Harrogate’s housing stock is gloriously, stubbornly Victorian. Selling it well is a craft of its own, and most of what sellers are tempted to spend money on is the wrong list. After a few hundred launches, here is ours.

Worth every hour

  • Light. Stone houses read dark on camera. Clean the glass, cut back whatever is over the windows, and book the photography for the bright side of the day — we schedule shoots by aspect for exactly this reason.
  • The front three metres. Pointing around the door, a painted gate, swept steps. Buyers decide an astonishing amount in the walk from the kerb.
  • Small honest repairs. The dripping overflow, the cracked pane, the door that sticks — each is £80 of trade time, and each one left undone hands a buyer a negotiating story worth far more.
  • Paperwork. FENSA certificates, guarantees for the damp course, building regs for the loft room, listed building consents where they apply. A seller who produces documents on request keeps a survey-stage renegotiation from ever starting.

Rarely worth it

  • A new kitchen for the sale. You will spend £18,000 to change which buyers like the house, not how many. Deep-clean and declutter the one you have.
  • Grey-washing period features. The cornices, the tiles, the stripped doors are the product. Neutral walls, yes; personality removal, no.
  • uPVC in a conservation area. Beyond the consent issues, it genuinely suppresses value on the best streets. Refurbishing original sashes usually costs less than buyers assume — keep the quotes to show them.

The pricing conversation

Period homes attract emotional buyers, and emotional buyers are made, not found: a launch price that brings a crowd to the first weekend creates the competition that carries a house to — occasionally past — its asking figure. Last year our sales completed at 97.6% of asking on average, and the houses that did best were priced to be busy. The flattering figure that buys an instruction and then sits is the most expensive compliment in this business.

If you are a year out rather than a month out, that is the best time to talk — book a valuation and we will tell you which jobs on your list will actually pay you back.