Lighting Up Your Property Viewings To Attract Potential Buyers

With the clocks going back this autumn, many house sellers have a big problem - how to best show off their property to house viewers when they visit after dark. It can be challenging for prospective house buyers to get a feel for a house they ar ...

With the clocks going back this autumn, many house sellers have a big problem - how to best show off their property to house viewers when they visit after dark.

It can be challenging for prospective house buyers to get a feel for a house they are viewing in the dark. With darker evenings, it is almost impossible for them to see your garden or inspect the outside of your property to look for any apparent issues.

Scheduling your house viewings during the daytime or at weekends may not work due to work and family commitments, so it can be inevitable that you will have house viewings booked on dark autumn and winter evenings. However, all is not lost!

Making your viewings more illuminating

The best thing you can do is to take stock of your house. Walk through all your rooms and note which direction each window faces. Check for dark corners and shady spots that could do with lighting up. Test all the lightbulbs in your light fittings to ensure none are broken, and replace any that are dim or not working.

Think about bringing more light into your rooms by setting up desk or standard lamps in dark corners. This will open up the room and maximise the available space. Your house viewers will be put off by poorly lit rooms where they cannot appreciate the size and space of rooms on offer. Seeing into all corners and recesses clearly will give them a better picture of where they would place their own furniture should they choose to buy your house.

Brighten up gloomy hallways

While we don't tend to spend much time in our home hallways and landings, they are important areas that should always be addressed when trying to show off your home's best features. Quite often, your hallway is the first thing your house viewers will see. Their first impression of your home can depend on how you present your hallway.

Try to make your hallway as warm and welcoming as possible. Pack away any clutter that tends to build up, such as shopping bags, umbrellas, boots, shoes, coats, hats, and scarves. Too much clutter can make your hallway feel closed in and claustrophobic, especially for viewers that need to push past bulky overcoats and step over a pile of shoes to get into your house.

Your hallway and landing areas don't need to be super-bright but well-lit enough to prevent them from looking dark and gloomy. If you only have one central light installed in your hallway or landing, add a standard lamp or two to help brighten up the space and make your hallway and landing look longer and wider.

Living and dining rooms

Lighting up your living and dining rooms for chilly winter evening viewings is a good idea, but be careful not to overdo the brightness. Your living and dining rooms are spaces where you relax and unwind. You don't want a stark and bright light, but rather warm and welcoming.

Keep the lighting low to avoid hitting your viewers with glaring lights in their eyes. Downlights and table lamps can brighten dark corners and emphasise cosy spaces that are great spots for reading. If you get flexible desk lights that you can angle, you won't need to worry about needing a table to put your lamp on. Just turn the lights to illuminate dark areas that need a little more brightness.

Kitchen and utility rooms

These rooms need to be bright because they are heavily used areas where many tasks occur. Bright, focused overhead lighting over the sink, hob, and work surfaces is essential. If you want to avoid investing money in new lighting installations in these areas, add a few well-placed battery-powered self-adhesive lights to add more light to the kitchen.

Bathroom lighting

House viewers like to see bright and clean bathrooms, but if you need to boost the brightness, a cheap and effective way to add some soft light to your bathroom is by adding candles. Candles by the bathtub will create a relaxing mood in the room where viewers can imagine long luxurious baths with plenty of bubbles.

Subtle bedroom lighting

Bedrooms are places of relaxation. They need a combination of ambient wall lights and downlights, so add a floor or table lamp to create a warm, welcoming feel. A pair of matching bedside lamps can help balance the room's look while adding warm lighting to brighten up the rest of the room.

Adding more light to your rooms during dark autumn and winter evening viewings can increase your chances of attracting the right buyers to your home and getting more offers.

If you are looking to sell your home this winter - our team will be happy to offer advice.

You can get in touch here.