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Redstaircase >
Tools & Guides > How To Guides
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What is the 'text RED' service all about?
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This is our specialised text messaging information service, to help ensure that your property has the very best chance of selling fast. Text ‘RED’ targets home buyers either walking or driving past your For Sale Board and helps them instantly access your property details.
On your personalised For Sale board, you will have a unique property identification number e.g. 1002. Any interested home buyers can send a text and receive an instant response containing your property’s key details such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garden/ garage and the asking price. Your For Sale board has a short code text number to dial which is 60300 The potential buyer will need to text the property identification number to 60300. The property identification number will look something like this "RED 1002". The text received back is an abbreviated version of your property details. For example -
8 beds,3 bathrms,2 receptions,garage,balcony,conservatory,double glazing, fireplace,garden,offstreet parking,paddock,sw-ool,waterfrnt,furnished, £1879000,ref. 1002,redstaircase.co.uk Each text costs the receiver 75p and it is the person who sends the information request that is billed. The seller is NOT charged for people requesting their property details.
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My mobile is out of order, lost or stolen and I’m worried about missing an enquiry?
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Please let us know as soon as your property is under offer or sold and we will ensure that we change your preferred form of communication to focus on e-mail. We will also arrange to telephone your landline, where applicable, to inform you personally of any viewing requests.
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If my property is sold and I’ve deleted my property portfolio will I still receive texts?
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Congratulations on the Sale! Once you have informed us that your property is sold, we will ensure that you receive no further contact from us regarding your house. Please have a look at our tools/guides and extra services pages to see if we can help you with the remainder of your sale process.
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Tips on viewing a house or flat
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- Before arranging the property viewing, check out the local area. If you like the property, have a meal or a drink in the vicinity. Ask the locals a few questions to get a feel of the area.
- The area may be very different at various times of the day. Rush hour, weekends, weekdays. Visit the area at all of these times.
- Never view the property on your own. Often the seller will ask you to confirm a password to make sure you are the genuine viewer.
- Be friendly. The seller will be more keen to sell their home it to someone they get on with.
- When inside, do not be afraid to examine everything, from cupboard doors, under the sink.
- Look up at the ceilings and behind doors and check for damp patches and cracks.
- Ask to see the loft - you may need to take a torch in case there is no lighting.
- Run the taps in the bathrooms. This will give you an indication of the water pressure and weather the heating works
- Ask if any work has been carried out on the property. Can they show receipts and guarantees.
- Request to see fuel bills and council tax bill. They should have these to hand.
- View the outside of the house, checking for damp patches, loose tiles and crumbling chimney stacks.
- Neighbours. You do not want to be stuck with the neighbours from hell. Talk to them.
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Check list – when viewing a property
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1. How much is the council tax for the area? 2. Is the property Leasehold or Freehold? If Leasehold how much is the ground rent? 3. Is there allocated parking? If not how easy is it to park and how much do parking permits cost. 4. Is there a private or shared garden? 5. Is there central heating? 6. What are the neighbours like? 7. What are the local schools like? 8. Are the transport links good? How far away? 9. How far is the nearest station? 10. Is the area noisy? 11. Where are the nearest shops? 12. Is the property tied up in a chain? 13. How quickly would the owners like to move – have they found another property they like?
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How to prepare your home for viewings
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How would you wish to view a house? First impressions count. The entrance to your property should be well presented to give an indication of the quality inside. Any bins should be discretely out of sight and the front garden should be well kept. Ensure the house is clean and tidy throughout. Pay particular attention to the bathrooms, kitchen and windows.
It is important that potential buyers are able to imagine themselves living in your property. Help them do this by keeping surfaces free from personal items and collectables. If redecorating the house prior to selling, keep it simple and use neutral, clean colours. On the day of your viewing, open windows and doors and pull all curtains. Let in fresh air and natural day light.
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How to best describe your property
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The description of your property should be accurate and honest. The purpose is to attract home buyers to view your property. It is a waste of your time and effort to entice people into a viewing if details that are critical to them are neglected or falsely included.
Try to limit the use of flamboyant words unless it is totally warranted – what is ‘spectacular’ or ‘magnificent’ to you, may not be so to others. Where possible, include details of measurements (metric and imperial) to give an understanding of size. This also includes ceiling height or garden length/direction where these are of particular merit. For buyers not local to the area it is helpful to provide information on local transport facilities, shops, restaurants and schools.
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How to take the best pictures
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We strongly recommend you include photos of your property on our website. The more the better! The internet is a visual medium and people searching online will be drawn to properties with clear, high quality photos over those without. Take a selection of photos, showing the best features of your property. Buyers are particularly interested to see: - Presentation of the exterior
- Size and layout of the kitchen
- Entertaining space
- Garden / balcony size and layout
Ensure you have tidied each room before photographing, and try to take in as much as possible in the picture.
Avoid using ‘zoom’ as this will reduce the quality of the image and will cut out other areas of interest.
Remember to ‘declutter’, clean and dust your rooms before taking photographs.
Taking pictures on a bright sunny day does wonders for showing how light and airy a space can be.
Try to make sure there are no reflections of yourself taking the pictures in any mirror or window reflections.
Bookshelves can look very messy, try to arrange your books so that they are all upright, stacked in similar sizes, level and tidy.
Try to keep personal photographs to a minimum.
