Prepare house for sale

Is your house going on the market soon? Exciting! After choosing the right sales real estate agent and determining the best asking price, the time has come to show your home at its best to the world. Preparing your house for sale is an art in itself. How do you make sure that your home appeals to a wide audience and comes across well in the real estate agent's photos? Read our golden tips for getting your house ready for sale, and attract as many viewers and buyers to your home as possible!

Getting your house ready for sale in 3, 2, 1…

Below you will find our tips for preparing your house for photos and viewings. While working on your house, always keep one thing in mind: getting your house ready for sale is not about making your interior more beautiful or cozy. It is not advisable to add items to your home. You want your house to appear as spacious as possible, and besides, taste is subjective. The trick is to keep your home as "neutral" and spacious as possible, so that every viewer immediately sees the potential of the house, without having to look through striking colors, items, and furniture.

General tips for selling your house

Below you will find our tips for selling your home for each room. But let's start with some general tips to get your home ready to conquer the housing market:

Tip 1: potential buyers want a light house. White (or off-white) walls always do well. As a result, the entire house seems lighter and fresher. Does your home not have white walls, but you still want to make the house brighter? Then remove as many things as possible in front of the windows, such as photos in a windowsill, large plants that block the light and open window decorations as much as possible. Clean the windows well for the viewings, so that everyone can see how beautifully the light falls in. Also, provide the right (ambient) lighting throughout the house.

Tip 2: ensure a tidy and clean house. If there is anything important during a viewing of a property, it is that the rooms are tidy and clean. This may be a very obvious tip, but of course we cannot leave this point unmentioned. When preparing your home for sale, walk through the house with a critical eye and store all personal and unnecessary items. Then do a big cleanup or invite your cleaner to come by an extra week. It's totally worth it!

Photo by: Risastla

Tip 3: ensure the right temperature in the house. Buying a house is mainly about feeling. People literally want to feel "at home" when they step over the doorstep of the house. A good way to captivate potential buyers right away is to ensure the right temperature in the house. They may not actually notice this, but they immediately feel at home because of it. And that's what it's all about! So make your house nice and warm for a viewing in the winter and ensure sufficient ventilation on a hot summer day. Not sure about the right temperature? Then invite someone who comes from outside to test the temperature.

Tip 4: a wonderfully smelling house works wonders. Just like the right temperature, smell is also a dealbreaker when it comes to selling your house. The most underrated cause that a viewer retains 'no pleasant feeling' from a property is the smell. If you are preparing to sell your home, pay attention to the smell in the house.

Don't have time to thoroughly prepare your home for sale? Read here our tips on how to sell your house very quickly.

The absolute no-go's are:

• Smoke and tobacco smells
• Animal scents
• The-garbage-bag-has-been-in-the-trash-can-for-four-days-smell

The absolute go's (tips) are:

• Place scent sticks in the house (prefer a neutral scent over a strong, spicy scent)
• Bread baking and apple pie scent (not a kitchen prince or princess? Don't worry. You can order apple pie perfumes online)
• Cleaning smells: green soap or that spray for glass

Tip 5: keep cords and cables out of sight. Once the viewings have started, you want people to be distracted as little as possible by details and minor inconsistencies, such as cables and cords. That is often an eyesore during a first visit to a house. No one has ever tried to watch TV or make a cup of coffee during a viewing, so feel free to pull all the cords out of the devices. This makes the house look a lot less cluttered to the eye.

Tip 6: everyone loves flowers. A very easy way to make your home attractive for sale is by placing flowers. Just as everyone loves a light house, everyone also reacts well to a fresh bunch of flowers in the garden or in a beautiful vase. So make sure to give the flowers in the garden or balcony some extra love and place a fresh bunch of flowers at various places in the house. This immediately gives your rooms some color and a fresh look. Make sure you do this not only for the viewings, but also for taking the photos.

Photo by: Jeroen

Tip 7: remove personal belongings. You undoubtedly have beautiful children and very nice friends. But, sorry not sorry, unfortunately no buyer is interested in that. So remove all photos, souvenirs, personal cards and crafts by your children. This helps a potential buyer to imagine that he or she lives there.

Tip 8: erase the traces of your pets. Pets are great fun, but they are not going to help you sell your house. In fact: if you are preparing to sell your home, you would do well to create the illusion that no pets have ever lived there. The smell of pets does not do well with potential buyers, and for some people, one cat hair is enough to run out of the house hyperventilating. So temporarily place your pets at a lodging place and remove all pet items, such as a dog bed, feeders and scratching posts.

Tip 9: carry out minor repairs. A broken window, rickety door handle, fallen out bulb or a loose skirting board. This seemingly "minor" deferred maintenance makes the house appear poorly maintained. Therefore, it is good to carry out minor repairs before viewers come and photos are taken. Are there things squeaking in the house or are hinges stiff? Lubricating oil or WD-40 is your best friend.

