  2. Make sure the toilet lid is closed
  3. Put out fresh towels.

Tip: Keep a clean set of towels just for viewings, so that you can make a quick switch and then swap them back out once the viewing is over!

4. A little bit of styling can make all the difference

When you’re selling a home, you’re selling a lifestyle, so think about what little touches will help people feel good about the space and make them want to spend time there. Candles, flowers, high-end magazines and pretty soft furnishings work well in reception rooms and bedrooms, while a fruit bowl and some fresh herbs will add life to the kitchen.

Use your marketing photos as a reference, and try to keep all these styling accessories in your home so that they just need a quick ‘condition check’ before viewings.

5. Fresh baking really does work!

It may sound like a cliché, but the smell of home baking really does appeal to buyers. Our sense of smell has a strong association with memory and can be highly emotive, so some freshly baked bread or cake in the kitchen might evoke memories of a happy childhood, while a coconut scent in a reception room, bathroom or bedroom might remind people of being on holiday.

If you can fill your home with aromas that remind people of happy times in their lives, it will help them feel good about it – and they’ll be more likely to remember it in greater detail after they’ve left. Just remember that less is more, and if you’re going for a fragrance, make it subtle.

6. Pet patrol…

Your beloved pet might be regarded as a member of the family, but not everyone is going to be a fan and some people may be allergic. The ideal solution is to take your pet out of your home while the viewing is taking place, but if that’s not possible, try to keep it contained in one room, along with beds, litter trays, etc.

If relocating your pet is proving tricky, you could ask your agent to tell prospective buyers about it, then let you know if they have any concerns and you can discuss the best solution.

 

At Stonehouse Homes, our team is always here to help, so if you have any questions about viewings or would like some more advice on creating the best possible first impression on buyers, just call on 01772 252136 or email us on info@stonehousehomes.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Winter viewing? How to make yours a success

We all dream of a white winter wonderland. A thick layer of snowy icing on the lawn, roaring fires, candlelit windows, movie afternoons wrapped in thick, downy duvets. The spicy scent of mulled wine drifting in from the kitchen.

If your home is on the market and winter is on the horizon, you couldn’t hope for a more enticing scene…

But what about when the reality of a wet winter bites, with its muddy lawns and leaf-blocked drains?

If you want to win viewers’ hearts this winter, it’s time to tidy, style and sprinkle some sparkle. We can’t guarantee you a Christmas card snow scene, but we can share our best tips for winter viewing success.

Give your garden some TLC

Before your viewer even sets foot through the front door, their first impressions of your home will already be established. Your garden, driveway and front path may be the first things a viewer sees, so where better to begin your seasonal makeover?

Gardens can feel out of their element in the chilly climes of winter, with the laughter of summer a distant echo. Unless your garden is well stocked with winter colour, chances are it won’t be at its best right now.

Perk up your outside space with a planter of seasonal colour, or even a holly wreath. Also, stock your bird feeders with seed – particularly those close to windows. What viewer could resist the charms of a friendly robin redbreast?

Your favourite garden sunbathing spot may be out of commission for the winter, but unused shouldn’t mean forgotten. Remember to rake leaves over the wintertime to keep lawns looking loved.

If your garden is looking like a blank canvas right now, that could be a bonus. Allow would-be buyers to plant their own seeds of imagination by tidying up. Pack garden furniture away for the winter (particularly parasols). Treat any remaining tables and chairs to a scrub down.

Eagle-eyed viewers will be looking at more than the lawn and borders. They will have a keen eye open for maintenance issues, so be sure to pre-empt these by taking some preventative steps. Power washing paths and patios will keep them free of slippery moss. While less than appealing to the eye, more importantly, viewers could see it as an accident waiting to happen. Potential buyers don’t want to see a home that is going to cost them time and money in repair work. Gutters can get built up with a surplus of leaves at this time of year, so be sure to clear yours before any damage occurs.

