When your house doesn’t sell overnight, it’s easy to hang the blame on your estate agent. But there are loads of things you could be doing to give it a boost. Given our usual enthusiasm for on-demand, tech-driven startups, we shared a few tips with Tepilo’s Sarah Beeny to see if we could come up with the ultimate how-to guide.

See also…

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• 8 signs you need to declutter (and how to take immediate action)

Depersonalise, declutter and desert

Most guides will suggest that you get rid of all traces of your own personality. We think that’s a bit extreme, and so does Sarah. Her tactic is a subtler trick of the eye. ‘Get rid of items that make the property appear not to have enough storage space,’ she says, ‘but leave interesting books and well-placed ornaments around, as these add heart to a home.’

Here at The Box Room, of course, decluttering is something we know plenty about, and in times of temporary depersonalisation (apologies if that sounds too medical!), on-demand self-storage companies like Boxman come into their own. It’s all about button clickery – a click to order your boxes, a click to tag them, and a click to get them back again. Everything is delivered to and picked up from your doorstep, so there’s no need to schlep off to a dusty self-storage warehouse in the middle of nowhere every time you want something hidden away or you need your personality restored (again… we mean no harm!)

Once everything is out of the way, get out of the way yourself. You’re selling your house, not a house plus you, and having the current owner hovering in the background isn’t going to make the prospective buyer feel comfortable. So go on… scram!

Clean up

This may seem obvious, but cleanliness is next to bankableness (that is a saying… you’ll just have to trust us). One person’s idea of spick and span is another’s grim and grimy. ‘Dirty kitchens and bathrooms are really yucky, even when it’s your own mess,’ says Sarah, ‘so it’s particularly horrid for someone else. Don’t make them feel like they need to don a hazard suit to wash their hands. If it looks like you don’t love your home, how is anyone else going to fall in love with it?’

If you’re not sure you’ve got it in you to get the job done to other people’s standards, then – lo and behold! – there’s an on-demand service just a click away. We’re big fans of Hassle, the cleaning people, and we wholeheartedly recommend tapping away on their website for a few minutes. You can have a professional winging their way to you in a jiffy, and it’s an ethical service as the cleaners themselves get your cash rather than some big corporate.

Squirrel away the squirrel

Pets and children – a great idea to some people, but an utter turnoff to others. Not that the presence of a child in the house is likely to wobble the deal, but an over-eager dog might. Rather than let your drool machine slobber all over your potential buyer, have them taken out for the afternoon – preferably just before your Hassle cleaner comes, so that you can have all hairy traces and smudges wiped away.

What’s that you say? An on-demand service for dog walking? It’s not exactly the same, but as dog owners ourselves, we’re big fans of Borrow My Doggy – a startup that matches dog owners with dog lovers and guarantees extra dollops of fun and love throughout the year for your four-legged friends. It also provides a bit of company for those that maybe can’t afford pets (or whose landlords are too mean to let them have one) – so you’ll be doing your bit for the general happiness of mankind. Good for you!

Colour me clever

A big myth when it comes to selling your house is that strong colours may overwhelm. Not so, says Sarah. It’s all about tying your colours together. ‘It’s absolutely fine to have colourful interiors,’ she explains, ‘but the way to make it work is to look at the colour’s relationship with other colours in the room, ie the ceiling, carpet, woodwork and furniture.’ That’s not to say that everything should be uniform, of course; rather, that the amazing technicolor dream house look isn’t for everyone.

The big paint companies have their own apps to help you work out the best shades for your room, and you might find that they inspire a weekend of impromptu redecorating. Sometimes you’ve got to invest to make a profit, right? Selling your house is no different.

As an example, hold up your camera to any room, and the Dulux Visualizer app gives you an impression of what it’d look like in any one of the hues in their range. Needless to say, the next step is a click-to-buy, and the necessary paint is all yours.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

As far as art and photography go, the rules are much the same as those for depersonalising. As Sarah says, ‘Massively oversized photos of you and your kids all dressed in white lolling around on a white studio rug might warm the cockles of your heart but it doesn’t help buyers to imagine it as their home.’ However, doing away with everything could mean the room ends up looking a bit barren.

Go for colour matches as a principle guide, and put anything else in storage for the period you expect to be going to market. Again, Boxman can pick up or return anything you need storing as and when you need the service. What would we do without all of these on-demand wonders?

Makeover and make right

It’s unlikely you’ll be selling your house in the state you bought it in, and even if you’ve actually improved on its original state, there are bound to be bits and pieces that need tweaking and fixing. The key is in being dispassionate. As Sarah says: ‘Stand at the front of your house and try to take a look at what you’re seeing. Paint your front door, replace broken paving slabs, put your rubbish bins out of sight and add greenery wherever possible.’

If you need help, then there are on-demand apps out there that can fix you up. We’ve mentioned Bizzby before, and it certainly seems as though they rule the roost in this department, offering handypeople within 30 minutes of you sending out the SOS.

Choose the right agent

Needless to say, the right agent will help the sale go all the way, but in this day and age there’s something to be said for taking control of the process yourself. A lot of people like the idea of transparency and cutting out the ineffectual middle man, and Sarah’s Tepilo service does precisely that, saving you quite a considerable amount of money in the process.

With fees starting from £495 for the basic package, Tepilo gives you the tools (and, importantly, the support) to market your home for yourself. On top of account management, they offer all the usual advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla, as well as comprehensive help with the legal aspects of the process. Add-ons such as professionally drawn up floor plans and conveyancing can be included at added cost. It’s everything that the on-demand world stands for – efficient, money saving and available to you at the click of a button.

Some things you’ll just have to do yourself…

The on-demand industry is relatively new, so there are still services that need taking on. If anyone fancies investing in an on-demand window cleaning service, we’d be happy to write about it here! After all, having those windows professionally cleaned isn’t only about giving your house the perfect sheen – it’s also about giving your interiors the spotlight they deserve. ‘Make sure your windows are sparkling and letting in as much light as possible,’ says Sarah, as a room that basks in the warm glow of the sun is a saleable room indeed.

Selling your house? The companies included in this article on on-demand services are:

Boxman: www.boxman.co.uk
Tepilo: www.tepilo.com
Hassle: www.hassle.com/uk
Borrow My Doggy: www.borrowmydoggy.com
Bizzby: www.bizzby.com