If you look at the charts showing different levels of stress during a lifetime, moving house features quite highly – and no surprise! You’re moving everything you have, going somewhere unfamiliar, and having to change all your postal details. Then there’s been away from the familiar: old friends, old job, old social places.
Fortunately, there are ways to make things easier for you. Let’s have a brief look now so that you can actually enjoy the experience.
Choose The Best Time
Autumn is a possibility, but most people will push you to complete in time for Christmas. That could put extra pressure on you. Winter is not a good season because your garden will look plain and the lack of light may make your house look drab. Spring is the best time because the flowers will be out and your house will look great in the sunshine. If you’re trying to sort schools for your children you’ll have plenty of time before the new school year. Summer is a possibility too, but a lot of people go away for their holidays during this time. If you’re away when the deeds need to be signed, that will frustrate your buyer and will hold up the sale.
Do The Research
Do you really want the stress of moving and the house you’ve viewed? It’s an expensive process and hard to undo. Can you afford the moving fees? Will you go straight into paying work? Do you have a mortgage or will you be seeking one for your new house? What are house prices like where you are moving, and the quality of life there? Can you afford to live in that area? Have all your paperwork ready for the next step. That includes details of your home surveys, guarantees, planning documents and financial information.
Who Will Sell Your Property?
If you choose an estate agent, it’s important to research the company first. How big is it and how long has it been in business? How widely will they advertise your property? It’s important to ask if they will do the viewings, particularly if you are busy working and don’t want the disruption. Choose a solicitor you have researched too, not just one the estate agent recommends. Find out all the fees and commission information. It will help you compare different companies.
You may be happy to go down this road, or you may be desperate to sell really quickly. With the help of the professionals at https://socalhomebuyers.com/san-diego/, I learned that some companies will buy your house for cash. That could mean selling your house within a week rather than taking anywhere from four to six months. Once again, you need to thoroughly look at the financial pros and cons of this. Decide if you want a ‘For Sale’ sign in your front garden. Tell all your friends you are moving. Your estate agent isn’t the only way you may get a buyer!
Preparing Your House
The door and hallway will be the place of first impressions. A fresh coat of paint would brighten things up. White makes rooms look more spacious. Don’t spend tons of money repainting the whole house. Your buyers will probably do it again to suit their tastes when they arrive. If your house is empty for the viewing, that will provide a blank canvas for buyers, and the rooms will look bigger. On the other hand, an occupied house will look and feel more like home. Don’t have old clothes and magazines all over the floor. Have flowers in the rooms to make the house smell nice. Replace dim light bulbs. Don’t have music blaring when they arrive. My new house had a dripping tap – that should have been fixed before the sale! Remove junk from your garden. Put the bins somewhere tidy.
Viewings
Be positive at all times – don’t say ‘this needs a lot of work’ or ‘you’ll need to repaint this’. Allow the visitors to look in silence and discuss among themselves. They need the space to envision living in your house. Try and get important information from them, like whether they are cash buyers or first-time buyers. Are they part of a chain of sales and will they need approval for a mortgage first? These things all affect how long the sale could take – or whether it could realistically happen at all. You can use helpful information to sell your house for you. Tell your potential buyers about local schools and travel options. What are the nearby shops like? What about street lighting and phone masts, or any local improvements that have been made? When you become the viewer of a house you might be buying, ask the same questions.
That’s it in a nutshell. Research and stay proactive at all times. Make your house presentable and use the right third parties to help you. Be wise when conducting an open house. Hopefully, you will actually enjoy the process and be excited for your new chapter. Good luck!
