Tag Archives: photography

Whichever of the four main property portals your house had been listed on – Rightmove, Primelocation, Zoopla or OntheMarket – you need to make sure it is working for you. Check that it is:

Punchy – does it stand out above the other properties?
Good front shot – is it stale? Is it seasonal? Can it be improved?
6-8 photographs – too few is not enough to whet a buyer’s appetite, but too many and they will think they don’t need to view. Are your internal images good enough?
Brochure download – can your brochure be downloaded and printed as a pdf?
Floorplan download – check your floorplan loads large enough to read, and print it out to ensure it’s clear enough

Think of your online advert as an extension of your brochure; it needs to really sell your house, and encourage a buyer to book a viewing. After all, that’s what it’s there to do!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Is your house on the market? Good. Go to Rightmove (www.rightmove.co.uk) and look up your property. Now click on each image in turn, and look at the titles, in the bottom right hand corner. What does it say? If the reference is, like 90% of the property photo references online, simply ‘Picture 1’ like below, or some other equally uninformative name, it needs changing.

Once the photo has been named properly, it will appear like this:

Why?

You may have a beautiful house, but if a buyer can’t correlate your images to say, your floorplan or written description, its impact may be lost. I came across a photograph of a stunning view only the other day on an online property advert, which I assumed was a nearby beauty spot. “Oh no”, the owner corrected me; “That’s the view from our patio!” So why on earth had the agent named the image ‘Pic 8’ instead of ‘View from patio’?! Your images are probably the most valuable marketing tool you have when you are selling your home, so use them to their best advantage.

How?

Ask your agent to do it! If he doesn’t know how, explain to him that he needs to rename all the images he has uploaded, then re-upload them to the property portals. That way they will appear with the names in the bottom right hand corner, as descriptions.

When?

Today! This is much too important to leave it even one more day, and as the property portals upload overnight, you need to make sure your agent addresses it urgently!

By the way, if you’d like more of Sam’s Selling Secrets delivered direct to your inbox, just pop your email address in here and I’ll do the rest.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

If you’re selling your home, photography is possibly the most significant marketing tool at your disposal. The increasing popularity of smart phones such as Android and the Apple iPhone, mean that most people are equipped with their own personal camera. Will these do the trick? In short, no. Despite increased performance and popularity, personal cameras won’t hit the mark when it comes to photographing your home. This is a job for the professionals. If you want potential buyers to utter a wow beneath their breath and immediately make an appointment, bring in someone who loves photography as much as you love the idea of selling your home quickly.

Our guidelines for achieving the best pictures of your home:

Light it up – A shadowy cheerless picture of any room – despite its size or potential – will turn off any buyer from even making a viewing. It lacks attention or detail, and doesn’t give off any homely feel. Lighting is crucial when making somewhere look inviting; it evokes a lived in feel, a look of warmth and can change the atmosphere of a room in seconds.

Time of day – Nothing can beat a romantic sunset, and they are ideal as a backdrop for your home too. A picture-perfect time of day to make a home look inviting, warm and family orientated, an evening will enable your photographer to get a shot that will have budding buyers flocking to your door. Taking a shot in the middle of the day with a greying sky in the background, will leave your house looking as dreary as dishwater. Make it stand out, and choose your timing right.

Don’t deceive buyers; ban wide angled shots – Before buyers have even set foot in your home, through your images they have begun to visualise putting their own prospective mark on your property; where furniture would go, what room would be the office, and so on. Consequently, they need to have a good grasp of size. If wide angled shots are utilised, they can give the impression that a room is much bigger than it actually is. If your buyers turn up and realise their dream study won’t fit in more than a chair and a lampshade, they likely won’t be signing any forms.

Clutter? What clutter? – A big mistake of the amateur photographer, is taking a photo of a room as it is without any consideration of what is in the room. You still might not have sifted through the papers from the weekend, but do they really need to be in the shot? The washing pile too; do buyers want to think about housework when envisioning their new perfect home? A room needs to be as clutter free as possible. If this means shifting a bit of furniture around, and spending a few hours moving piles of junk to a few boxes that won’t be in shot, it will be worth it.

