How to sell your home in a hurry

IF YOUR house stubbornly refuses to sell, never fear – here are some expert tips to help you get things moving:

Phil Spencer, of Garrington property search company and Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location , says: Make sure you select the best agent for the type of property you have. Look in the window to see if houses like yours are advertised there. Then fix the right price, bearing in mind that the market calms down in the summer, so there’s no point being too ambitious.

First impressions are vital. Tidy up the front garden and the drive and paint the front door. Kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, so get cleaning and polishing. Buy things such as a new kettle, new bathroom lino, new door handles. Clear out clutter, turn the storage room into a bedroom, then ask a friend to come round and give their honest opinion.

If your house still doesn’t sell, ask your agents why they haven’t sold it and how you can help them do their job.

Ed Mead, sales director, Douglas and Gordon, says: The two most important factors when selling a house are presentation and price. Most people will have an emotional response to a house within ten seconds, so you have to be tidy and your children can’t leave their underpants on the floor.

Even more important is price. The majority of the market is a little sticky at the moment, so you need to attract the most number of buyers. A high price is not going to get people through the door, so put it on at a guide price at the bottom end of your expectations, and you should then get several bidders who will push the price up. That takes balls, though.

If it still doesn’t sell, drop the price to appeal to a whole new level of buyers – there’s no point tinkering at the margins.

Sarah Beeny, presenter of Channel 4’s Property Ladder, says: I strongly believe there’s no such thing as a house that won’t sell. If it isn’t selling it’s too expensive. The Martins (see story on left) may have dropped their price by £100,000, but that’s clearly not enough. The danger in today’s market is that there is huge optimism in terms of value, so estate agents will come up with a figure they hope to get, and the vendor spends that in their head. Look at what you can buy in your area for the price you’re asking. If you need to drop the price, take the house off the market for two weeks before launching it with a new agent at a price at least 10 per cent lower.

There are also cosmetic things you can do that may make a buyer pick your house over someone else’s. Cleaning the windows is the most important: it will make rooms look lighter and brighter.