Sell Your Home in March for a Summer Move
Spring is a wonderful time to sell a home – lighter evenings, the buds are budding, gardens are springing into life, and with a little bit of sunshine every home looks that little bit better. Plus, buyers have traditionally always started home searching in the spring, and the property portals tell us this is still the case today.
If you’re thinking of selling your home, or your home is on the market right now, you may have some questions about how to make your move a success. Here are some of the questions we get asked at this time of year by our clients at Property Assistant:
“I’m thinking about moving home – is now a good time?”
A great question! The property market was certainly set to be a ‘seller’s market’ in 2022 but as summer turned to Autumn, the market dynamic changed all the way through Q4, when interest rate rises along with other factors caused an almost instant downturn.
Quickly the talk was about how far house prices might fall with them having risen by 24% in the two and a half years to the end of September, and what would happen to housing transactions.
Things are starting to change, more homes coming to market means more competition for buyers, and that creates downward pressure on house prices. We expect things to settle down now with only small growth in some areas, giving both buyers and sellers the confidence to move.
“What are most buyers looking for right now?”
Some homes are inevitably in more demand than others – our buyers are looking for specific features, like work-from-home space, and often want something well presented and low maintenance from the outset, although there is a shift towards some buyers seeking property with potential to extend or that have scope to adapt. Whatever your home has to offer, we’d love to have a chat with you and tell you whether we have buyers registered who are looking for a home just like yours. Just give us a call on 0118 912 2370 or drop an email to Office@pauk.property to get the ball rolling.
“Ive been on the market some time, should I get new photographs taken?”
Winter garden photos can look a little, well, sad. Bare trees and shrubs, bare earth and leaf-covered, muddy lawns can all be a bit off-putting to buyers. So when your garden starts coming back to life, it’s a really good idea to get some fresh and colourful images taken to showcase it to buyers.
At Property Assistant we offer new seasonal images free of charge to our clients, to make sure their images online are always current and as attractive as possible. Why not ask your agent if they can do likewise?
“I don’t know how I’m going to keep my house tidy during the Easter holidays”
We feel your pain! Selling a house with children off school is never an easy task, but there are some things you can do to help make your viewings successful and stress-free:
Encourage (bribe) your children to tidy up and keep tidy. Daily inspections with reward stickers for younger children and cash for older teens usually does the trick.
Keep the children out of the house as much as possible, so your home stays tidier!
Takeaways or eating out if you have an imminent viewing booked will save you having to clean your kitchen.
Resist the urge to do ‘messy’ playtime with the kids if you have viewings arranged – so that’s no finger painting, Play-doh or baking!
Make sure you’re out of the house for viewings, so you don’t feel stressed – being under pressure to have perfectly-behaved children will not result in an enjoyable viewing, for you or your buyers!
If you have a real house-full and really would rather not have to cope with viewings during the school holidays, tell your agent. They’ll be understanding if you want to take a break from the market until the kids go back to school.
“Our garden is looking lovely, but it’s still a bit muddy. Can we ask viewers to take off their shoes before they view our home?”
Yes! We are a ‘shoe’s off’ company, unless we are told otherwise and we expect the viewers to, too. Carpets with muddy footprints aren’t attractive to buyers, so let’s make sure yours stay clean!
If you have any questions at all about any of the points raised here, or you’d just like a friendly, no-strings chat about your house sale, we’d love to help you. Call me on 0118 912 2370 , email me on julie@pauk.property or WhatsApp me on 07758 223 554 and let’s get you moving.
Julie Lawry, proud owner of Property Assistant, Wokingham
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