Choose your rooms – Everyone knows the rooms that every house comes with as standard, but if you only have a limited number of photographs to use, choose the rooms that really make the house shine. The kitchen and a living area will be images people will be very keen to see, and when choosing additional ones, pick your other favourites, whether it is a large pantry, a conservatory with views of the countryside, or a bedroom with en-suite.

By getting a professional in to take beautiful pictures of your home, you will be painting the kind of lifestyle that interested buyers are looking for. By just forking out a little additional money for some remarkable shots, your home could sell within weeks, and not sit on the market long term next to some unimaginative pictures that no one will look twice at. Allow your buyers to love your home as much as you have done!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Our top ten tips to add value without breaking the bank

1. Loft conversions

Converting an unused attic space can be a really cost-effective way of adding living space to your home. Some sources say a good loft conversion can add up to 20% in value to your property, and with costs ranging upwards of £30,000, you could get a fantastic return on your investment. You don’t usually need planning permission, unless you are extending the roof space or adding height. Also, if you live in a conservation area, you may find additional limitations on what you are allowed to do.Try this clever interactive tool to see at a glance if you need planning permission for your project, and if you’re still not sure, check with your local planning department, who will advise you on the correct procedure.

2. New kitchen

Whilst once upon a time, kitchens were built to last decades, (remember your gran’s kitchen, which had probably been there for 30 years?!) nowadays, any kitchen over ten years old is probably starting to look tired. With investment from just £1500 for a cheap Wickes or Ikea kitchen, you can essentially revamp this very important room for a relatively low sum. If you’re planning on renovating your kitchen just to make your home more saleable, err on the side of caution, and go for a neutral, light style that won’t put buyers off.

3. Replace blown double-glazed windows

Double-glazed windows mist up internally because the sealant around the edges has broken down. This can happen with cheap or badly fitted units, and the ‘misting’ effect gets worse over time. Unfortunately, this does usually mean replacing the window, as the repair process can be onerous, messy and expensive. However, blown windows are really unsightly, and can cause a buyer to think the house has not been maintained properly. Expect to pay from around £200 a window plus fitting to replace your blown windows, depending on size.

4. New carpets

Replacing old, worn or dated carpets can have a huge effect on a property. I’ve seen really tired properties look like they have had a complete makeover, just because they have had their carpets replaced. One lady on a viewing, who had seen the property before the new carpets were laid, was convinced that the house had been redecorated and wouldn’t accept it hadn’t! Expect to pay from around £2000 for a reasonable quality carpet in a three bedroom house. A word of warning though – don’t scrimp – cheap carpets just don’t have the same effect, and they can wear really badly, especially if you have pets or children, or both.

5. Garden makeover

If you’re selling your house the prospective buyer will quickly form an opinion of what the inside of the house is like, based on the appearance of the front garden and entrance to the house.

Try to imagine what the house looks like to a first-time visitor, take a photo from the entrance and see what this reveals. These simple steps will help to create a smart, stylish exterior:

Clear any old leaves and debris, sweep paths, clean windows
Move any dustbins or recycling boxes out of sight
Remove any flower pots with dead or unattractive plants
Replace collections of numerous small plant pots with few larger ones
Use plant pots of similar material, type and colour
If there is any grass, cut it and trim the edges
Cut hedges
Fill containers with single colour (much smarter than mixed colours) bedding- plants for a quick fix. Match the flower colour to the paintwork of the house, or choose a contrasting colour.
Use light e.g. white or pale yellow flowers, to bounce some light into shady areas.
Invest in some smart lollipop-shaped topiary shrubs to place either side of the entrance, and as long as you remember to tell your buyer that they’re not included in the sale, you can take them with you.

Do all of the above, and your garden will sell the house to your buyers before they even walk through the door!

6. Kerb appeal

Homes are always judged by their exterior façade. If you’re eager to sell your property but its frontage just screams to onlookers that you don’t love your home, you aren’t going to be getting many viewings. People judge within seconds, and a weed-filled lawn will mean viewers don’t even make it to the front door.

The front of your home needs to be edging on picture-perfect; not only does it paint a good impression of the owners, it puts potential buyers in positive spirits before they have stepped in the door. Follow our tips for the prime things you need to have looking pristine before the ‘For Sale’ sign is hammered into your lawn…

Windows – If you have trouble looking past fingerprints and dust on your windows from the inside, people will see that on the outside too. Give them a good clean regularly. Check on your window frames too; if they’re rotten, they aren’t going to look very appealing. Consider replacing them before putting your house on the market. Ensure that they fit in with the look of your home.

