Are your neighbours offputting?

Now could be a good time to sell your home. The market is seeing something of a resurgence, with house prices in the three months to July rising 4.6% – the highest increase since before the downturn. But selling your home involves a lot more than just your own bricks and mortar.

Recent research from Ocean Finance and Mortgages, the mortgage and secured loan broker, who provide this article, looked into the main issues that might put prospective buyers off. The results? Get chatting to those neighbours and give the house a spruce-up seems to be the best advice. Here is a look at some of top reasons why prospective purchasers are turned off.

Bad neighbours

One of the most common threads throughout the responses was that people are most put off by factors that they cannot control. Noisy neighbours, in fact, are the single biggest threat to you being able to sell your house – over half of those that responded said that they would be put off by “neighbours from hell”.

Seeing past the cosmetic

The research also showed that homebuyers are pretty smart when looking at properties nowadays and can see past most of the cosmetic issues that might face them. Only 4% of people surveyed would find an overgrown garden off-putting, but a far higher 28% would be deterred if a neighbouring garden was in a mess. Control again appears to be the key factor — if it’s fixable it’s not a problem.

Other issues that might put people off putting in that offer include:

•    Homes that smell – smoke and pets especially
•    Poor state of repair
•    Mouldy rooms
•    Stone cladding
•    No double glazing or lack of central heating
•    Poorly-kept communal areas
•    Green or brown bathroom suites

So big jobs that cost money are the other major turn-offs for prospective purchasers. Major home improvements such as new double glazing or a central heating system or even a general low level of repair are all factors that are warning signs to people, as they are not only costly to sort out but also can lead to higher utility bills.

Of course, you aren’t likely to put in new heating or upgrade all your windows just before you move, but you can make sure that the rest of the property is looking top-notch if you want to get the very best price.