Fix up the outside of your property if you want to sell it
Broken down vehicles, rubbish and tarmac driveways go down badly with buyers
Following on from propertyfinder.com research revealing that neighbours can actually devalue your property, the latest survey shows that sellers can be put off by the exterior of the property they are viewing.
Old furniture or broken down vehicles left in front of the house, was deemed the least attractive by 75% of prospective buyers, closely followed by caravans left outside which was disliked by 72% of those surveyed.
Wealthier households (income over £60k) are almost twice as likely to be put off by sporting flags and excessive festive decorations as households with incomes under £30k. Perhaps unsurprisingly, women dislike sporting flags more with some men commenting that flags are fine if in support of their own team! Wealthier households are also much more likely to be put off by pebbledash with around half of wealthier households ranking it ‘terrible’ compared to less than a third of lower income households. Interestingly, wealthier households were less put off by peeling paintwork that those with lower incomes and a pub in the street would put off 25% of respondents in the South compared with only 17% in the North. Other turn-off factors include tarmac drives, name plaques and large dogs barking in the driveway!
Warren Bright, Chief Executive Officer of propertyfinder.com said,
When people sell their homes, first impressions count and sellers need to consider what they would think if they were in the buyer’s shoes. This applies to the exterior as well as the interior of the property. It goes without saying that rubbish and rusting cars will put buyers off but it is amazing how many sellers leave these lying around. There may not be much you can do about pebbledash, but you should absolutely make sure you do the little things like mow the lawn, weed the garden and toss the sports flags and garden gnomes.
