Month: October 2020

The Best Tips for selling your property

tips on selling your property

A great time to get your house ready for selling. Follow these top tips to get the maximum out of your property and for next to no cost.

Tip 1, Give the place a really good clean and keep on top of it,

Tip 2, Remove all the junk, stuff that’s not used on a daily basis does not have to be on show.

“For this task it’s sometimes good to have a third party come in and help as they are not use to what’s been left out so they can question you on certain things“.

Tip 3, Get the black mould sorted, usually a ventilation problem but it can also be to do with the structure.

“If you have already been airing the property, having the extractors on when showering and the cooker hood on when cooking. Then get the mould off with a nice strong cleaner.

Once dry paint with a stain block. Then paint over with an anti mould paint or buy the anti mould solution to add to it”.

Tip 4, My pet hate is going into the bathroom and you are welcomed by dirty tile grout and a mouldy seal around the bath. Get this resealed and the tile grout cleaned or use a grout revivor. If you are no good at sealing use a sealing tape I would rather see that then a mouldy silicone sealant.

Tip 5. As mentioned earlier finish off those little jobs you have been meaning to do, such as finishing a bit of laminate flooring or some skirting or fixing that broken kitchen cupboard door. The problem is they are not big things to you as you have been living with them but people having a look around will pick all these things up.

Tip 6. A fresh coat of paint on the walls and wood work, you don’t have to do feature walls and different colours everywhere in fact a nice neutral colour is best if in doubt just white matt emulsion on the ceilings and walls. Give the wood work a little rub down and use a satin wood paint on them just to freshen it all up. The beauty of using the white on walls and ceilings is that you don’t have to be a pro with cutting in and I don’t care what you say £100 can buy you a shed load of white matt emulsion. £50 for some satin wood, £10 for a set of brushes and then it’s just your time and believe me it will sell quick just by doing this small thing.

Tip 7, Don’t be around when the agent is showing your place off it makes people uncomfortable

Tip, 8 if you are around don’t cook horrible smelly stuff.

Tip 9, if you’re a smoker DO NOT SMOKE INSIDE this will quite literally put people of buying.

Tip 10, If you do have problems with the property such as roof leaks or structural problems, don’t just cover them up and hope people don’t notice. I always recommend getting the cause of the problem solved not just what the problem causes. It can be pricey to solve but if it was highlighted in a survey the buyer will expect money off so either get it sorted or bring it up at the start of the negotiations so it can be factored into the price at an early stage.

Tip 11, If you have been cooking or have pets, spend a few quid on some air fresheners, the ones that plug in getting something nice but not to strong.

Just because you can’t smell it doesn’t mean other people can’t.

Tip 12, If the carpets are looking tired spend some money and get them professional cleaned it makes the house look a lot fresher and cleaner.

Tip13, Don’t leave all your pots and pans out/dirty washing for all to see.

Tip14, If keeping on top of things is a real problem and you have a large family etc so keeping it clean is impossible, ask the agent to arrange an open day or have all the viewings booked in on the same day, then you only have to really get on top of everything leading up to that day then you can relax after.

Tip 15, Make sure windows and gutters are clean and clear from debris, hot soapy water can do marvels, or better yet look at my rated products page for window and plastic cleaning solvents.

Tip 16, Make sure entrance and exist are clear so the buyer isn’t struggling to manoeuvre about the place.

Tip 17, Get all the weeds up and any plants planted and garden trimmed ready so people don’t have to imagine they can see the potential.

Tip 18, Make sure curtains are drawn and windows on vent to maximise the natural light and fresh air.

Tip19, If you have a room that is not used still dress it with a bed and bedroom furniture, even if you just borrow someone’s spare. It easily highlights what the room can fit.

Tip 20, Don’t just chuck everything in a cupboard chances are that cupboard will be opened and the potential purchasers will just see what a mess it is.

I hope these 20 tips help and for more tips look at my other articles.

Top tips for decorating your room

The best tips for painting a room or property

With the current situation, people are finding themselves at home a lot more and looking at jobs to do.

A great way to freshen up your room or property is to give it a coat of paint. So below are some tips to decorating..

1) Firstly I have a good friend who is a decorator so for him straight of the bat lets say my first tip is to employ a professional to do the awkward bits. Now if your like me I can roller the walls all day long and it look ok but my cutting in is not all that. You could ask the painter to do all the cutting in for you then you do the rolling yourself!

2) If you decide to do it all. preparation is key. My wife gets sick of waiting for me to do things around the house, we have had many an argument when she decides to take the ball by the horns and just slap some paint on the walls. This then ends up on the carpet, the windows (everywhere). So get everything covered up. I end up with more on me and the dust sheets then on the wall so this has saved me a few times. I like to use masking tape to stick down by the skirting boards. Also there is great products out there at the minute where its a plastic that sticks to the carpet or laminate, Really easy to use and can then be peeled up and thrown away when finished with not so much as a spec left behind. I find with the old hessian type sheets they can often let the paint weep through.

3) Carrying on with preparation in mind, the walls will need preparing first, So by this I mean fill holes, stain block any strange stains that have appeared. Then sand down any filling also sand down the woodwork. The wood work needs a rub over with sand paper to give a key to the new paint.

4) Once you have done this give the area a clean up get up all the dust you have just made from sanding down everything. This prevents the dirt getting on the walls when painting.

5) Give the ceiling a paint. Get the ceiling complete first before you move on. Rolling will spray fine specks of paint so by doing the ceiling first eliminates the chance of if flicking over the walls.

6) Cut in all the edges so where ever it abuts a wall, ceiling or skirting board. use any size brush that you rare comfortable with a 2″ is good for the finer work a 4″ is good for the wall abutments.

7) At this stage use a decorators caulk and caulk in all the edges. this gives the edges a nice uniform finish and gives your something to cut into for your final coat. Also use some light sandpaper and give the walls a really light rub. this just take of any drips or bits of dirt from the first coat.

8) What I would do next if give the wood work a once over either with the undercoat or if you are using satin then the first coat of this.

9) Usually walls and ceilings take 2 coats to get it looking good. But this will change if you have a very dark colour. Do a cut in then a roller. Give it time to dry (Touch test) then cut in and roller again. Leave it to dry then see what it looks like if it looks solid then all good. Otherwise repeat.

10) Once the walls are looking good do the final gloss or satin wood on the wood work. Gloss is harder wearing but requires more work. For a quick freshen up most people use a satin wood. Its not as hard wearing as gloss but the upside is you can go over it with less prep work so can keep it looking fresh.

11) If you take anything from this take this tip away get a decent roller/sleeve. A 12″ long pile is best. They usually cost around £10 and are worth it. With this you will need a roller frame and a scuttle. But these beat the pants of the DIY ones where you use the throw away tray. Once they have the paint deep in them you will minimise the amount you get paint and it spreads the paint better on the walls.

12) When rolling be sure not to leave the roller marks try and leave it looking even with not scars. This also applies to the brush if you leave brush marks they always stand out try and leave it with minimal marks.

13) There are loads of makes of paint now all I would say is maybe think about where the trades go and take pointers from them. Trade paint is usually the better stuff and nowadays any colour can be mixed.

Hope this helps you and if there is anything else you would like tips on leave comments in the boxes below.

Happy painting..

Toby