Cocoon: Making a house your home
Property expert Dominic Arnold on saving time, money and stress while moving home
“There’s been discussion in some of our recent articles about avoiding having to move home by maximising space in the property you live in: converting the loft, excavating the basement or having an eco-friendly office space installed in your garden. These measure will save you a fortune in moving costs and will ensure a few more years can be squeezed out of your house.
But at some point, we all have to face it: moving house is the eventual inevitability.
Selling a property is more straightforward than is often thought. You’ll need to do a few things to ensure maximum appeal.
“Cull 30 per cent of what you own before you move”
Number one priority: discard. There is stuff in your home you don’t need, haven’t used for years and will cost you money if you try to hold onto it. Rule of thumb: moving home should generate a cull of about 30 per cent of all the stuff you own. There will be things that are too small for the new pad; there will be stuff that won’t suit where you’re moving to; and there will be things that you haven’t picked up in years and, if they accompany you to the new place they will cost you money to move. If you can cull 30 per cent of what you own before the removal man quotes the price to shift your gear then it’ll save you 30 per cent of those costs.
Does getting rid of the excess generate cost? Well, maybe. But if you plan ahead you can probably avoid that too by arranging a house contents’ sale. Some people like nothing more than poking around other people’s homes and snapping up bargains. My wife and I had a sale in our driveway years ago and we were astounded at what got bought: kids toys, broken sports equipment, old cutlery, snapped up. Admittedly, there were some things that didn’t fetch what I’d hoped for; 50p for an old Beatles CD I’d previously downloaded to my hard drive was a bit upsetting but that and a hundred other CDs made a load of space available for bigger speakers so, mission accomplished.
Naturally, anything of real value will probably need to be sold separately. Auction houses are extremely approachable and helpful (Gorringes of Lewes, or Inmans of Hove). They do monthly auctions and welcome anyone with an interest in antiques. Remember to arrange a meeting to evaluate things in time so that the items you want to sell are removed from your home before even the first prospective buyers come over.
Potential purchasers are able to see themselves living in your house if the space is cleared for them to do so. While there is an argument that selling your own lifestyle as part of the home can make a house more attractive there is no way you’ll be offered the best price if it’s filled with so much clutter that the buyer can’t imagine any of their own furniture in the property. Present the illusion of no storage problems by removing everything that overhangs on a shelf, or causes drawers or cabinet doors to not close properly. This will ensure your home seems spacious and will do wonders in enabling viewers to consider themselves owning your home.
So… cull, discard, de-clutter and move on!”
Dominic Arnold
Dad to three, husband to one, MD of Cocoon Property Ltd, Brighton:
specialising in full-house refurbishments, eco-retrofit, loft conversions, kitchen extensions (side returns), interior design and condensation control.
01273 556800
www.cocoonproperty.co.uk
