Why do kitchens sell houses?

How your kitchen can help sell your house for the best price.


The party is in the kitchen!

When we have a party at our house my wife and I spend hours making our living room look nice and then most of the evening trying to get people off the worktops and out of the kitchen!

Although in most houses the hearth has gone, the kitchen still remains the centre of the home. It is for this reason that a good kitchen really helps to sell a house. It helps people see themselves living in the house. Thanks to Masterchef , Mary Berry and the realisation that most ready meals are three parts salt and one part sugar, we are all cooking a little more than we have done over the last few years. The kitchen is more than a microwave.

How a kitchen is fitted out and how it looks really make a difference to how people feel about the whole house.

Amazing Kitchen Tenterden

Gorgeous living space — Tenterden

Amazing Kitchen Hamstreet

Bringing the garden into the kitchen — Hamstreet

Amazing Kitchen Ashford

Open plan living — Ashford

It is not just the emotional response to a kitchen that makes a difference either, there are also very practical reasons that come into play.

Huddled around the camp stove

Most rooms in the house when you move in are actually pretty empty. Apart from, that is, of course the bathrooms, but that is a story for another day. You are able to come in, give them a lick of paint of your choice, change the curtains or blinds and put your own furniture in place. Before you know it they have your style stamped on them. The kitchen is much more difficult to do that. Ripping it out and starting again is expensive and very disruptive to living. The last thing you want to do is move in to your new home and huddle round a camp stove and kettle while the kitchen is changed.

Kitchens also have a habit of dating quite quickly. What looked swanky and sharp a few years ago can soon look a bit tired and grubby. Or worse out of fashion!

What to do when selling your house?

If you have a nice bright, clean and tidy kitchen, call me because we are ready to sell. If you haven’t, don’t despair.

There are some easy fixes. You can paint cupboard doors, the walls if you are feeling energetic, you can get busy with a good steam cleaner, in all the nooks and crannies. Clean the tiles and grout, buff up the splash back, clean the limescale of the sink and taps, buy some nice new tea towels, a couple of new bright bowls, some fruit, a new chopping board and bingo. A bright clean up to date looking kitchen that viewers will feel at home in and move on to looking at the rest of the house having given the kitchen a tick.

As I said the bathrooms are another story, as are the kids bedrooms and that’s before we get out into the garden. The good news is, I have literally sold thousands of houses and seen it all before. I can help you to get the best price for your house.

And if you are thinking of selling, may I recommend that you read this:

Six Simple Steps to Sell Your House including the things some other agents would prefer you not to know.

 


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