Front Door – People are drawn to the front door at first glance. Make sure it stands out by giving it a fresh coat of paint. The colour should fit in with the look of your house, so don’t make it too garish. Bright colours are in at the moment, but vivid pink might make your door a little overstated.

Neighbours – You would think your neighbour’s house wouldn’t matter, but it does. If they have rubbish on the lawn or anything else unattractive that really doesn’t need to be there, ask them politely if you can remove it. To make your plan less obvious, offer a hand; if you’re mowing your lawn, say you’ll do theirs too. The last thing buyers want to see is dirty surrounding houses.

Lighting – Many people might choose to drive by a potential property after dark, and it is essential that your house looks appealing. Having a nice lantern on the porch or a few front garden lights adds a special touch.

Clean & Neat – To give an overall good impression, ensure everything is as clean and spruce as possible. Repaint tired paintwork and railings, get rid of the weeds, trim the lawn, and make sure nothing unsightly is sitting on your drive, such as a skip.

By following such straightforward tips, the front of your home will be screaming with kerb appeal within hours, waiting to attract any interested party that wanders by your house.

Get your kerb appeal right, and your home will not only shine from the outside, it will also stand out on Rightmove and the other property portals, which is where you really need to grab buyers’ attention.

7. Lighting

The lighting you choose for each individual room needs to reflect not only the desired atmosphere but also the practical use of the room. Here are some tips to help you make the right lighting choices:

Living room:

This is usually a well-used room, so make sure the general level of lighting is suitable for a variety of different tasks
Picking out a feature wall, or else an architectural feature such as cornicing, beams or stonework, with directional spotlight helps to create interest and drama
Any ‘hidden’ lighting, for example, under pelmets or behind cabinets, will diffuse the light and create soft uniform lighting
Use dimmers to change lighting moods
Highlight artwork and plants with individual lighting arrangements
Shades on floor, table and hanging fixtures will help soften the glare, and create pools of light
Display lighting can draw attention to collections or unusual objects

Dining room:

The lighting you choose for this area depends on your use of the room. An intimate space for entertaining small numbers of friends and family will have different needs to a more open-plan arrangement, perhaps off the kitchen:

The lighting in a family dining area should be kept relaxed and easy, with a good level of light, and many sources to create a consistent level.
To create a more intimate atmosphere, try hanging a large fitting, such as a chandelier, low over the table, so that a pool of light is created in the centre of the table, whilst the guests are in the dimmer light. This creates a very cosy atmosphere; just right for a small party of dinner guests.
Candles are another way of creating a special feel to the room; their light is very flattering to skin tones, so your female guests will thank you!
Candles placed near mirrors or by other reflective surfaces will make for really interesting light plays and shadows, and enhance the intimate mood.

Kitchens:

Kitchens need to be really well-lit, with both overhead and directional lighting, for maximum functionality.

Overhead lighting is best served by spotlights, either ceiling sunk, or else on a bracket. This way the lighting is well-distributed, uniform and as free from shadows as possible
Under-pelmet lighting will light the worksurfaces and sinks so that the chef doesn’t cast a shadow over the food preparation
Special features, such as Agas or feature tiling, can be specially lit with directional lighting to enhance them and create interest
Shiny kitchen accessories, such as chrome kettle and toaster, will add to the lighting level by sparkling and maximising the existing light

Bedrooms:

Keep bedroom lighting low-level to preserve intimacy. Overhead lighting is best controlled by a dimmer switch, and lamps will make bedroom reading easy without raising the overall lighting level too much
Keep any wall lighting directed downwards to help create a calm, intimate atmosphere
Touch lamps are ideal for bedrooms, as they are so easy to turn on and off when you’re half asleep.

Creative and thoughtful lighting can really transform the dullest darkest house: just think carefully about the mood you’re trying to create and the use for the room and plan accordingly.

