Turn your humble home into a hot property!
BRACE yourself, Kirstie Allsopp wants you to put s o me wor k in. ‘ Dus t ! What the hell is wrong with everybody? Just get a duster and dust. Do I have to do classes? Don’t tell me your life is too busy, this is about selling your house, you’re talking about huge amounts of money.’
There’s nobody better to ask for advice if you want to sell your home – now or in the future – and would like to get the best possible price. Allsopp and Phil Spencer, her co-host on Location, Location, Location – the most popular of all television property shows – have been helping people move since 2000. But, as viewers will know, the 46-year-old expert is friendly but brisk and she doesn’t pull punches.
Her tips for what to do before you sell your home – featured exclusively on these pages – are simple yet effective: like cleaning up before people come round to view the property, decluttering, depersonalising and taking a long hard look at what really needs doing. Phil also has key advice on bigger projects that could add thousands to your property’s value.
Kirstie is keen not to over-promise on what’s realistic when selling a house. She says: ‘It’s a percentage game. You have to ask yourself honestly, “Did you overpay in the first place? Is the property still in the good condition it was in when you bought it?”’ She also says: ‘You need to know the state of the market. If the Queen put in bifold doors on the back kitchen of Buckingham Palace, would it increase in value by ten per cent? No. But if you take the average family house with a narrow oldstyle kitchen, sitting room and dining room, classic semi-detached style, and you knock down a wall and put in bi-fold doors and a family kitchen then, yes, it will add ten per cent. I’ve no fear in saying that.’
Be careful to consider the state of the whole house though, if your budget is limited. ‘If something big needs fixing, such as the roof needs replacing, then do it. But let’s say Granny dies and her whole house is just very dated. There’s no point only doing the kitchen. People will say: “Oh yes, a new kitchen but I’m going to rip it out because I’m doing the whole house anyway.” It’ll also show up just how much the other rooms need work. It’s about balance.’
Allsopp may be the daughter of a baronet and live in upmarket Notting Hill – with her partner, property developer Ben Anderson and their two boys Bay and Oscar, aged ten and eight – but she is passionate about the struggle moving home can be, having spent more than two decades speaking to families across Britain, rich and poor, about their own difficulties in doing so. So what else will ensure your home sells – especially as the market slows?
First impressions count, says Kirstie: ‘Sometimes it’s difficult to see what needs doing when you live in a place, so ask a friend. Your agent won’t tell you, because they’re afraid they’ll offend you and you’ll fire them. Chipped tiles, scruffy unfinished DIY jobs, damp and mould. It’s not always necessary to get someone in – there is a lot you can do yourself.
‘ But be practical – big jobs, such as rewiring the house, will also mean you need to re-plaster and repaint. You may well not need to get into that.’
It can also pay off to look at your lease, if you have a leasehold property. ‘I’m always amazed that people don’t extend their lease before they try to sell. A short lease is very off-putting to a buyer,’ she says.
As for those who want to buy a home right now, her best advice will surprise you: ‘ Stop using the b**** y internet! Houses are homes, they are physical entities. You can’t go and look at every place, I know that, but people get into this thing of rejecting properties that would really work for them, if they only went and had a look. Pictures are so misleading.’ And because doing up your home, or trying to sell it, gets too stressy, she suggests you take up knitting, or making pottery – anything crafty. Kirstie Allsopp is also a queen of crafts and is hosting three versions of her popular live show The Handmade Fair this summer.
They are at Bowood House in Wiltshire – a three-day even that finishes today – and on the Green at Hampton Court Palace in September. But don’t expect to see her there all the time, though. Kirstie only attends for two days out of the three at Hampton Court and was at Bowood only on Friday. ‘I have a sacred promise to the children,’ she says. ‘If I don’t stick to the promise to keep the weekends free, it all starts to unravel. Monday to Friday I can really be ships-in-the-night with Ben and the children during the school term but they have to know that at the weekends I am there for them.’
She’s still found time to speak to Life, though – so read on to find out Kirstie and Phil’s essential advice tips for improving the value of your home, and making sure it sells. And over the page, Kirstie casts her knowledgable eye over the kind of homes on sale in Britain today...
IF YOU’RE BUYING, DON’T JUST RELY ON THE B****Y INTERNET – GO OUT AND LOOK