Calculate how much you can earn - rent out your UK holiday home here

Discounted hotel rooms in the UK - click here for Laterooms special offers

Holiday homes to rent - across the UK & Ireland

All you need for a beautiful bathroom - at affordable prices


Tips on creating first impressions to buyers - Sarah Beeny, Tepilo

Why is the front of a house important when selling?

There are plenty of haphazard statistics about how many seconds it takes us to make up our minds about a person or place, but the inescapable truth is that purchasers decide whether they like a property or not very quickly indeed. So, without doubt, the first impressions a house makes are of utmost importance. I believe that the way a house looks from the front is one of the most valuable selling tools you have, and what you don't want is to put off buyers before they even reach the front door.

Fifty years ago, city society was very different from today; people took pride in washing their steps, polishing their brass letterboxes, even scrubbing their bit of pavement outside. Today, though, we tend only to lavish TLC on the inside of our homes, abandoning the space beyond the front door as if it didn't exist or had nothing to do with us. Even if it isn’t littered with bits of car engine, crisp packets or drink cans, it usually doesn't match up to the sparkling interiors within.

It need not take a great deal of money to make the front of your property look cared for. Just picking the litter up is a start. Follow that with a lick of paint to woodwork and bit of weeding and planting in the garden. If you have a communal front door, whether you're trying to sell or not, my theory is that it is most often easier to scrub the common parts yourself than to argue over whose turn it is.

Of course, you could give your house a complete façade facelift, changing the front door and windows, replacing dilapidated drainpipes and gutters, or even adding cladding. It's pricey, but it can often add substantial value to a plain or uninteresting property in a popular location, or make a house stand out where everything else looks identical. But whatever you do, remember the outside of a property remains a reflection of what is inside. If you're selling, make sure it looks smart. The front of your house is your statement to the world about how you live.

Sarah Beeny

Sarah Beeny is a Channel 4 television presenter on the popular Property Snakes and Ladders prime time show. As well as being a well established property mogul Sarah has now launched Tepilo.com, a site enabling you sell your property online without charge.


More pages

Page 1: Why is the front of a house important when selling?

UK Investment property from just £34,500 High-quality student rooms in an emerging market with 10% net yield guaranteed

UK property insurance from intasure - Click here for great deals and up to 40% risk related discount on UK & overseas insurance

Calculate how much you can earn - rent out your UK holiday home here

Discounted hotel rooms in the UK - click here for Laterooms special offers

All you need for a beautiful bathroom - at affordable prices

Holiday homes to rent - across the UK & Ireland

Advertise Your English Rental Property simple, effective and affordable marketing online!


Browse our articles written by leading industry experts:

Overseas Property Buying Guides

UK Property Guides

Gardens and Interiors

Cosmetic Surgery Fact Sheets

Looking Good Guides

Money

Business

Community

Travel