Regular monthly Blackmore Vale property commentary column in the Blackmore Vale from Susie and Brad the North Dorset Team at Meyers

How to present your home

Ensuring that your property is well presented is the key to achieving the maximum amount of interest and therefore the best possible price. We have summarised what we believe are the quickest and most cost-effective ways of adding value to your home:

1. Declutter

Decluttering will help buyers envisage what the property could look like if they were living there. Consider getting rid of or putting into storage unnecessary bulky furniture that makes the room look smaller. Also remember that serious buyers may well want to take a peek inside your cupboards and storage spaces so give them a tidy and consider only having them 75% full rather than bursting at the seams, if it doesn’t look like there is enough storage for you, they will worry there isn’t enough for them!

• Go neutral

Bold colours are very personal. Consider giving the walls a fresh lick of paint in a neutral colour. This creates a blank canvas and will enable viewers to more easily envisage it as their home. This will also make your home feel much lighter and bigger. “Timeless” from Dulux is a great one.

• Clean, tidy and fix

Remember that each time a buyer sees something that needs fixing they could mentally reduce the maximum offer they would make on your house. Don’t let a small fix be the reason you don’t achieve your full asking price. Consider fixing holes in walls, broken doorknobs, replacing old grout and removing any stains on the carpets.

We also advise cleaning thoroughly throughout to ensure your property looks well cared for.

• Light and airy

Wall mirrors can help a room look bigger and lighter. Clean your windows inside and out, replace any broken light bulbs and consider putting a lamp in any dark corners. Add a few green house plants to help create an airy fresh look. A light and airy room feels bigger and therefore makes your property more attractive to buyers.

• Odours

Bad smells are the single biggest turn off for prospective buyers. Fix the source of the smell, clear drains, wash bins, open windows, watch out for that “wet dog” smell and air the kitchen from cooking smells.

You may also want to consider spritzing the house prior to a viewing with a fresh smelling room spray.

• First impression count

Buyers will be judging your home before they even walk through the door. If you look at your property from the road, does it look well maintained and tidy? Consider giving the front door a deep clean or a fresh lick of paint and buying a bright outdoor plant or hanging basket.

If you would like a copy of our “Seller’s Guide” which gives these tips in full detail, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team!

Brad Hansford – Shaftesbury branch on 07814 962 161

Susie Palin – Blandford Forum branch on 07570 357 553

West Country Estate Agent Aims to Capitalise on Appetite for South West Living

Lodestone Property, an estate agency operating across Somerset and Dorset, this week has launched a a new consumer website, Lodestone Life, (lodestonelife.co.uk). This is ground-breaking territory for an independent agency, to establish and run a full-scale digital publishing operation.  

The new site is a lifestyle guide to the West Country, informing and entertaining the growing numbers who are anxious to make their home in the South West while supporting the company’s ever-inventive sales and marketing strategy.

“We are witnessing an exodus from city living,” says Lodestone co-founder, Sue Macey. “It’s driven by the pandemic and supported by new trends in homeworking. As a result, there’s an incredible rush on property in the South West. And with that comes a demand for information about moving here and settling here.”

Last year, before the pandemic hit, Lodestone produced, printed and distributed its first ever lifestyle magazine, also called Lodestone Life. But the changes brought by COVID and the surge in demand from outside the region convinced the company that its content marketing efforts should be digital as well as print.

“Visitors to our property website have tripled in the last year,” says Sue. “We currently see more than 16,000 unique visitors each month and many more repeats, so Lodestone Life has been created to cater for that demand, providing a helpful lifestyle companion to a house move.”

The new digital publication is a source of relocation inspiration and practical advice. Towns and villages are investigated. Local services are highlighted. Businesses are profiled. It’s a place where you might learn about local schools, sports facilities, places to eat and drink, garden designers, architects or artists. The major feature interviews are written by Cath Rapley, a former commissioning editor at The Guardian and Observer.

An Innovative Agency with Marketing Expertise

Lodestone is a multiple award-winning agency which launched in 2016 and runs an innovative business model. From offices in Bruton, Wells and Shaftesbury it operates a high ratio of staff to properties, maximising service standards. It doesn’t utilise the traditional estate agent shopfronts but, rather, invests in marketing, especially digitally. Its social media channels are the most followed and interacted with of all Somerset and Dorset real estate businesses.  

Beyond digital, Lodestone markets to its customers at a local level, running its hugely popular pop-up events across various venues where buyers and vendors can meet with Lodestone’s expert teams as well as, for example, with mortgage advisers, designers, architects and builders. But it is the wider reach of Lodestone’s innovative online efforts, now including Lodestone Life, which see it so well placed as the considerable migration to the South West continues.  

“Lifestyle marketing is the ideal way to engage with the emotions of a house move, to offer up all the stories about a place, as well as the practical detail. The volume of information required to make what is typically the biggest purchase decision of a lifetime is considerable and online we can deliver that,” says Sue.

“But this type of marketing is a serious commitment,” she cautions. “With digital content you have to keep showing up, to keep producing more. Happily, Somerset and Dorset are not short on interesting people and places. There’s a lot for us to work with!

“We know that our fast-growing business is in no small part due to the excellent service standards and effective marketing which we work so very hard on. However, there is no doubt that we are benefitting from being in the right place at the right time. Demand for the lifestyle available in Somerset and Dorset is really taking hold.”