8. Repainting

Simple redecoration, like repainting a room to appear more neutral, can help a potential buyer view your property as a blank canvas that they could put their own stamp on. A fresh lick of paint can make a home look new. You can do it yourself on a budget, and still end up with great results, though be prepared for it to take about three times longer than you think it will! Choose colours wisely, and try to stick to neutral colours. This isn’t the time to experiment with darker paints and bold colours, which could deter a buyer. Sarah Beeny’s advice is to keep it really simple: “Neutral colours won’t put any buyer off. Potential buyers walking through your home will be able to plan to put their own stamp on the house without having to remove yours first. If necessary, paint all your home white – yes, it make take a few weeks, but it will be worth it in the end.”

9. Add polish to bathrooms

Bathrooms can be hard to maintain when selling your home as they undergo such regular use. Rather than neglecting your bathroom, it should be given regular maintenance to reduce the amount of work required before each viewer is scheduled to arrive:

Abolish the mould

Bathroom mould is unattractive and could be a deal breaker for potential buyers. It indicates damp problems and poor ventilation. Be sure to bleach mould before you put your house on the market and continually practice excellent ventilation when showering and bathing to avoid returning mould. Wipe down the bath and shower quickly after every use to avoid blackening grout and silicone.

Invest in some attractive accessories

Clean, sparkling mirrors can revive a tired bathroom whilst reflecting light to create the illusion of space. Replace any toothpaste-stained toothbrush holders with a new one that is used only when viewers are expected, to prevent it from spoiling.

Wash and fold towels

Wet towels strewn messily over radiators aren’t attractive and can emit a damp odour. Wash and dry towels before every viewing and ensure they’re folded or hung neatly. This will create a pleasant odour and a luxury appearance to your bathroom.

Bathrooms can be a major selling point for a house if presented well. If you have more than one bathroom then perform regular maintenance on them all. Try to put yourself in your viewers’ shoes, if you saw your bathroom in a house would you buy it?

10. Upgrade your bedrooms

Bedrooms are so important to buyers, especially the master bedroom; after all, that’s going to be their bedroom! The master bedroom needs to feel as much like a hotel as possible: bedding, lighting, the carpet and curtains – all need to reflect that the room is a calm and stylish place to relax. The bed itself is hugely important. When did you last change yours? Most people keep their beds long after they should have changed them, and a tired, dated bed can really let a room down. You don’t have to spend a fortune to buy a new quality bed – online discounters like www.bedsos.co.uk have a terrific range of stylish beds from just £75. They also offer many different sizes, so if your bedrooms aren’t huge, try one of their smaller beds to add the illusion of space to your rooms.

Any renovations and upgrades to your home can make a huge difference to the saleability of your property, and really encourage viewings and offers. And if you’re buying something you can take with you, like a new bed, even better!

This guest post is sponsored by Bed SOS, one of the largest online specialists of tv beds, genuine and faux leather beds, pine beds, metal beds and children’s beds.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

We know setting prospective buyers loose on your home to play Simon Cowell can be daunting; suppose the dog has an ‘accident’ or the neighbours decide their bonfire just can’t wait until November 5^th?

Yes, buyers can indeed be difficult to please, but here’s the good news – we know exactly how to please them. Putting the effort in, pays dividends when it comes to getting that all important ‘quick sale’!

Follow our 9 tips to get your house big fat ‘yes’s’ across the board:

Improve your kerb appeal

We know you should never judge a book by it’s cover, but sadly, people often do – a lot of people will drive around first before deciding on which properties to visit.

The exterior of your home is just as important as the interior, if not more so for that all-important first impression. Peter Illingworth Estate Agent says ‘you must make sure every part of this visual picture looks at its best. If the interior is beautiful they may never see it if the exterior is shabby. The pavement in front of your home should be swept clean if necessary, any weeds that are growing should be removed, unsightly bins hidden and any litter picked up.’

Invest in some doggy day-care

As much as you love Rover, not everyone’s a fan. Potential buyers don’t want to walk in and smell cat litter, or walk out with dog hair stuck to their clothes; it gives the impression that your house isn’t clean. Hire a dog sitter or at least exile your furry friends to the garden whilst showing buyers around.

Come up smelling of roses

Or lilies, daisies, tulips – you get the idea. A bunch of flowers goes a long way!

Or there’s always the oldest trick in the real-estate book: pop some cookies or freshly made bread in the oven and intoxicate your buyers with that warm fuzzy feeling, instantly bonding them to your home – or so they say.

