Getting Your Essex House Prepared For Sale

As we recover from the impact of COVID, the property market has continued to remain robust and is bustling. Due to the lockdown periods, buyer demand continues to outstrip supply. This means the typical seasonality of quieter and busier months is simply not applicable.

Usually, spring is a great time to put your  home on the market and sell it quickly. That is because people tend to be open to viewings in happier weather rather than in the midst of freezing winter, but buyer demand means advertising your home in quieter listing months gives you a distinct advantage and the opportunity to secure a premium price. Basically, any time is a good time to sell right now!

Before your agent lists your  home, you must make sure it looks its best. Assess your living space and look at it as though you are a buyer. You can then double-check this list of staging tips for ensuring that no crucial details were overlooked.

Remove the clutter

Clear up your countertops, bookcases, garages and closets. 

Pack every beautiful item you own

Right from personal photos to knick-knacks, everything  that you want to keep must be boxed up.

Procure a storage unit

Clear up some space with the moving of furniture and boxes into storage, which will augment your room’s size. 

Finish minor repairs

Ensure no leaks, all doors close properly, and any holes in the walls get patched. 

Beautify it! 

Note that the windows, floors as well as bathrooms must sparkle. Remember to dust each surface, hang up fresh towels in the bathroom and ensure that the place smells great. 

Don’t forget the garden

How your garden looks will create the first impression. Hence, mow it, wash the walkways and decorate the place with yellow flowers.

There are many ways to ensure that your home holds an advantage over the competition. Your property’s overall look will accelerate the process of selling. Please call on 01277 564022 or email at [email protected] for more information about how to get your property ready to sell!

Update Your Essex Bathroom With These DIY Bathroom Ideas

Is your bathroom an incredible sight? Bathrooms are usually very commonly used in each house, and you can always beautify a bathroom a little more. This article will look at a few DIY renovations that can spruce up your bathroom.

Embrace A New Color Palette

A great way to initiate your bathroom makeover is to determine the best colour palette for the room. Are you someone who prefers soft, muted colours such as powder blue, light gold or cream? Or would you like a louder shade, such as a merlot red or deep purple? Essentially, the aim is to incorporate a splash of colour in the room.

Use a fresh coat of paint on the walls of the bathroom and work outwards from there. If you do have windows, figure out how you wish for the trim to contrast with the walls. Moreover, with baseboards or moulding, contrasting effects can be generated, making them stand out more. 

Tile paint is also a fantastic way to transform your bathroom at a low cost. While painting walls is obvious, some are not familiar with the quick and easy tile paint available. Obviously, remember to take proper care of the smaller bathroom accessories, such as your shower curtain, hand towels, and other components. 

Take Your Fixtures To The Next Level

After determining the appropriate colours, you can focus on the fixtures around your bathroom. Make sure that the towel racks, hooks, faucets, shower head and toilet paper holder match in some manner. In case there isn’t enough cabinet space, you can purchase a mirror that comes with storage. In case there are items such as a scale or plunger in plain sight, look for creative ways you can use to hide them. 

Brighten Things Up With Better Lighting

Although your Essex bathroom doesn’t require exceptional lighting, you can opt for a brighter, more efficient light fixture. Choose a design that aligns well with the rest of the accents in your bathroom, and ensure that it is big enough to cast adequate light. You can spend some amount of time determining the apt colour temperature for your bathroom light bulbs. LED lighting offers some really bold whites. However, do not overdo it.

The process of renovating your bathroom can be fun and will enhance your home. If you want to purchase a new home or are all set to sell the one you own right now, get in touch with us – 01277 564001, [email protected].

Select an estate agent without forced bad behaviours

If we believe that financial remuneration drives a certain behaviour in business then it is no wonder that estate agency in some quarters has a questionable reputation.

Estate agents are not bad people. The vast majority of property industry employees want to do a good job. To help people to move home successfully and with the least fuss. Plus earn a reasonable living for themselves.

But the problem with the traditional estate agency model is the way its people are paid is not necessarily conducive with a great experience.

How An Essex Estate Agent Is Paid

Believe it or not, where a fee of say 1.5% of the property sale price is earned, an individual agent will earn just 5% of that. For example take a £300,000 property where the seller pays a fee of £4,500. The agent earns just £225 and each transaction might take six months to complete.

Motivating? Not really.

Transactional Not Consumer Focused

What such an inadequate remuneration approach often encourages apathy toward customers. It also tends to dictate that agents run from transaction to transaction. Trying to spin many plates in order to try to earn a proper crust.

Inevitably, those plates drop when there are too many to keep spinning at once. It’s incompatible with a positive outcome for the customer.

US Realtor Approach

But what if, as with the Keller Williams model, the agent that does the work and faithfully attends to the customer 24/7 were to be paid a bigger proportion of the commission? Instead of that money being channelled toward multiple branch office rents, rates, staff, car leases and so on?

Well, that’s the way that the Americans have been selling real estate for decades and which is why, unsurprisingly, the USA has a much better reputation for real estate service and efficiency.

The Keller Williams Difference

Keller Williams isn’t just an American business operating in the UK. It’s a global company, the largest estate agency in the world, that is now successful in 54 countries.

Whilst cultures and legal systems are of course different from market to market, one thing is for sure no matter which continent you live on. Paying people properly so that they enjoy their work, covet success, are aligned and respect their paying customers?

That’s human nature regardless and drives good commercial behaviour in any language.

