Friends and Neighbours helping with making your property look great!!

Hello again!

I hope you’ve had a great week.

On Monday it was Bank Holiday to celebrate the Festival of the Flood. It’s a fun time but you either keep out of the way or join in - because everyone gets drenched with water! My friends were absolutely soaked with hoses and water bombs. They said they had a great time with all the kids, but rather them than me; I took the quiet option and stayed at home by the pool reading a book.

Let’s carry on from last week when I said I’d look at other ideas for how your neighbours and friends can help you make your property look great for viewings.

They’ll need to make sure your mailbox is cleared regularly. In Cyprus we don’t have letterboxes in the door; we have mailboxes outside our properties. As well as post, they also get stuffed full of junk mail which doesn’t look nice and also shows the property is empty.

Something else to look at is your garden (if you have one). An overgrown garden is a dead giveaway that you are not there, and as an initial impression, doesn’t look good for potential purchasers.

Why not ask your friends to look after it for you? It’s a really good idea – especially as plants and bushes grow ten times faster in Cyprus than in the UK, and that’s no exaggeration. So for a small outlay every month, you could pay them to do this.

And if you have a pool, perhaps they could look after that too? Pools must be maintained. Or, you can place a cover over it, but when someone is viewing, I think it’s always better if they can see the pool operating as you are primarily selling a lifestyle. Of course, this isn’t a problem if you share a pool on a complex.

Also, your property will need to be aired regularly. Properties that are locked up in Cyprus smell musty inside if they aren’t opened for a long time.

Here’s what I suggest. Ask whoever it is you trust to do your viewings if they can take care of the whole property for you for a monthly fee. It really is worth it, and if they are also going to do your viewings, you know they will make sure everything is pristine for a potential buyer.

If they agree but won’t take any payment because they just want something to do with their time, then take them out for a very nice meal, or pay for them to have a weekend away in a hotel to say thank you. It’s worth every penny.

Next week I’m going to given you my final ideas, then I’m going to move on to tell you all about our renovation project here in Cyprus – from start to finish.

There are some hilarious stories along the way, (like the day I almost fell down the stinking blocked drain) plus all the inevitable frustrations there were with a project like this.

Finally, I will just mention though, that before we even set foot on the plane, we bought the Cyprus Buying Guide, http://www.blogger.com/www.cyprusbuyingguide.com%20 – it was invaluable and saved us a small fortune!

Ok, that’s it from me for now, see you next week.

Have fun and keep smiling!
Best wishes
Jackie