Guest Blog: Top Tips to sell your house more quickly15th October 2013

As the housing market continues to recover, many people who have been biding their time are starting to think about putting their property up for sale. Now could be a great time to get the For Sale sign up and start dreaming of your next move. But before you pick up the phone to those estate agents, read on to find out the top reasons why prospective purchasers might not be putting in an offer.

Data from a recent survey by thinkmoney has revealed the range of reasons that put people off when looking at homes. Thinkmoney provided this article to point out the overriding trend: that the biggest turn-off for most people are issues that they would have no control over. So neighbours from hell are high on that list. Over half of those surveyed said that bad neighbours might stop them buying a home that was perfect in every other way.

The research also showed that most people are good at looking past cosmetic issues: if your home needs a bit of decoration or the garden tidied up, it's not necessarily a problem. However, if the neighbouring gardens are a mess, then that could be a deal breaker, as it's something a new owner wouldn't be able to address.

Other issues riding high on the list that commonly put people off include:
 

• Badly decorated rooms
• Lack of central heating or double glazing
• Properties that smell (e.g. of pets or smoke)
• Questionable style choices, such as green or brown bathrooms or stone cladding
• Building or decorating projects that have only been partially completed
• A property in a bad state of repair

Some of the issues on this list could cost a lot of money. So if your home is without a central heating system or double glazing throughout, it could cause you problems when it comes to selling.

A buyer's age plays quite a part, according to this research – in general, the older they are, the less they're likely to be bothered by a lack of central heating or double glazing. The survey's younger respondents, on the other hand, were less concerned by the thought of having noisy neighbours.