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Tips for selling your home in the winter

Tips for selling your home in the winter

The property market goes quiet in the winter months – but this doesn’t mean selling your home is impossible. There are still buyers everywhere, and real estate agents with fewer houses to shift on their books than normal. But selling your house in the winter does take a little extra work. Your home might not be looking its best in the dark, the cold, and the wet. After all, everything looks better in the summer, right? The garden is in full bloom. The sun pours through the windows. The house is full of natural light.

Sadly, without the rose-tinted glasses buyers may wear in summer, your house may need a little extra TLC. But it’s the little things that make the difference! Here are our top tips for selling your home in the winter!

Stay on top of winter maintenance

In the winter it’s easy to batten down the hatches and wait for summer. But seasonal maintenance is vital when you’re selling your house! Buyers are eagle-eyed and on the lookout for signs of problems. Things like drains full of dead leaves or blocked/leaky gutters and downpipes will be a red flag for cautious buyers. 

Make sure your roof is clear of leaves and moss, your windows are clean, and your driveway is well kept, despite the weather! It’s also important to keep floors spotless. Constantly tracking in mud or rain or sludge in the winter can contribute to scruffy carpets and smudged tiles. This can be off putting to buyers. They are looking for a well maintained house that they can run easily.

Seasonal maintenance can seem like a never ending process, but actually it’s all in the little things. Selling your home in winter doesn’t have to be a huge job!

Make a good entrance

The first time you see your future home in person is a special moment, right? Whilst your house will have to make a positive impression online first, the real first impression comes when your potential buyer knocks on the door for the first time. You know that magic moment where you fall in love with the house you’re viewing? That starts before a buyer even crosses the threshold.

If your houses’ paintwork isn’t in the best of shape, that’s not ideal. However, it’s a pricey fix for a house you’ll be selling. A valuation can help you understand whether or not it’s worth investing in a new paint job. But never fear, it really is the little things that matter most. If your front door looks a little on the shabby side, give it a lick of paint and a new doorknob, plus perhaps a new letterbox, cat flap, and stainless steel house number. These tiny touches don’t cost a lot, but they can instantly make your home feel more welcoming.

A great garden

Over the winter months, your garden takes the brunt of the bad weather. No matter how much love and care you put into your garden, the UK doesn’t have the climate year round to keep gardens looking bright and beautiful and full of colour. Evergreen trees will help, and so will planting winter-flowering plants like winter Jasmine and Hellebore.

Unless your potential buyers are avid gardeners, they’re likely to be put off by a garden that looks like it needs a lot of work to bring it back in line. If you can’t take bigger actions like planting saplings and winter bulbs, then do the basics! Tidy up any toys or tools, mow the lawn, cut back branches, and trim large bushes.  If you have a shed that looks neglected, give that a lick of paint too.

Bring the warmth

In the UK, during winter it becomes pretty acceptable to basically hibernate. When we wake up it’s dark and cold, when we get home from work it’s dark and cold… even those of us who enjoy the winter can be charmed by cosiness. Your potential buyers will want to be welcomed into the warmth of home. Selling your home in winter can be made a lot easier by creating an place people are excited to come home to.

If you’re lucky enough to have a log burning fireplace, having a merry crackling fire in the hearth is a must. If not, turn the heating on and increase your home’s cosy factor with pretty throw pillows and blankets, cushions, and rugs. Try not to go too overboard though, as too many cosy touches can make a room feel cluttered and cramped. Add one item at a time so you can control the atmosphere of the room.

If the viewing is taking place during daylight hours, opening blinds and curtains will help, but after dark these should be closed, or at least pulled mostly closed. Lights should be working and switched on. If you have alternatives to main ceiling lights like desk or standing lamps, these are a better option than overhead lighting if they can light the room enough to see clearly. 

If you’re organising viewings closer to Christmas, dress your house for the occasion! Whether you celebrate or not, it’s likely that many of your buyers will, and they’ll be able to feel the real “coming home for christmas” fantasy. If you don’t want to go all out or you celebrate a different holiday, candles or strings of fairy lights will do the trick too!

Staging is everything

First impressions are the most important thing when trying to sell your home. Whether you’re taking the photos for the online listing for your house or going through an estate agent, staging your house for the perfect photos is vital.

Well staged properties on average fetch 9% more, whilst spending around half the time on the market. Spending some cash on little things like fresh flowers, fresh fruit, candles, and scent diffusers can bring a lot of life to photos. 

Good staging also means cutting down on clutter. You know when you move into a new house and everything has its place, the surfaces are empty, and everything is clean and tidy? That’s what you’re going for. When you’ve lived in a house for a long time, it’s easy to go clutter-blind. It’s important to try and look at your home with fresh eyes and be brutal.

If you’ve got too much stuff for your space and you can’t bring yourself to part with it, have no fear! You don’t have to get rid of beloved family artifacts or the knick knacks that you can never quite find space for. Making use of a self storage facility can help you keep all your belongings and also ensure that your house is photo-ready. This self storage space can also be super handy when you actually make the move.

If you’re looking for great quality, easy, flexible, and affordable storage options, we’re here to help you find the right storage solution. Here at Currie Easy Self Storage, we’re a multi-site storage company offering storage space from as little as 16 square foot lockers all the way up to 500 square foot units. Whether long term or short term, you can store (almost) anything you want, until you’re ready to move into your new home. 


Contact us or get a no-obligation quote today and we’ll help you find the perfect self storage space.