When viewing a house for sale, what you’re seeing, more often than not, is not a blank canvas. It’s still someone else’s home, even if they are trying to sell it, and their tastes, choices, and furniture will be all over it. It can be difficult to ignore that bright orange sofa that dominates the room, or to see the potential of the spare bedroom because it’s full of a whole load of junk.

So, how do you see past these things and start appreciating what the space has to offer?

- Remember that the furniture can be moved. It might feel like a cheeky thing to ask, but most sellers shouldn’t mind if you want to move the coffee table out the way, so you can see how the room would look without it. Especially if it’s your second or third visit – they’ll know you’re serious and if it can help clinch the sale, why would they say no? And for you, furniture can really change a room, so moving it around could help you realise the room’s real potential.

- Think about the spare room. Often the most curious room in the house, people use a spare bedroom for all sorts of purposes. Remember that you don’t have to stick to the current function of the room. If you won’t use it as a bedroom much, don’t waste it on this sole function. Is there space to make it a study with a sofa bed? At least you’d get more use out of it that way. Try to imagine it empty so you know how much space you really have to play with.

- Look under the stairs and along the hallway. How much stuff is there? What can you do with that space? Storage space is important!

- Think about the outside of the house. Can you extend if you need to? Is there space for a shed? Think about what you can do with the land you’ve got, not just what you can do with the house.

- Is there anything that’s there that you don’t need? If they’ve got a tumble-dryer taking up space and you’ve got a combined washer-dryer at home, that suddenly frees up kitchen or utility space.

And if you’re selling, what should you be doing to show off the space you have?

- Beat them to it and move the furniture! You might need your coffee table as a foot rest/drinks holder/magazine rack, but if the room looks bigger without it, get it out of sight!

- Got a whole load of junk in your spare room? Get rid of it! Turn that room into something useful. Don’t let a potential buyer do all the work, show them how easy it is to use the room.

- Tidy up. Yes, you might have had fifty viewers over the last couple of weeks and you’re fed up of feeling like you live in a show home, but if your house is messy it’ll look smaller and far less attractive. Go and tidy up! Do it now!

- Do something about that ‘corner’. You know the one I mean. Every house has one. That place things go when you’re not really sure where else to put them. Get it sorted. Even if you just invest in some pretty storage items, this will help.

There’s always more space in a home than people realise. But if you can see it, you’ll be able to see how that space can be used. If you’re a viewer, you need to see past what’s on the surface. If you’re a seller, it’s your job to make that easy for people.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 24th, 2009 at 2:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.