Preparing your house for sale during lockdown

While we may all be locked away in our homes at the moment it’s important to remember that this is only temporary and before long we’ll all be back to business as usual. We are currently still operational with the majority of our team working remotely and so we are continuing to service our managed properties as well as being able to work on the backroom paper work involved in sales transactions.

Many people made the decision to sell their home before the Coronavirus lock down but are waiting for it to be over before going to market with their property. While this is probably a sensible move, you could use this time to get the ball moving on your house sale. When the lock down is over, we’re expecting an almighty boom so be sure to get your property ready for sale.

You may be confined to your house but that doesn’t mean you can’t make good use of this time you have at home. We’ve put together a few ideas you can do at home to make sure your property is ready to hit the market as soon as possible.

Home Improvements

There are plenty of things you can be doing while you’re at home this spring. Whether you’ve been putting off the spring cleaning or decorating, now there are very few excuses for procrastination.

Outside areas – The weather has been kind so far this spring, so make sure you take some time to beautify your outside seating area and gardens.

  • Give your patio a jet wash and scrub your old pots, you’ll be amazed at the results
  • if you have an old bench, why not give it a lick of paint or sand and wax it to give it a new lease of life
  • If you’re going to be spending more time outside, make sure it’s an enjoyable space.

Garden – It’s time to turn those fingers green! You don’t have to have a gigantic garden for it to be attractive to prospective buyers. If your garden is well kept, tidy and beautiful in bloom it can add value to your property

  • Tend to flower beds and hanging baskets
  • Trim shrubs and hedges
  • Weed lawn and patio
  • Mow the lawn regularly; maybe even try your hand at stripes!

Wardrobes – Spend some time on one of life’s necessary evils. Wardrobes are one of those places where out of sight, really is out of mind. It’ll feel so satisfying to have room in your wardrobe for new clothes for the summer.

  • Make three categories of clothing: Charity, Trash and Keep
  • Be ruthless, if you’ve not worn it for a year and it’s perfectly fine; send it to the charity shop, if it’s seen better days; trash it.

Kitchen appliances and white goods – Contrary to popular belief, these items are not self-cleansing. You can buy specialist products to do this or go ‘au natural’ some good solutions are only a Google search away!

  • Thoroughly clean the microwave, stove and oven a thorough clean
  • Descale your washing machine and dishwasher. Build-up of lime scale can have a huge effect on their efficiency and safety – even if you are taking them with you when you move, give them a little love.

Clear out shed and garages – The chances are, your local amenity site is closed, take some time to organise what you will be clearing out from your outdoor storage spaces out. Use the same rules as you did with your wardrobes. You’ll be staggered at how much space you have once you’ve cleared the junk.

  • If it works but you don’t need it, sell it on e-bay or advertise for free – charity shops don’t tend to take electrical goods
  • Remember, if you’ve not used it for a year (or two) put it in your “to take to the tip” pile.

Streamline your kitchen – This is a two phase attack – declutter your kitchen making it more spacious and organised.

  • Pantry – go through your pantry goods and get rid of anything which has passed its use by date. That old jar of mustard which was open at a bbq last summer and has been at the back of the fridge for a year could probably be thrown away now.
  • Kitchen Cupboards – how many pots and pans do you actually use on a regular basis? Do they all need to be to hand? Perhaps you could store some of the lesser used ones elsewhere.

Make sure you get a head start during the lock down and get your property ready to go once the quarantine is lifted.

Get in Touch

Are you thinking of moving to the area? Make sure you take a look at our amazing catalogue of properties for sale in Virginia Water and the surrounding areas.

If you’d like to speak to someone about properties to let in Virginia Water, a member of our expert team would be happy to help. You can call us on 01344 843000 or email us. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.