Add £15,500 to the value of your property by making 8 updates before a viewing, says property expert

Move that bin

A dirty wheelie bin is no garden ornament. They ruin the appearance of your lovely home. Before your estate agent snaps their photographs, move them out of sight completely.

Whether you move it down the road, in your neighbour’s garden (with permission of course) – it doesn’t matter, just get rid.

When viewings begin, invest in a cheap wicker or fake ivy screen to distract from their ugliness.

Worth: £1,000

First impressions count

Almost 90 per cent of house searches are online and the front of your home is the first thing buyers see. If your kerb appeal is not up to scratch, they’ll scroll right past your weed-ridden driveway.

First impressions count, so clean your windows, pop a lick of paint on your front door and spruce up the porch with a few bright pot plants.

It’ll cost you about £20 and an afternoon of hard graft to speed up your sale.

Worth: £2,500

Make your home more energy-efficient

If your property has a poor energy performance rating – say E or F – you may suffer from lower offers.

Boosting that rating to a D is as simple as switching to energy-saving LED light bulbs – £9.99 for five on Amazon – or even insulating your loft, with foam from £32 a roll at B&Q.

These little hacks can save hundreds on bills each year. Plus, an energy-efficient home that’s cheaper to run is appealing to buyers, so you’ll see more impressive offers rolling in.

Worth: £3,000

Clean the carpets

It costs about £4,000 to recarpet an average house but about £25 to shampoo it. Show buyers there’s no need for change by renting a carpet cleaner for the day.

Clean carpets refresh and brighten every room and it eliminates odours, too. Even if the colour isn’t to their taste, buyers will be happy to save money and live with fresh carpets for a few years.

Worth: £3,000

Spruce up the garden

Even if you won’t be rivalling the Chelsea Flower Show with your gardening skills, you can make the garden somewhere where prospective buyers can imagine themselves enjoying a sunny afternoon.

Buyers want a space they can use without rolling up their sleeves – especially if they’re moving in the summer months.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• UK regions where house prices have soared the most - how much is your home worth?
• Boost property value by £11,000 with free garden job that 'increases attractiveness'
• Property for sale? The top 10 features that will sell your home

Get rid of that rusty trampoline and weather-beaten barbecue, mow the lawn and trim the bushes. A little effort goes a long way to getting more competitive offers.

Worth: £1,000

Flush with success

It’s unlikely a prospective buyer will be delighted to look around a bathroom with a cracked – or worse still, stained – loo seat. Accessorising is a good way of brightening up rooms in your home.

Buy some clean, fluffy towels, a shiny new soap dispenser and a bin. Buyers will overlook a slightly dated bathroom suite if you show them the appeal of a few cheap solutions.

Worth: £500

Make your kitchen look bake-off ready

No one wants to shell out £10,000 on a new kitchen when they move in, so save buyers the stress by smartening up your units.

Choose a muted colour like olive green or blue to give tired tiles a lick of paint, and replace wobbly cupboard handles with modern knobs in classy snow white or silver. It only costs a few pounds to make a functional kitchen look fresh again.

Worth: £3,000

Naturally neutral

You probably spent a long time choosing the paint for that feature wall, but a blood-red living room screams hard work for buyers, so try to keep your personality out of the decorating.

Swap garish-painted walls for a neutral hue – like pale grey or sandy tones – but don’t be too bland.

A splash of colour on alcoves, cushions or cabinets will add a little interest without making a buyer think they will need to redecorate straight away.

The aim of the game is to allow buyers to move straight in and add their own personality in time. Putting people off is never a good thing.

Worth: £2,000

Jonathan Rolande is a property expert from the National Association of Property Buyers