Tip 10: a neat frame is fine. Frames are the way to see whether an owner has properly maintained the property. A lick of paint works wonders. Don't you have time to paint all the frames? Understandable. But DO clean the frames when preparing your house for sale. It only takes you 30 minutes, and it makes a world of difference to a buyer!

Finding the best Real estate agent to sell your house?

Want to know more? Then read how comparing real estate agents works in your area or contact us for more information.

Tips for getting the hallway (entrance) ready for sale

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. This might sound a bit cheesy, but of course, it's true. Do you want house hunters to fall in love with your house right away? Then you need to make a smashing impression when the door opens for the first time. Here's how you can enchant viewers from the moment they step inside:

• Wipe down the front door and make sure the doorbell works. If you don't do this, you're already down 0-1.
• Make sure the garden looks tidy. Remove weeds, move bicycles and cars off the driveway and sweep the path clean.
• Don't overfill the coat rack and remove all shoes from the hallway. Hang a maximum of 2 to 3 good-looking coats on the coat rack and store the shoes, for example, in a closed shoe rack.
• Provide plenty of atmospheric light. Install beautiful (mood) lighting in the hallway lamps and make sure the spotlights are on.
• Provide a pleasant smell, as soon as you enter. This immediately gives the viewers a good feeling.
• Make sure the windows are clean. This gives your house a more luxurious, cleaner and lighter feeling.
• Welcome viewers with a fresh bunch of flowers in the hallway. Give them fresh water before the viewing and put them in a beautiful vase.

Tips for preparing the living room

The living room is one of the most important rooms in the house. This is where people gather as a family, relax and where - these days - people often have to work from home. A place where so much time is spent, must of course feel good and look attractive. These are our tips for getting your living room ready for sale:

• Less is more when it comes to interior. You are selling the living room, not the furniture. Keep this in mind when you are preparing the living room for viewings. Remove that extra chair and create more space.
• Remove personal items. Think of photos, trinkets and souvenirs.
• The bookshelf tip. Do you have a bookshelf in the living room? No matter how awesome a nicely filled bookshelf may be, it tends to look a bit messy. To avoid your bookshelf turning into a 'book wall', alternate rows of books with small stacks of books. This way, you break up the row of upright books in your bookshelf. Choose mainly books with an interesting title, as people will unconsciously start reading this.
• Set the table with beautiful crockery and a good set of (wine) glasses. Do you own beautiful crockery and a good set of (wine) glasses? That's great! A beautifully set dining table creates a feeling of homeliness and welcome. It may give the doubters just that extra push to make a bid.

Tips for a kitchen that sells itself

The kitchen can be a real deal breaker for potential buyers. People want a clean and spacious kitchen with enough storage and space for meal preparation. To show your kitchen from its best side, you can follow these tips:

• Remove as much as possible from the countertop. Of course, make sure the dishes are done and no food traces are left. But also try to put as few (extra) kitchen machines and appliances as possible. Choose the most beautiful and most-used appliances, and put the rest away in a cupboard. This way, you show how much space there is on the countertop.
• Hang kitchen doors straight. You visit your kitchen every day and perhaps don't notice anymore, but kitchen doors often hang crooked. A potential buyer sees the kitchen for the first time and might notice it. Your kitchen looks much more luxurious and neat if all doors hang exactly straight. So grab a screwdriver, or ask that handy neighbour for a favour and straighten all kitchen doors.
• Clean tea towels are a must. When you're busy getting your kitchen ready for sale, you might not think about the small items. But often it's precisely the small details that can put off a potential buyer, like a dirty sponge, dishcloth or a used teatowel. Therefore, make sure you have clean tea towels and towels and store sponges and dishcloths as much as possible. Simple and effective!
• Stainless steel should shine. Is the stove, the tap or the fridge made of stainless steel? Make it shine. Remove splashes and polish it with a cloth!
• Dress up the kitchen. Although you want to keep the kitchen as empty as possible, a fruit bowl, a luxury knife block, a beautiful cookbook or a good bottle of wine do wonders for the sight. These items bring the kitchen to life, so to speak.
• Empty the trash and clear out the fridge (as much as possible). The last thing you want is an unpleasant smell in the kitchen. Therefore, empty the garbage bins and all foodstuffs that may start to smell dominant.

Tips for choosing a real estate agent through Mijn Verkoopmakelaar:

Choosing a good real estate agent to sell your house can be quite a task, but not with Mijn Verkoopmakelaar! Find the best real estate agent in your area, by entering your postcode below. You will receive - without any obligation - responses from the best selling real estate agents in your area. Choose the real estate agent that best fits your needs!

