If you’ve decided to put your home on the market, then you’re probably thinking about sprucing it up before potential buyers start to call. You don’t need to spend a huge amount of money to make your home more appealing to potential buyers. We have put together some short handy tips to improve the look and feel of your home without breaking the bank.


De-Clutter

Your home will appear larger and more attractive if it isn’t filled with clutter. Now is a good time to get rid of any unwanted or unused items that are taking up space in your home. De-cluttering now means you won’t be taking any junk into your new home either. If there are things you can’t stand to get rid of storing them in a cupboard or drawer will keep surfaces clear. Your home will be easier to clean and will look tidy while your home is on the market.

Clean the Windows

Potential buyers always look out of windows. They want to see the views from the front and the rear. If you have sparkling clean windows the rest of the house appears to be clean too. Browse the web for a window cleaning company in your area so that you can get the upstairs windows cleaned without having to climb ladders yourself. Also, make sure any doors you have with glass in them are clean too.

Check the Exterior

If you’ve got a garden, then mow the lawn and do some weeding. Even if you’re not green fingered a tidy garden will be much more appealing. If you have broken toys or pieces garden furniture throw them away. Get rid of anything that’s just lying around. If you have wooden window frames that look tatty, give them a paint. It might be worth finding a handyman who will come round and do any bits and pieces to the exterior. Make sure the front door is painted if it is solid. A well-painted front door will look smart and give a good first impression.

Decorate

Paint any rooms that need freshening up. You can use white paint to make it more affordable and it will give your buyer a blank canvas to work from if they want to add colour. Don’t forget skirting boards and the loft hatch if you have one.

Tidy the Garage

If you have a garage give it a tidy up and sweep through. Clean any windows and make sure there’s enough room to get into it. If you use it for storage, try and make sure most things are in boxes. Seeing old clothes and pieces of furniture lying about might put people off.

Make the house smell good

If you’ve got a dog or a teenager with smelly trainers, now is the time to get out the Febreze. A few squirts combined with a plug-in air freshener will do the trick. If you know people are coming and you’ve got a coffee, put it on. Not many people dislike the smell of coffee, even people who don’t drink it. If you smoke, it might be a good idea to stop smoking in the house, especially if you are redecorating.


Don’t forget you could be competing with similar properties in your area, so making your home looks fresh, bright and tidy it just might give you the edge against someone with a similar property who hasn’t been quite so prepared.

Following on from the Chancellors budget announcement that the stamp duty freeze would be kept in place until June 2021, demand for property is currently outstripping supply.

The start of the traditional spring selling period saw the number of sales agreed for the first week in March up by 12% on 2020 despite the current shortage of available stock. Rightmove data shows there is a surging level of demand in the UK housing market, making for one of the strongest starts to the spring season ever.
 
A record number of prospective buyers are enquiring about properties on Rightmove. Demand in the housing market is 34% higher than the strong pre-lockdown market from a year ago. The average asking price of a property going up for sale has increased by 2.7% in the last 12 months. This has increased the national average to £321,064. Additionally, asking prices grew for the second month in-a-row. A rise of 0.8%, or £2,484, was recorded in March.

Measures announced in the Spring Budget, not only included the stamp duty holiday extension but the mortgage guarantee scheme, has boosted the housing market. Since the day of the announcement, Rightmove have said that they have seen a spike in online property searches.

Already high levels of buyer demand caused by the lockdowns has continued to surge since the start of the year. This demand will be further boosted, as from the start of April the new Government guarantees enabling lenders to bring back 5% deposit mortgages begins.

With demand for homes so high, if you are thinking of moving, now is the perfect time to get your home on the market!

In one of the most eagerly anticipated budgets for a number of years, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced good news for the property industry by extending the stamp duty holiday for house buyers for a further three months until the end of June 2021.

Purchases up to £500,000 will continue to be free from the tax until this date – with homes bought up to a value of £250,000 being extended even further to the end of September 2021. Sunak announced on 3rd March “To smooth the transition back to normal, the nil rate band will be £250,000, double its standard level, until the end of September – and we will only return to the usual level of £125,000 from 1 October.”

This news will be a huge relief to the industry as a whole, with widespread worry around the 160,000 home sales stuck in limbo and at risk of falling through if the holiday period was not extended. It is thought that the three-month extension is costing an estimated £1bn, adding to the £271bn the government has already borrowed this financial year to deal with Coronavirus.

The Chancellor also confirmed a new scheme to provide mortgages to homebuyers who put forward only a 5 per cent deposit, encouraging banks to lend to those with smaller savings pots. The government will take on some of the loan risk in the form of a state guarantee.

“A policy that gives people who can’t afford a big deposit the chance to buy their own home,” he told MPs. “As the prime minister has said, we want to turn generation rent into generation buy.”

It was confirmed that the Government would back the loans, which will be available on homes costing up to £600,000. Banks and building societies are not obliged to offer the mortgages, but Sunak said in his speech that several have already committed to do so. The scheme will begin in April and will be available on new mortgages taken out until 31 December 2022.

The number of people owning property under the age of 40 has plummeted over the years as young people face rising rent costs along with soaring house prices. It is hoped that with the new 5% deposit mortgages back on the table, that more people are able to afford these smaller deposit amounts required in order to buy a home.