“How could my children be preventing on a sale?” you might ask.After all, you always ensure that the children are out when a view is scheduled to take place. Well that’s a good start but it isn’t the only way that the fact that you have children could be impacting on a sale and day to day living could be obscuring these issues.
- Viewings – let’s start with the point that has already been mentioned. Some vendors like to be present.during viewings, they feel they know their house better than the estate agent or they like to be on hand to answer viewers questions. If you are one of those vendors and you have children do try to arrange for the children to be elsewhere during viewings. However well behaved the children are they are likely to be a distraction and you don’t want the potential buyers to be distracted. This applies to viewers too, don’t bring the children with you, at least not on first and ideally second viewings. You want to concentrate on the house, not what your children are getting up to.
- Stuff – we all know that children have a lot of belongings and that they seem to get everywhere. If you are a family then you may well be moving because the house isn’t big enough and you don’t want to advertise the fact. If viewers see toys, games consoles etc all over the place they will conclude that the property isn’t big enough for them either. As we have said previously, clutter prevents potential buyers seeing the true space on offer. This is difficult becuase children might not understand why they can’t have all their things out. Enlist their cooperation in whatever way is going to work with your children. Involve the children in the adventure of the move and explain that you need to sell the house in order to have the adventure. Start by seeking to pack up as many items as you can, this will also help towards the ultimate packing up that you will have to do anyway. Whilst doing this see if you can persuade your children to part with at least some of the toys they have grown out of and donate them to a local children’s charity. Store the resulting boxes out of the way. Then use attractive storage for the remainder.
- Tidiness – having reduced the amount of belongings you need to ensure that your home remains tidy. This can be another tricky one and again is likely to require negotiation. This involves not only putting toys away but hanging clothes up, making the bed etc.
- Decor – this might not be an obvious one but it is worth thinking about. We tend to decorate a child’s room in bright colours and often on the basis of a theme. Remember some viewers will not have children, or if they do, they may not be the same age as yours. If your house is a family home then viewers will probably expect some bedrooms to be decorated as a children’s room so we are not advocating a complete change. However, if the decor is particularly striking e.g. a teenager’s room that is painted black or some other dark colour or a young child’s room decorated in bright primary colours, then it is worth considering toning it down so that potential buyers don’t feel that changing it is such a big or immediate job.
If you feel that the fact that you have children may be the reason why you are not getting a sale or would like advice on whether there is some other reason, contact us via email at info@homestyle4u.com call us on 07745 876182 or complete the enquiry form on our contact us page. We are here to help!