Whilst whipping up freshly baked goods each time you have a prospective buyer in your house may be impractical, you can always ‘brew some fresh coffee’ or buy flower-scented candles for an alluring welcome buyers are sure to appreciate. At the very least, ensure all ashtrays are out of the way and Fabreeze is always on hand.

Keep your hardship to yourself

If you think buyers will hear your life story, feel sorry for you and consequently sign on the dotted line, you’re sadly mistaken. Whatever the reason is for selling your house – be it debt, death or your husband running off with the next-door neighbour – keep schtum! Nearly a quarter of the cases of off-putting behaviour in the My Online Estate Agent survey involved sellers unburdening themselves about the reasons for their marriage break-up. Save it for your shrink, please.

Clutter is killer

Get rid of it – and sharpish! Buyers want to be able to imagine themselves living in your home, and family photos, swimming certificates and your grandma’s ornaments make it that bit harder. If it’s too painful to get rid of them permanently, why not put them in temporary storage?

Keep it PG

According to research by My Online Estate Agent, one in five buyers have encountered ‘something unusual’ when being shown around a property. A total of 22 per cent of house-hunters have been confronted with weird collections of sex-dolls and teddy bears, while 11 per cent have had to avert their eyes from naked pictures of the owners. Awkward.

Less ’50 shades’ more ‘vintage lampshades’, please.

Lighten up

Light, bright and airy – three words to take as house-selling gospel. Especially when it comes to kitchens and bathrooms, open plan is in fashion and buyers want as much space as possible. Colour scheme-wise, think whites and creams, or pastel hues.

Bathrooms and kitchens are two of the most important rooms in a property and should be immaculately clean and tidy when showing a property to viewers – again accessorised to emphasise light and space.

“Wildly coloured bathroom suites were regarded as the ultimate in taste in the 1980s, but can look pretty hideous to modern eyes,” says David Newnes, director of LSL Property Services. He claims such a fitting could knock up to £8,000 off the value of your property. Wowzers. Oh, and keep it clean people! Research by Rightmove among 4,000 buyers found that dirty kitchens and bathrooms were the biggest turn-offs – so get out that Mr Muscle before every viewing.

Putting the effort in, either on your own or with the assistance of a specialist property company can clearly pay dividends when it comes to answering the question – ‘how to get a quick sale’

Stay Switzerland

Fancy yourself as the next Kelly Hoppen? This is not the time to test out your skills. The thing to remember is your taste is not the same as everyone else’s. Keep colours neutral and decoration to a minimum to make your house appealing to as many buyers as possible.

Be warned: additions can be made but unsightly adornments cannot be unseen! Offer an empty shell for buyers to build their dream home around from scratch – your estate agent will thank you for it.

Enlist the experts

Don’t fancy dealing with estate agents, viewings, and the general stress that comes with finding a buyer? You’re not alone.

www.sellhousefast.uk buys over 300 houses a year, direct, from all over the UK! Simply apply online, agree a price and set a date for a rapid and hassle free sale – often completed within four weeks. Oh, and they buy houses regardless of condition, meaning everyone’s invited.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

A lady called me today, to ask for my advice in selling her beautiful 17th century home near Chelmsford. The first place I looked for clues as to why she wasn’t getting viewings, was her Rightmove advert. Her description wasn’t great, and the brochure wouldn’t load, but the real problem was her photographs. Now bear in mind that this property is currently on the market for £1.4 million, she told me that the branch manager had taken the photos “with a little camera that looked cheap” the lady told me. Now, given that his commission was going to be in the region of £20,000, why wouldn’t he have asked a professional photographer to do the job properly? For a measly £300 or so, he would have avoided having the shadow of the photographer in every shot (yes, really), the odd angles, and the grey, grainy look to every interior shot.

Here’s a quick checklist to make sure your photos actually do their job – and that is to persuade a viewer to view your home:

How many? If your house is 2000 square feet or more, you need at least 12 – 15 images online to do your home justice

Atmosphere – Make sure your lights are all lit, particularly lamps to add warmth and a welcoming glow

Lifestyle – are there little touches in your photos? A bottle of wine, a tray laid for afternoon tea, a real fire

Front door – make sure at least one of your shots includes your front door, to let your buyers really connect with your house

Seasonal – your outside shots shouldn’t be more than a couple of months out of date. No daffodils in October, or wisteria in February!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

When you’ve been trying to sell your house for a while, it’s difficult to look at the way you’re presenting it with any objectivity; you’re just too close to it. You can try asking family and friends, but chances are you’ll get several different opinions that may well just confuse you more!

