January is one of the busiest months of the year for property sales, according to Rightmove – and with it currently being a buyer’s market, competition is heating up. 

So, if you are looking to sell your home, when is the best time to make your listing live? And how can you make it stand out?

Interiors expert Liv Conlon has been running property staging business The Property Stagers for a decade, transforming thousands of homes for sale, including ones that have been on the market for years.

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When should you list it?

She told Money the best day to list your home on Rightmove was actually Boxing Day.

“We call it the Boxing Day bounce. Over the years, they have seen such a growth of people looking for homes after Christmas dinner,” the 26-year-old said.

“You’ll find anywhere between 10 and 15 million people looking for a house, but that number actually doubles on Boxing Day.

“We see a huge spike between 26 December all the way into January.”

She explained that people tend to go through a “life transition” at the end of the year, and Christmas can make them consider if their homes still meet all their needs.

If you’re going to make the Boxing Day bounce, what should you consider?

With Christmas been and gone by then, Liv said the photos shouldn’t include any festive decor.

“Don’t take photographs of the property with Christmas decorations. That’s kind of bringing people back when they moved on from Christmas,” she said.

“They are looking into the new year and that’s without decorations.”

However, she said that if you were looking to advertise your home before Christmas, trinkets can make it feel cosy and inviting.

“Buyers aren’t just looking at the property itself – they’re imagining it as their future home,” she added.

“Festive decor can create a warm, inviting atmosphere that appeals to buyers on an emotional level.”

The biggest mistakes to avoid

Furnishing hundreds of homes each year, Liv said she has seen the best – and worst – decisions made by sellers.

Making it hard for buyers to visualise how they could use the space in your home is one of her biggest no goes.

“Ninety per cent of people don’t have the eye to see how to use the space, so whatever you as a homeowner or someone selling a property designate that space for, it’s very hard for anyone to see beyond that,” she said.

“If someone has their ironing board in the space under the stairs, that could have been sold as a nice desk space, but now it’s very hard to see that.”

Part of that also means removing any “obscure items” from your home.

“Some people end up making an offer on the house to include things like fish tanks and stuff like that. It works in some people’s favour, but more often than not, it doesn’t,” she warned.

But, she said the most common mistake was made in photographs that have poor lighting and bad angles.

“They are your advertisement, your shop window to even get someone to click through, so well-lit good, angled photographs can be like the game-changer to the success of your property,” she said.

“Obviously, good photographs come from it looking good as well, so the mistakes most people make is not decluttering the space.”

Here’s five things you should do

1. Declutter

Decluttering a space allows people to “appreciate the room”, Liv said.

“You don’t want stuff everywhere… they’ll be too busy looking at all your stuff, so hide as much as possible,” she added.

“In any space that you walk into, there should be a focal point and it should feel like you’re not having to climb over furniture to get into that space. Actually make it as open as possible.”

2. Maximise

Through furniture placement, you can maximise the space in each room to show them off the best.

“Lots of people when they live in their homes have things centred around the TV, but actually that’s not always the best room set up for showing someone how they can use that space,” Liv said.

Placing mirrors opposite windows or light fixtures is a good staging trick to make small homes feel bigger, she explained.

3. Depersonalise

Removing or hiding personal items like family photos, antiques or souvenirs can make it easier for people to visualise living in your property.

“People can’t imagine their own family photographs on the wall if it’s your family staring back. So try to depersonalise it as much as possible,” she said.

“Neutralise the space as much as possible as well. Things can put people off.

“If you have super wacky items or a really garish colour scheme, think about how you can tone it down to be appreciated by the masses as much as possible.”

4. Think weather

In the UK, we are usually very weather focused, so if you are selling in winter there are some things you’ll want to highlight more than in the warmer months.

“In the summer you are going to want to highlight the garden and how someone could live in that space, whereas in the winter it is about creating a cosier feel,” Liv said.

“When someone comes in from bad weather, you want it to feel like the home is giving them some sort of hug.”

Light a fire if you have one, or use warm, soft furnishings to make the home feel inviting, she suggested.

5. Smells make a difference

If you’ve ever watched a reality estate agent show, you’ll be familiar with the idea of having the smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through your home when potential buyers arrive.

But, Liv said that might not be the most ideal scent – instead lemon is a better option.

“We did a study on what the most enticing scent is for people who are viewing properties,” she said.

“Most people would assume the most enticing one was cookies, but it was the smell of lemon. It gives that smell of cleanliness, freshness and isn’t as identifiable.”

She explained that other smells can be unpleasant, or evoke a strong emotion response in someone, both positively and negatively.

“Using fresh scents rather than seasonal ones tend to work better.”