Preparing to sell your flat can seem like a daunting experience, because it can be hard to know where to start. What’s the right method for selling your home? How do you decide what sale price you’d like to set for your flat? And how do you make your flat most attractive to buyers?
The experts at London-based quick homebuyer LDN Properties have experience with buying leasehold flats regardless of their age, size, condition or shape, and even if they have features that some other potential buyers might consider to be undesirable such as cladding or very short leases remaining. If you’re thinking of selling your flat, here are 5 top tips from their experts for how to improve your chance of a fast sale.
- Find out the ideal asking price to set for your flat
If you’re struggling with knowing what price to ask for your flat, start by looking at Zoopla, rightmove and other property sales websites for flats that are similar in size and condition to yours within or near to your neighbourhood. This can give you a good general guideline to how much flats are selling for in your area, as well as which prices buyers find too steep.
You can also call around a number of estate agents, auctioneers and quick buyers to ask for quotes with selling your flat. They should provide an estimated sale price free of charge, although remember that they also want your business and so some companies, particularly estate agents, might try to inflate the sale amount above what they know is reasonable. Simply calculate the average of quotes you receive this way in order to get a more accurate figure.
- Make sure your flat’s exterior looks in pristine condition
First impressions truly count when it comes to selling properties, and that means you need to ensure your flat looks as attractive as it possibly can to a potential buyer. Anyone interested in potentially purchasing your flat will want to come on a viewing, where they get to tour the interior and interior, and you have the ability to improve the appearance of both.
Although you might not have a garden or other outside area for your flat, buyers will still notice if there are any cracked windows or chipped paint on the window frames for your unit, and it will project a look of disrepair. That’s why it’s vital to ensure any exterior damage specific to your flat is taken care of before a potential buyer comes to visit the property.
And you can even improve the look of the outside of your flat with the addition of plants and other features that make the home look more enticing to someone visiting it.
- Remove any clutter from the inside of your flat
How the inside of your flat looks is just as important, if not more important, than its external appearance. Even if the exterior looks in good condition, buyers might immediately lose interest in your home if the inside is cluttered, dirty and overloaded with your personal mementos.
It’s highly advised to undertake a major cleaning of your flat before trying to sell it, starting with the removal of any unnecessary junk. Not only will this help with improving the cleanliness of your home, but it will also help to make the rooms in your flat appear to be bigger. And buyers put a premium on square footage, so this can only help with trying to sell your home.
Simply rearranging furniture can also be a way to make rooms appear larger, and placing mirrors in areas where they reflect natural outside light can further help to make your flat seem bigger. All of these free and easy steps could boost your prospects of selling.
- Confront any issues about your flat’s cladding
Your flat might have cladding, and if so then you will need to disclose this to potential buyers whilst also being aware that it could be the feature that makes someone lose interest in purchasing your flat. That’s because flats with cladding must undergo a strict new fire safety testing procedure following the fire disaster at the London Grenfell Tower block.
Some leasehold flat owners have expressed frustration at how complicated and time-consuming this testing process can be, particularly as they have to approach the flat’s freehold owner to organise the testing and some freeholders lack the interest in doing this work. And unless the testing is done, a mortgage lender might not give your buyer a loan to purchase your flat.
Be upfront with buyers about this potential issue to see if there are ways you can overcome this hurdle, or consult with a quick homebuyer or a property auctioneer about selling your home using an alternative method that others have successfully used to sell flats with cladding.
- Consider investing in a kitchen or bathroom renovation
Kitchens and bathrooms are two of the most heavily used rooms in a flat, and therefore buyers will be paying special attention to the condition of these areas. If you have a kitchen or bathroom that was last renovated many years ago and is not in the best condition, you could consider investing in some fresh decoration and installing more modern features.
However, not all homeowners can afford the money and time needed for such renovations, and it’s perfectly fine to seek a buyer without doing such work. You’ll also need to check with the freeholder to see if renovations need their approval or are prohibited under the lease.