Help! My house wont sell!

A common problem - and one to which everyone knows the answers. Blame the current estate agent, then change the estate agent and drop the price.

Not necessarily. In Fortanna's experience, there are a number of factors at work here. You do not necessarily have to drop your house price to get a sale. Viewers have choices: make sure they want to choose your property. The eye flits over areas that look attractive. They give a favourable impression and make the viewer feel positive about the property. Unappealing areas draw attention towards themselves and tend to dispel those happy daydreams. Viewers fear improving or maintaining these areas (gardens, bathrooms, kitchens) will require a lot of work or money. You want those happy daydreams to continue, so think about the following.


Location:
You can't physically move your property but look with objective eyes at where you live. How appealing are the other properties in your area, how easy is parking, what facilities are nearby, what is the level of noise or nuisance eg being near a pub. What can you do to counteract the negatives of where it is?Can you introduce a water feature? Make a secluded sitting space? Use pots and tubs to define a garden?


Kerb appeal:
How inviting does your house look from the outside? Does your property sit in a sea of concrete with some wheelie bins the only ornament? Does litter blow in and out of your driveway? Have those bushes at the front become so overgrown it is hard to get into the front garden? You may no longer see these eyesores, but you can be sure viewers do.


Clutter:
Decluttering is not the same as tidying - see previous blog. Can viewers see space to live in your property? Throw out all that furniture that has no function. File that paper work. Remove winter coats and boots cluttering up a hall in summer. Put those clothes back in the wardrobes.


Layout:
Does the layout of your property flow? Is it obvious what you do in each room and is there room to do all the things that you need to eg is there room for a dining table that is not a coffee table in front of the tv? Is there a defined office area rather than piles of paper in a corner? Is the conservatory a dumping ground, full of drying laundry or a place for civilised relaxation?


Garden:
Is it a mournful space full of broken plastic toys? Is it weedy and unloved, a pathway to the washing line? Does it look like yet another item to add to the mental "to do" list that every viewer has about a property? Even if viewers are not keen gardeners, they will appreciate an attractive outside space and this will help your property score higher than one without such an area.


You:
This is the most important factor. Do you really want to move? Are you putting in the hard work that is needed to keep your property presentable or do you think it will happen when it happens? In today's market, it just wont!