I’ve compiled here a list of sources to inspire you when you’re considering how you can improve your home’s presentation to better appeal to a buyer:

Pinterest – If you haven’t yet come across this wonderful site, you’re in for a treat! A collection of ‘virtual pinboards’, it’s a public platform that allows users to ‘tag’ and ‘repin’ pictures they like. This means that if for example you type ‘modern family home’ in the search box, you’ll find everyone’s pinboards that match your search, and you can simply browse hundreds and even thousands of photographs, repinning any on your own board that you like the look of. A great site for ideas and lovely images of homes; just don’t get so distracted you forget what you’re supposed to be doing! http://pinterest.com/

House to Home – this site is the home of the top seven homes and interiors magazines in the UK, including _25 Beautiful Homes and Homes and Gardens._ There are thousands of images of home interiors, searchable by room, colour and style of décor. A great place to go for inspiration. http://www.housetohome.co.uk/

Doornob – this site’s strapline is ‘Design Ideas Daily’ and offers a wealth of contemporary home ideas. Click on the ‘interiors’ tab for the best in modern presentation from the best homes all over the world. You’ll probably have to scale back these stunning ideas, but it’s a good place to go to check on the latest trends, particularly if you have a modern property. http://dornob.com/

Coastal Retreats – even if you don’t have a coastal home, this site is full of absolutely gorgeous properties, all presented beautifully. You’ll discover all the little accessories and finishing touches that turn a house into a home, not to mention discovering how good interiors photography should look. http://www.coastalretreats.co.uk/

Unique Home Stays – as with the above, this site is for holidaymakers looking for an extra special place to stay, and their properties are simply beautiful. Their high standards can teach you how best to present your home, not only from a design point of view, but also in the inspiring lifestyle photography they use. Ideal Home instead.

Enjoy these sites, and try not to get too distracted and forget about the task in hand!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Sometimes I look at a client’s property brochure in despair. It can be a beautiful, rambling country house full of character, and for reasons only known to the estate agent in question, he is attempting to market it with a flimsy A3 folded sheet, printed from the office printer. The text is lacking in any kind of warmth; the photographs are dull and dark, having been printed straight onto copier paper, and the overall result is cheap and amateurish. This lack of care and attention to the marketing of a house can permeate a buyer’s view of the property; after all, if the estate agent and seller don’t care enough about it to take the time it needs in creating a beautiful showpiece for the house, how can we expect the buyer to see it as a house of value?

Of course, if you are selling a studio flat in a less than salubrious area, you might expect the property details to consist of only a single sheet of A4 with perhaps 150 words and three or four photographs, but if your house is a good sized family home, it will usually warrant considerably more effort. As a rough guide, I would expect that a flat or house with four rooms or less rooms to be marketed with two sides of A4, and a family house brochure to be at least four sides; anything bigger than this really needs a brochure of at least six pages, with country homes warranting easily twelve pages or more. There are exceptions to this of course; development projects, very dated properties or houses that are extremely cluttered and therefore difficult to photograph; the details for these types of house will always be compromised by what the estate agent needs to show, and can photograph. However, if you have a house packed with interesting and unusual features, a pretty garden, or both, then your brochure really needs to reflect this and make sure a buyer’s attention is captured long enough for them to book a viewing on your house.

There are arguments I hear often from estate agents about “overselling”. In other words, if you set a buyer’s expectations low, they are more likely to be bowled over when they actually visit the house. This is a pretty risky strategy: if your brochure undersells your home, there’s a strong likelihood that no one will book a viewing anyway. With almost fifteen properties to each buyer at the time of writing, they will just move onto the next house to look at; one that is being marketed effectively. Make sure your brochure size, type and style all reflect your home and that you are proud to call it your showcase: after all, your brochure really is the gateway between you and your future buyer, so make sure you keep that gate firmly open.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Firstly, I always advocate professional photography of your property as the best option to sell your house effectively. However, you may have had your photographs taken in October, and now we’re almost in May, they’re looking decidedly out of season. Your agent will be very reluctant to pay for another visit from your photographer, and may offer to take a new front shot himself, to show in-season foliage, but I suggest that with a little coaching from me, you can probably do a better job. Here’s your 9 point action plan to getting a fabulous new front shot of your house:

1. Beg borrow or steal a good digital camera, unless you have one already. An SLR is best, though compacts these days can also take great images. Unless you’re confident of the settings, pop it onto automatic, and you’re ready to go.

