Housemove Essentials

Most of you know that we are looking to move house. It's been a pretty big discussion, and has involved a lot of soul searching. We've enjoyed living in London for these past 8 years and the idea of moving and essentially pricing ourselves out of the market, should we ever wish to come back, is pretty frightening. That said though, the thought of cashing in on our modest 3 bedroom, terraced house, and replacing it with a much bigger, 4 bedroom detached is too exciting a prospect to ignore.

So last Friday we put our house on the market. Within 4 hours we had our first viewing, since then we've had about 9. Most of these people have come (or are coming) back for second viewings. It's been a good result so far. But in order for this to happen we've had to do a fair bit of work.

This work hasn't been to the house itself though. That was already in pretty perfect condition. And with the exception of the bathroom, which the 'Good Lady' decided we should paint white (it was magnolia), we haven't touched any of the decor. No, the work we have had to do is to ourselves, and our general living habits/condition.

Below are the general rules that I have determined to be vital to anyone who is thinking of moving house.

1) Get rid of your shoe rack in your bedroom.
Nobody likes to be hit with the whiff of old sandals as soon as they enter the most intimate room of the house.

2) Buy loads of flowers
Nothing makes a house look full of life than a load of freshly cut flowers, Don't overdo it, but put some in 'every' room

3) Keep every room spotless.
It shouldn't really make any difference, and I know that people want the idea of moving into a 'home' and not a clinical experiment. But the fact is, a clean house sells. Let it be viewed as a blank canvas, remove clutter and let people imagine it as 'their' home, not yours.

4) Believe everything 'The Mrs' says.
I know moving all the furniture around is a crap job. I know the last thing you want to do on a Friday night is struggle with self-assembly wardrobes that you really think will fall down if you empty them. But She will be proven right when you realise that you have been living in a really, badly laid out room for two years.

5) Don't over-obsess (caveat to point 4)
Don't go overboard. You can make a house too tidy, and you can make too many changes. Sure the house will look better if you paint every room, but do you really think it will make 'that' much difference? And won't the smell of paint, and the feeling from buyers that something 'must have been really wrong if you had to paint over everything' be a negative on your 'sale ability'?

6) Put the plates away
If you have a dish washer use it. Fill it up constantly and don't leave stuff on the side of the sink.

7) Don't cook strong smelling food 15mins before a viewing
If your house smells of curry, people will instantly be put off (even if they are curry eaters themselves). Just eat a sandwich - and pick up those crumbs

8) Let people look around themselves
Don't get into the habit of pointing out every telephone point and plug socket in the place. Nobody really cares. If they like the house it won't matter to them that there is a cable TV point in the bathroom, or that the cupboard light is rigged to a dimmer switch.

9) Smile and be honest
Just be honest and natural when people ask you questions about your property. Don't go mad and tell them everything that is wrong with the roof, or that the leaky bathroom tap just doesn't seem to be fixable. But be honest about the 'feel' of the house and just how you have generally been 'at home' there. The added bonus of this of course is that if you really get on with the prospective buyers they feel less inclined to haggle you down on price when they realise that the water tank needs replacing and that the whole in the wall, that you patched up with old newspapers and painted over, is going to cost 800 pounds to fix.

And most important of all, hope beyond hope, that your frankly beautifully presented house, and it's ambience and 'feel', which you have spent years lovingly crafting into shape isn't affected by YOUR CONSTANTLY ROWING, WIFE BEATING, F-WORD SPITTING, RAGE INDUCING NEIGHBOURS!!

Because if it is, I might just add another, and final point to my list:

10) Go out and purchase one of these.