Remember getting your viewer through the front door is the most important thing, your home maybe a palace on the inside but if poorly maintained on the outside could easily lose you a potential sale.

The first impression a potential buyer will have on viewing your home will obviously be from the outside. If you have a front lawn keeping this cut, flower beds and bushes trimmed and in a general tidy condition will help to make a good first impression.

Repair any flaking paint on any external woodwork and in general make sure that the front of the house looks well maintained. An addition of a hanging basket outside the front door can look appealing.

Make sure that your entrance hall is free from clutter, shoes and bulky coats, as this is an area that gets lots of traffic, a fresh coat of paint will make it feel clean, fresh and bright.

Shampoo carpets where necessary.

Some of your potential buyers may not be animal lovers and may not want to be greeted by an excited dog, or its odours. It is therefore always advisable on an initial viewing to keep the pet out of the house in the garden or even better with a neighbour or friend.

Make sure that a viewer can recognise immediately the room they are viewing, if you are showing them a room that you maybe using as an office but are selling as a bedroom, it needs to appear as a functional bedroom. Remember, a high percentage of buyers move home to increase bedroom space.

Get rid of all clutter. An untidy home can appear smaller.

Pay particular attention to the Kitchen and bathroom, clearing all work surfaces of cleaning products and appliances. If your kitchen or bathrooms do not look or smell clean your viewers will soon get the impression that the rest of the house isn’t clean either. In your bathroom display a set of clean fresh towels, scented candles, pot pourri or even a potted plant.

Keeping your decoration to neutral colours appears to create space and is always more appealing than busy, bold colours. Create maximum natural light by day and simple mood lighting of an evening. You want your potential buyers to feel that your home could be their new home.

When showing your property, an important point to always remember especially when showing a small room is to allow your viewers to enter first. You don’t want to overcrowd the room.

If you have a room that you feel is a major feature of your home “you have to decide” – do you show this room to make a *first impression* or do you save it to make a *lasting impression*.