2. Wait for a sunny day. Ideally you want a blue sky, and the sun fairly low, on the front of the house.

3. Ok, the sun is shining, today’s a good day for your photography. Leave your camera inside, grab a stepladder, and go for a recce: walk around the front of the house, looking at its best features, and deciding on angles. Does it look better from directly across the road, or on an angle? Perhaps you can frame the door with your hedge, or garden gate? Try looking at the house from up the stepladder, as it will often look more attractive from height. Plan your angles, then go get your camera.

4. Now you have your camera in hand, look through the viewfinder, and see how your house looks. Don’t go too wide; it’s important that your house fills the screen as much as possible. Take a couple of test shots to see how it’s looking. Too much in the shot? You don’t want to distract a viewer from your house, so zoom in a little. Take another and check the results.

5. Make sure you take the photographs in ‘landscape’ – in other words, horizontally, not vertically. This is so it fits in with the adverts on the property portals.

6. Take all the shots you planned earlier, focusing on keeping the camera straight and very still. If you can rest it on the stepladder, even better. Take each image at three different zoom distances, so you can see what looks better.

7. Now try being a little creative. See if you can add some foreground interest in the shot with maybe some colourful foliage, or over your garden gate. This way, you’ll end up with a range of ‘safe’ images, and also some that may be more interesting.

8. Right – let’s see what they look like! Upload the images to your computer, and start going through them, preferably with someone you trust to give you a second opinion. Be ruthless, and discard any that aren’t attractive and interesting. Look carefully at any distracting objects, shadows and lighting.

9. Once you have your shortlist, pick the absolute best three, and email them to your estate agent for him to pick the final one, and upload it to the property portals.

And there you have you new front shot – well done!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

“The flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in hindsight.”

~ Edward Kennedy

Have you been trying to sell your home for months, or even years, without success? You’re certainly not alone; did you know that only half the properties on the market last year actually sold?

Did you decline an offer in the first month or so that, in hindsight, you now would take? It’s a familiar story. In fact, around 75% of sellers who contact us would now accept that offer – gladly – and now regret having rejected it.

A property is never more desirable than when it first goes onto the market. The initial flurry of interest can even occasionally generate an offer in excess of the asking price, such is the draw of a newly-marketed home. The interest curve for those all-important first few weeks looks something like this.

However, once all the buyers who have been searching for a while for their next home have seen it, then it’s only the new buyers coming to the market who are around to show any interest, and this may be only a handful a week, at best. This just isn’t sufficient to instill any sense of urgency in a buyer, who may view 15 – 20 or more properties before making an offer on one.

Once your property has been on the market for more than a couple of months therefore, the interest curve looks more like this:

If you drop your asking price, and keep dropping it in an attempt to counteract this downwards trend of interest, all you’re doing is ‘chasing the market down’, in effect.

So what’s the answer? Here’s my expert guide to keeping your property marketing fresh, and avoid it becoming stale and forgotten:

1. Don’t dismiss out of hand any offer you receive in those crucial early weeks of marketing. It will probably be the best offer you will ever receive on your home;

2. If you’re several months (or years) down the line, you need to break the vicious cycle that is no one wants a house that no one wants. Take it off the market completely for at least two months, and preferably up to six months.

3. Re-launch at the right time of year for your property, ie at the time of year when your buyer is most likely to be searching.

4. Don’t scrimp on your re-launch: engage a professional home stager, commission a professional photographer, and choose a proactive agent who believes in quality marketing.

5. If you get an early offer when you go back to market, take it! Within reason of course…. As a general rule of thumb, anything in excess of 85% of your asking price is definitely worthy of consideration in this market, and over 90% is a terrific offer.

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If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.