A fresh bunch of flowers can do wonders for softening a table or mantelpiece and brightening a room.
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Are mobile-phone pictures good enough?
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Yes. “Photo message” mobile phone quality images are sufficient to give an indication of the interior of your property, provided they are taken in good light and with a steady hand. Potential buyers would far rather see a less than perfect photo of your property than none at all. HOWEVER – the better quality the picture, the more likely you are to secure viewings.
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Moving Guide - check list
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One / Two Months to go - Notify freeholder / landlord where applicable
- Notify service providers such as telephone, gas and electricity.
- Organise removal company to transport your furniture and belongings (click for link to removal affiliates)
- Book time off work
Two Weeks to go
- Arrange transit insurance and update home contents & building insurance for
new property - Inform relevant parties of change of address (friends, family, TV license, employer, schools, DVLA, etc.)
- Organise postal redirection – download a Royal Mail redirection form easily found on their website
- Notify bank of any changes to direct debits or standing orders
- De-register from your doctor, dentist and optician if you're moving out of the area
- Start packing non essentials such as books, seasonal clothing, and all less frequently used items into clearly labelled boxes
One Week to go
- Take meter readings and pay final bills
- Cancel any services such as newspaper/milk deliveries
- Confirm details for exchange of keys
- Finalise arrangements with your removal company. Confirm arrival times and make sure your removers have directions to your new address.
- Check there are no restrictions to getting a large removal truck directly to the property
- Check that all over sized furniture will gain access to your new property easily, if not, start making arrangements with the movers
- Start cleaning
The Day of the move…
- All packing should now be complete, including one box of essentials ready to hand (kettle, cups and tea!)
- Check that nothing is being taken that shouldn't be and you are happy that the packing inventory is accurate. The packing inventory is a list that a remover may ask you to sign once upon departure and once when your things are being delivered.
- If you can, make sure someone (it could be you) is going to be at the collection and delivery address to oversee what is being moved. This can help avoid any major catastrophes. Give them the protective sheets or blankets and get them to lay them out before the removal van arrives. They can make sure that the movers have the floor plan and colour guide that will ensure everything gets placed where it will be easiest for you to deal with.
- Final clean
- Lock doors and windows
- Check all belongings have been cleared from the property.
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Solicitors
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A personal recommendation is usually the best way to find a solicitor. Costs may vary from as little as £400 to upwards of £1,000. Search around and get several quotes before you make your final decision. The quote must be a written rather than a verbal estimate as costs may escalate. Some of the roles undertaken by a solicitor will include:
1) Confirm property ownership – This involves searches of deeds and considerations of planned developments that may affect the property’s ownership. 2) Draw up Contract of Sale – First a preliminary enquiry will be sent to the vendor with a standard set of questions. Any specific issues must be mentioned in the contract. It will help your solicitor if you are able to run through a checklist of fixtures and fittings with the purchaser to be clear about what may remain in the property. Your solicitor may have to return to the vendor’s solicitor a number of times to refine and clarify details. You should be prepared for this process to take up to 10 weeks. 3) Exchange of contracts - This is the point at which both parties become legally bound to the sale and purchase of the property. The solicitor overseas the signing of the contracts. As part of this process, a date for completion will be defined. This is the date at which you will have sold your property. You may be asked for a small deposit to be placed in an independent bank account managed by the vendors solicitor.
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How to be as secure as possible during the viewing
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Before you make arrangements to show a buyer your property, make sure you take personal details such as a name, address, place of work, phone numbers and email. It is good practice to phone the buyer back to ensure the phone number you have been given is correct.
Do not feel pressurised into showing your property at short notice if you do not feel comfortable.
If concerned, try to have a friend or partner with you for the viewing, and make the buyer aware that you will not be alone. Keep valuables out of sight where possible and be wary of the use of digital photography if anything strikes you as unusual.
On some occasions, the seller has given the potential buyer a password to quote on arrival at the viewing.
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Open Day - viewing ideas
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Another way of managing viewings and your time more efficiently is having an ‘open’ house on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. It’ll be easier for you to have a friend or partner there to help you with the viewings and you can time all your viewing requests you've received during the week to come when you want them to. You can also get all your property details printed out and ready to be handed out beforehand (rates, electricity & gas spend, tenure, etc.). Plus you'll have more time to get the property looking tidy, freshened up and ready to be seen by all your viewers in one block time. Most of the time it's more convenient for both you and the potential buyers as most of us work during the week. You can have the ‘Open’ house for as long or as short as you wish - for e.g. 1pm - 5pm on a Saturday. This will depend on how many viewing requests you have in a week. An ‘Open’ house also gives you a more competitive edge as the buyers are likely to bump into each other. They will see that other home buyers are interested in your property which may help encourage an early and reasonable offer to purchase.
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Things buyers are most likely to ask about your property
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1. How much is the council tax for the area? 2. Is the property Leasehold or Freehold? If Leasehold how much is the ground rent? 3. Is there allocated parking? If not how easy is it to park and how much do parking permits cost. 4. Is there a private or shared garden? 5. Is there central heating? 6. What are the neighbours like? 7. What are the local schools like? 8. Are the transport links good? How far away? 9. How far is the nearest station? 10. Is the area noisy? 11. Where are the nearest shops? 12. Is the property tied up in a chain? 13. How quickly would the owners like to move – have they found another property they like?
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