6 Essential Cleaning Chores to Make Your Essex Home Shine

If you are dreading the thought of cleaning your Essex home, join the biggest club in the world. To get the ball rolling, we have outlined a shortlist of the six crucial spring-cleaning chores. (not just for the spring)

Store winter/summer clothes

Organise your clothes into seasons, pack your winter/summer clothes, and put them in the loft. We are talking about coats, sweaters, and other bulkier clothing, which you must assess, clean, and then pack away. Always store your clothes in a place that is clean, cool, dark, and dry.

Wash window treatments

With proper window cleaning, you will be able to remove the maximum amount of dirt and grime. Remember to wash the blinds, clean the curtains, and drop your drapes at the dry cleaners. We also recommend dusting the window casing, washing windowsills, and cleaning up any window hardware.

Clean carpets and upholstery

Another crucial step involves deep cleaning all the fabrics that absorb a lot of dust and germs, especially if coming out of the winter season. Use shampoo to clean your carpets as well as cloth-based furniture. To accelerate the process of drying up, open up the windows.

Wash woodwork, walls, baseboards, and cabinets.

Although the walls of your  home do not look like they require cleaning, they still do. There is enough dust being collected by the vertical surfaces of your home to require a seasonal bath. Make use of a sponge and dishwashing soap to clean the surface in sections, ensuring that a spot is not missed.

Clean light and ceiling fixtures

For cleaning of the light fixtures, remove the light bulb as well as fixture whenever possible. Use soap and water to rinse the glass fixtures. If the fixture is affixed to the ceiling, make use of a moist cloth to wipe it off before you dry the fixtures. Use a rag to wipe the light bulbs. For easy cleaning of any ceiling fans, use a vacuum with a soft nozzle attachment.

Check your coils

Your refrigerator will overheat due to caked-on dust. Therefore, you must take adequate time to clean the condenser coil, which is typically placed behind the toe grille. Make use of a long-handled bottle brush as well as a vacuum cleaner with an attachment hose. 

Play some good music and begin your cleaning today, and it will soon be over. You’ll quickly be able to relax in a clean home.

If you are getting ready to sell and require more cleaning tips, contact us on 01277 564022 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

New Floors Can Boost Your Chances of Selling Essex Houses

If you ever entered homes and saw stained carpet or flooring, you would not be keen to remove your shoes. Now, think of buyers encountering such floors. 

For buyers, the appropriate kind of flooring and its maintenance make a lot of difference. If your floor is not very clean, we are here to assist you with a few tips to fix the issue and make that sale. 

Does your home have hardwood floors?

You’re pretty lucky as buyers usually love hardwood floors. In fact, a few people will actually pay a little more for such floors. If a carpet covers your hardwood floors or is painted over, it is time to showcase the actual wood by making the required changes. Remove those carpets and start sanding. 

As of today, you have the option of renting large sanders as well as other tools. You can get to it yourself or recruit a professional. However, do note that hardwood floors in Essex homes usually exhibit a few scratches, dents, and uneven surfaces. If you do not possess adequate skills, it is always a good idea to recruit a professional.

Does your home have carpeting?

If there are no hardwood floors at your home, ensure that your carpeting is not stained, bright, or torn. If that is the case, lay a new carpet with high-quality carpet padding. Many buyers will touch the floor, so it is crucial to ensure that the carpet is actually very soft. 

Does your home have tiles?

While tiles look beautiful, they also showcase dust, grime, cracks, chips, and everything else. Ensure that the grout is clean and looks new. Make use of cleaners or a steam cleaner for eliminating stains.

As a worse case, we can digitally stage your home to showcase how your rooms could look with specific carpets, rugs and furniture. This can be a way to reduce costs for you now and still help buyers visualise how the property could look.

If you’re ready to sell your home, we can help. Call us on 01277 564022 or email at [email protected] for more information.

Errors that Affect First-Time Essex House Sellers

Is your home on the market right now? In case this is your first tryst with the process of selling, you may be confused and apprehensive. However, selling a home is usually seamless, and every day, thousands are sold. But problems may arise when you do not remain careful. Here are the four mistakes that first-time home sellers usually make, along with the best ways to avoid them.

Selling Without Representation by Experts

The process of selling a house involves significant financial and legal work. In such cases, it is essential to have adequate experience. Always choose an agent with a track record for quick and efficient sales to gain an edge, but who has the time to dedicate to your own sale. An agent that is too busy can be a busy fool.

Prioritising Emotions Over Logic

The next step involves ensuring that the selling process is not affected by your emotions. A lot of homeowners tend to be emotionally attached to their homes. This works well for as long as you intend on staying there. However, it is particularly problematic when you are selling the house. It’s vital to allow logic and reason to steer the entire process. Never let your emotions take over if you want to avoid mistakes.

Pricing Beyond The Realistic Range

First-time sellers often make the mistake of either asking too much or too little! Do remember that the local housing market primarily impacts the correct asking price for your home. Current listings and recent sales of homes similar to yours usually determine the generally expected price range among buyers. Hence, this must be observed. The apt selling price can be determined with the assistance of your estate agent. 

Selling At The Wrong Time

Lastly, another crucial mistake to avoid is listing your home for sale in the wrong environment. A variety of parameters make the local housing market extremely dynamic. These parameters include the seasons, other local home listings, interest rates and new home construction. If you are not in a hurry, we recommend allowing your agent to advise you when it’s an excellent time to list your home. 

Although it can be frightening to sell your first home, it can be a seamless process if you opt for an apt professional representation. You can learn more regarding the home selling process in  by getting in touch with us today at [email protected] or 01277 564022.