If you feel your summer garden is a major selling point, don’t worry. A few well-placed photos of your garden during the warmer seasons will help viewers see what they are currently missing.

Last outdoor tip … if possible, ensure you have adequate outside lighting for late afternoon viewings. Once the clocks go back, the nights draw in with haste! Give your viewers a clear view of the path ahead.

 

Create light and sparkle

Let there be light indoors too. Draw your viewers like a moth to the flame with amber-kissed windows. Opt for soft, lampshade mood lighting over the full beam of spotlighting.

Cosy doesn’t have to mean closed in. Leave the curtains open, even once your viewer has arrived. This will keep rooms feeling spacious and in touch with the outdoors.

With the nights drawing in, viewers will have less opportunity to see your home at its lightest and brightest. Reduced daylight means less chance for your home to reflect light and sparkle. Don’t worry, you can compensate for this by giving reflective surfaces a thorough clean and polish before any viewings take place.

Remember to clean the places you don’t expect viewers will look. Often forgotten spots include fridges, skirting boards and cobwebby corners. Pay particular attention to high-traffic rooms that might need a little extra polish and shine, such as downstairs loos.

Dress rooms for the season

Create a sumptuous feel by adding a sprinkling of softness throughout your rooms. A velvet cushion or a fluffy rug can add a cosy feel on a cool winter’s day.

This is especially true in bathrooms. Replace any threadbare bathmats with toe-sinking, plush, deep-pile rugs. It’s always a good idea to keep a set of super-soft luxury hand towels at the ready, for viewings only.

A warm welcome

The key to winter viewing success is two simple words: warm welcome.

Treat guests to a glowing reception. Hallways should be kept at an ambient temperature, with no room forgotten about. Even if you have an unused box room, now’s the time to add a furry throw to the bed and crank up the thermostat.

Who can resist a roaring fire? If you happen to have a real fire, keep it lit! Nothing says sanctuary more than the crackle of logs and shimmer of ruby coals in the hearth.

Add a touch of magic to ornamental fireplaces and blocked up chimney breasts. Place pillar candles or a bowl of fairy lights in the alcove for an ethereal glow.

Evocative aromas

Follow these visual styling tips and you’ll guarantee a good-looking home for viewers. But as we know, it’s not all about looks, there are still two further senses to consider…

Smells can sway a viewer in one of two ways. Make sure your home’s aroma leaves them in fragrance heaven – and not running for the door.

A clean house smells fresh, so be sure to hoover the carpets and open windows in kitchens and bathrooms to air them before viewings to keep them free from funky odours. Air fresheners and incense can be a bit like ‘Marmite’ for viewers, so play it safe and try to avoid them if you can.

Tasty treats

Nothing says ‘welcome home’ quite like the smell of freshly baked treats. Pre-bought (or freshly baked) gingerbread popped in the oven to warm will fill the air with winter spice, and provide a nifty nibble for viewers.

You could even buy ready-to-roll cookies and pop them in before a viewing, ready to serve up as a tasty treat.

Offer a reviving hot drink or cocoa or even mulled wine to your viewer. A restorative treat will go down wonders and help to establish your home as a welcoming haven from the cold.

Un-deck the halls

Try not to be too quick to put up Christmas decorations. As magical and traditional as they may be to you, for a viewer they only add clutter. After all, you wouldn’t introduce a tree into the living room at any other time of year, would you?

With these tips in mind, it’s time to turn your home from ‘bleak’ midwinter to ‘chic’ midwinter.

And if we do happen to receive a dusting of snow this winter, do remember to clear a path to the door. After all, now you’ve taken our winter viewings tips, they’ll be lining up to get a glimpse of your home!

If the thought of putting your property on the market this winter is leaving you cold, why not engage the advice of the experts?

At Stonehouse Unique Homes, our team are always ready to help share our expert tips and advice on how you can help your home stand out and shine this winter.

Call us for a chat on 01772 252136 or email us at info@stonehousehomes.co.uk  to learn how we can help you sell your home the right way.