We have all heard that a shop window can promote your products or service but only if its well dressed. A shop window that lacks attraction, leaves the passer by unimpressed and uninspired to venture inside.
The same rule applies to your home, when a prospective buyer first sees your property, either looking at it in reality or on a photo, one of the first things they see is your windows!
Windows should always be clean and in a good state or repair where possible, nobody wants to see a house with dirty windows for fear of what else maybe lurking once they enter!
So here is my tips for the window do's and don'ts when selling your home.
Clean all windows till they gleam including their frames
Replace the windows if feasible to do so and they need it ( a buyer will see replacing windows as costly and may reduce their offer more than necessary) Remember if frames are good but you have 'foggy' panes then you can replace just the panes or even just the seals, which is very cost effective!
Ensure handles are tight and not likely to fall down just as the viewer arrives
Do not have too much clutter on your window shelves or sills
Window dressings:- the value increasers and those that can even decrease your homes worth.
Curtains, nothing wrong with a nice pair of curtains, however when selling a home, make sure they hang nicely, that they are free from a multitude of creases and that they are equally balanced on either side.
(Top tip, you can use toilet roll tubes to space out eyelet curtains equally, also when you open the curtains they should ideally sit about 10cm - 20cm away from the outer edge of your internal window frame and over lap the window frame ever so slightly, so you are unable to see the edge of your window frame from inside, always go outside to see how they look, some curtain backings can be drab and look awful from the outside so be mindful of this and choose wisely)
Venetian blinds, these are fast becoming a popular choice, they are available in many colours and materials and can really smarten up a window outside and in. (They are also great at disguising the backs of curtains too!) Remember to try and tone in both the outside frame and the internal décor. Grey or white window frames look great with white blinds, but wood tones with grey can make the house look cold, depressing and uninviting depending on the rest of your home whether its brick or render etc..)
Vertical blinds, again a very popular choice and available in a variety of colour and textures, they can be ideal for patios but not always the best for small windows. Why? Because they are traditionally used in offices and as such can give a false perspective of the home. I see this window choice in many terrace homes, but they very rarely do the home justice and from the outside can look rather bland.
Roller & Roman blinds, over the past 5-10 years there has been an increase in desire for this type of window dressing, they can provide privacy, sun screening and a touch of luxury, they often look good from the outside IF, they are set to a certain height and this is repeated in other windows to that elevation of the house.
For example if the upstairs to the front elevation you have a blind that has been wound up to the top but downstairs to the same elevation you have one that is mid way down, it can appear messy and disorganised.
Many people suffer from OCD and when they look at a home and see this they struggle to see past it, sounds mad but its true! The image shows venetian blinds at different positions immediately giving an unsettled impression to the home.
Voiles & Net curtains, many home owners like the privacy of the traditional net curtain or voile, they allow light but give a screening against the outside world. There are many different styles from plain to patterned, mid way or arched and you can obtain them in an array of colours. However! These are the most likely of all the window dressings to put a buyer off, they often associate them with a house needing work (old style blinds must mean old style house, even though this might not be the case). These type of blinds from the outside can look messy and lead the buyer to feel the home maybe cluttered, crazy right? But again true.
So, there we have it, there are of course many other factors that affect a potential purchasers decision to view your property or not. Its external aesthetics are one of the most likely to make or break that decision, tidy gardens, clean driveways, painted doors to the house and garage etc.. BUT, do not underestimate the power of the window, the more attractive to the masses it is the more viewing's will be booked and the more offers you will receive.
-THE PROPERTY FIXER-
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