The quickest way to sell/move?

[bluecatt]

I've been thinking about selling up and we've been doing a bit of research into areas we'd like to move to.

Anyway, on Saturday I found the house of my dreams and I want to buy it. My house isn't for sale yet, and needs a bit of clearing up/storage/painting first.

I want to make an offer on this house before someone else snaps it up.

What's the best way to do this? Do a massive clean up/clear out and get mine valued? Get it valued first? Not bother clearing it up like a show-house and just sell as it is?

Is it worth hiring a company to help me store and clear out? I'll do anything to get this house!
Cheers!

[wagw81]

I have recently sold and purchased in a similar situation and have sold a number of others previously. I think it can depend on what sort of property you are selling and what market you are aiming for (i.e. family, young couple first time etc). Each group has varying look out factors when buying a home. We simply had a good clear / clean up, removing any obvious rubbish, a simple lick of paint can make all the difference - You can rent a lock up garage for �50 per month easily in the paper for storage. However at the sametime we also found the house we wanted prior to selling. We got a local agent in, and asked his views on what should be done to get a sale, surprisingly not very much. We have a kitchen thats 2 years old and I think he saw this as a main feature of selling. Apart from this already being in place we painted our lounge and hallway and changed some light fittings and some curtains. However things like our carpets were old and did not match throughout, but it didn't seem to effect the sale. I think in summary stick to basics like clean, functional, clear of rubbish, garden lawn kept cut. If there is anything that you are changing and want to go to market, just let the agent know, so he can brief potential viewings in advance. Also I found information on the home buyers survey useful, this gives a good indication of what a survey will highlight, once you have an offer. Even things like bare wall plugs can be put in a home buyers survey report - but are easily fixed beforehand. If you have a 4 or more bedroom property you also need to think about the new HIP process now which has it's own hassles with selling. Another plus point which was in our favour, was that we sold with the agent we were buying from - so obviously it was in his interest to handle both sales and keep us happy.

[Rosie1974]

This is going to sound harsh - and I speak from personal experience.
It's not fair to the sellers of your "dream home" to put in an offer when yours isn't even on the market. Put yourself in their position. It's not good to get emotionally involved with a house. There will always be a property out there which will suit you.
There is nothing stopping you getting yours on the market and putting in an offer but be prepared for the sellers to say no, or accept your offer subject to nobody else coming along with an offer who is proceedable.
What if your place takes 6 months to sell? Its not fair to keep the seller hanging on and those further along the chain. Anyway good luck whatever you choose to do!!!!!