Presentation Perfected

Should I stage my property?
If you’re living in the property you’re selling, staging is all about ensuring what you have looks attractive and tidy. It’s fairly rare for owners to go to great lengths to ‘stage’ a home they’re living in for purely practical reasons – after all you have to live there – but small changes like taking down untidy or blacked out window coverings, storing children’s’ toys out of sight, general de-cluttering and touching up the door and entrance hall are de rigeur and advisable.

On the other hand, if you’re selling a vacant property – as is the case for most property developments – staging is absolutely essential to achieve the maximum price. Having furniture instead of bare rooms benefits photographs massively. Showing buyers how the house can be lived in through appropriate staging also means viewings are much more likely to turn into offers. It’s all about gut ‘feel’ when prospective buyers first enter a property, and nothing cools the warm, happy, desirable feeling you want to instill like an empty room devoid of character.

Should I sell with tenants in place?
Unless it’s unavoidable, we always recommend waiting until tenants are out before putting a property up for sale. Unless your tenants are particularly tidy and cooperative, marketing a property with them still in residence throws up two problems. First, no matter how diligent the photographer, it’s difficult to get photos looking top notch with tenants belongings dotted all over the place. This also affects viewings, as your tenants don’t own the place – not to mention have a right to quiet enjoyment of the property - it’s understandable that they’re not too keen to tidy up every day. Second, tenants tend to loose their appetite for viewings fairly quickly, meaning arranging that all-important Saturday or evening viewing can sometimes prove impossible.

Should I be present on viewings?
Short answer, no. Long answer, it’s all about ‘feel’. If you’re anything like most buyers, what you looked for when buying your home was somewhere that just felt right when you came through the door. That translates into a property that feels as if it could be yours as soon as you step inside. You can just imagine yourself living there. Now instead, imagine you step inside and meet the current owner. Boom. That daydream that the property is your new home is replaced by the reality that it actually belongs to a stranger standing in front of you. You start to feel like you’re imposing, that you can’t speak or ask questions freely without possibly causing offence. It all creates a barrier to that feeling of connection you want prospective buyers to have.

“Tenants tend to loose their appetite for viewings fairly quickly”

The situation is marginally better with second viewings, when buyers have had a chance to connect with the property on their own terms, and now want to take a closer look at the details. One of those details is you, the current owner, and your story. Hearing this first hand has its advantages, and of course you get to meet the prospective buyer too, but the success of such encounters comes down to the personalities involved. A good estate agent should be able to candidly advise on the pros and cons of such a meeting based on what they know of the buyer.