Still in doubt? Below you can read the advantages of choosing a real estate agent through Mijn Verkoopmakelaar:

• You sell your house faster and for a high price. We keep track of how quickly real estate agents in your area sell houses and what the return is. Depending on your most important requirements, this way you can easily and objectively choose which selling agent best meets your needs.
• You save costs. In their response, the real estate agents immediately tell you what they charge for their services. So, you have an overview of the costs that real estate agents charge in your area and the services they offer you. On average, there is a whopping 1,700 euro difference between a cheap and expensive real estate agent!
• You save time and can easily compare. This is the easiest way to get a good overview of the real estate agents that best suit your needs. You don't have to contact them one-on-one, but you receive a proposal from them. No hassle!

Tips for a bathroom that appeals

The bathroom is the place where you start and end the day and where you want to feel comfortable. Because it is the place where you freshen up, the bathroom - of course - must also feel fresh. There's not much you can change about the layout and interior of your bathroom. To prepare your bathroom for sale, you have to rely on one thing: everything should shine! As if you're stepping into the bathroom of a luxury hotel.

Photo by: Guy Sie

• Make taps, showerheads, tiles and mirrors shine. So grab that bathroom cleaner, mirror cleaner and that bucket of soapy water and get to work. Do this both for a viewing and for a photo session.
• Put scented sticks down. These give a pleasant smell in the bathroom.
• Remove all shampoos, shower gels and toothbrushes. The quieter the bathroom, the more luxurious - and sellable - it looks.
• Make sure the spotlights turn on immediately. Spotlights in a bathroom make your bathroom shiny in an instant and give it a luxurious look. If you have spotlights in the bathroom, also make sure that the real estate agent can find the light switch! Then screw out energy-saving lamps and replace them with an LED lamp. The light must turn on immediately when the potential buyer presses the button.
• Put the toilet lid down. This is a small effort, and nobody likes looking into the sewer. So, put the toilet lid down.

Tips for getting your bedroom ready for sale

The best tip we can give you in this area is: turn your bedroom into a hotel room. When the bedroom door opens, you want people to feel like they've stepped into a luxury hotel. How do you do that? Follow these tips:

• Make your bed neatly. Under no circumstances should there be a stain on the bedding.
• Choose clean and impersonal. You want your bedroom to feel like a hotel room, not a guest room. Also here, put all personal items, such as photos, books and clothes, out of sight.
• Use calm colors. We understand that you are not going to repaint the entire wall of your bedroom, but at least choose calm colors for your bedding.
• Close all wardrobe doors. Make sure there are no clothes or items visible in the wardrobe. This looks less tidy and distracts.
• Hang something nice on the wall. To give the bedroom a touch of coziness, you can hang something nice on the wall. Choose a painting or print with calm colors, which under no circumstances contains sensitive content (such as a politically charged slogan or a complex artwork). Better play it safe.

Tips for an attractive garden and garage

In addition to the hall, bathroom, living room and bedroom, the other rooms of your house should also look attractive for viewings and photos. This also includes the garden and garage. Below you can read tips to prepare these spaces for sale:

• Good weather outside? Get your garden furniture ready to sit in. This point depends a bit on the weather. But if it's dry, make the garden cozy. Put cushions on the garden furniture and neatly slide the garden chairs under the garden table.
• Make sure the garden is neatly maintained. Remove weeds and clean the stones with the high-pressure cleaner. Trim overgrown bushes. Put - as the icing on the cake - a beautiful floral arrangement on the garden table.
• Keep the garage as empty as possible. The garage is a remaining space in a house. So, it's useful to keep it empty, so that viewers can see how much space there is for their other stuff. So, remove the car, bikes and other large items from the garage.
• Put small products away as much as possible in closed boxes or crates. This gives the garage more overview.

The final check: viewing as a buyer

Have you (as much as possible) followed the tips above and do you think your house is now really ready for sale? Put it to the test and see what it feels like to enter your home for the first time. Take your house key and go outside. Now go through the front door and try to see the house with fresh eyes. What do you notice? For example, is there something on the roof of the shed? Do you still see some dust under the couch? Or is it a bit too warm in the house when you come from outside? This is the time to adjust these things!

Tip: it can be difficult to look at your own home with fresh eyes. Therefore, invite someone else who walks through the house with a critical eye. That's very helpful!

Read more about selling a house:

Renovating house for sale

5 tips to determine the asking price

How do I quickly sell my house?

Sell house to a real estate agent

Selling a house: everything you need to know

Selling a rented house with tenant

Frequently asked questions about preparing your home for sale

• What are the best tips for getting your house ready for sale?

  1. Light in the living room
  2. Pleasant scent in the hallway
  3. Shiny bathroom
  4. A welcoming garden
  5. Sleek frames
  6. Flowers on the table