The Seller's Checklist: 7 Steps to Sell Your Home Well in Stroud and the Cotswolds

If you want to sell your home well in Stroud or the Cotswolds, the work that matters happens before a buyer ever sees it. Most sales don't go wrong on the day a buyer says yes. They go wrong, or drag, because the house wasn't ready, the price was off, or the paperwork wasn't there when it was needed.

This is the seller's checklist I work through with the people I help, in order. There are seven steps. Take them one at a time, and tick each job off as you go.

Step 1: Prepare the house, inside and out

Buyers decide fast, usually from the photos first and the front door second. Presentation is the cheapest thing you can improve.

• Clear and clean. Take a third of what's on show away. Clear surfaces, tidy cupboards and wardrobes, and deep clean the kitchen and bathrooms.
• Fix the small things. Dripping taps, loose handles, cracked sealant and marked walls make a buyer start looking for bigger problems.
• Repair cracks and tired paintwork, inside and out. Fill and repaint cracks in walls and ceilings, and touch up woodwork, window frames, fascias and gates. A fresh finish tells a buyer the house has been looked after.
• Paint where it's tired. Neutral colours help buyers picture themselves living there.
• Kerb appeal. Tidy the front, sweep the path, freshen the front door and house number, and cut back anything overgrown.
• Light and air. Open curtains and switch lights on for photos and viewings.
• Don't over-spend. A new kitchen or bathroom just to sell rarely pays you back. Talk to your agent before you spend anything big.
• Be honest about issues, and resolve them where you can. Damp, boundary questions or works done without sign-off are better declared early than found by a buyer's surveyor. Where you can get an issue sorted before you list, do. Have a qualified professional look at the damp, tidy up the boundary paperwork, or get the missing sign-off or certificate. Every unresolved issue is a barrier to a sale. If a buyer has to take it on themselves, it's more likely to put them off, or to come back as a lower offer. Where an issue can't be resolved, be open about it, and either price for it or be willing to negotiate.

Step 2: Get the valuation right first time

The price you launch at matters more than anything else. Rightmove's figures show how much.

• Priced right from launch: 63% go under offer, and it takes around 21 days to find a buyer.
• Started high, then reduced: only 32% go under offer, it takes around 47 days to find a buyer, and the home takes around 91 days longer to sell overall.

What a good valuation looks like

• It is built on sold prices of similar homes nearby, not asking prices or what a neighbour hoped for.
• It gives two numbers: the price you'd like, and the price the evidence supports.
• It comes with a review point in writing, a date or a trigger when the price is looked at again.
• It is checked against search bands, because a price just over a round figure can keep your home out of the searches buyers actually run.

The viewings test

Price is the biggest lever, and it is also the easiest to read. If a home isn't getting viewings in the first couple of weeks, it is the price or the marketing. If the photos and listing are strong and still nobody comes, the price is wrong. If the price is right and still nobody comes, the marketing is wrong. Either way you find out early and act on it. You don't wait.

What it looks like locally

• GL5, Stroud and the valleys: average asking price £368,610, average sold price £335,798 over the last 12 months, a gap of 10%.
• GL6, the Cotswold villages: average asking price £566,195, average sold price £436,644 over the last 12 months, a gap of 30%.

Source: KW LocalEdge, October 2026. Sold prices are from HM Land Registry, asking prices from Rightmove and Zoopla. Asking prices are what sellers hope for. Sold prices are what buyers paid. That gap is why the evidence matters.

I give an agent's opinion of the likely sale price, not a formal valuation. Probate, insurance or tax valuations need a chartered surveyor. If you'd like an agent's opinion on your own home, you can ask for a free valuation.

Step 3: Marketing that sells the place as well as the house

People buy a home, but they also buy where it is. Good marketing shows both.

• Professional photography and an accurate floorplan. They are the first things a buyer sees.
• Sell the place. Community, access to shops, schools and services, green space and recreation, and connectivity by road and rail. For many buyers these decide it.
• Words that sell the real strengths. Lead with what makes your home different. Don't just list rooms.
• Everywhere buyers look. Rightmove, OnTheMarket, my website and my social channels, plus my own buyer database, who hear first.
• An honest feedback loop. If several viewers say the same thing, you act on it. You don't wait weeks hoping it changes.

Step 4: Viewings, where sales are won

A viewing is the one chance a buyer has to feel the house. It works best when the person showing it understands the property.

• Your agent should know the house. Not read from a sheet. I show homes myself, so I can answer questions about the property, the neighbours, the services and the area.
• Prepare for every viewing. Heating or windows open as the weather needs, lights on, pets and clutter put away, and a clear route round the house.
• Be elsewhere. Sellers are best out of the house. It lets buyers speak freely.
• Deal with concerns during the viewing. If there's a known issue, such as a damp patch, a busy road or a tight boundary, say so, explain it and show what's been done. A concern explained on the spot is far less likely to become a reason to walk away.
• Daytime, flexible slots, and feedback passed back to you quickly.

Step 5: Protect the sale with a reservation agreement

A verbal yes doesn't bind a buyer or a seller until contracts are exchanged. Either side can walk away right up to that point. Gazeal's figures put it plainly: over 1 in 3 UK sales collapse before exchange, and with a reservation agreement in place the collapse rate drops to under 5%.

How a reservation agreement works

• Buyer and seller each agree a financial commitment, starting from £2,000.
• Nothing is paid up front. It is only payable by whoever breaks the deal before exchange.
• The seller gives exclusivity for an agreed period, up to six months.
• The set-up fee starts from £600 including VAT at the £2,000 level.

It doesn't make a sale certain, and it isn't right for every sale. I explain the terms in writing before you decide. This is general information, not legal advice.

Step 6: Choose a good solicitor, early

The legal work runs from sale agreed to completion, and you control it least once it has started. So choose before you list.

• Instruct them before you market, so contracts go out the moment a buyer is found.
• Ask for a fixed fee quote with disbursements listed.
• Ask who actually handles your file, and how quickly they reply.
• Ask if they use electronic ID checks and digital signing, which saves days.
• Local knowledge helps for older homes, shared drives and rights of way.

Step 7: The sales pack, be ready before the buyer is

The biggest delay after a sale is agreed is gathering paperwork. A sales pack puts everything the buyer's solicitor needs in their hands in the first days.

Identity and ownership

• Photo ID and proof of address for every owner
• Title register and title plan from HM Land Registry
• Mortgage details, so your solicitor can request the redemption figure

Legal documents

• A draft contract, ready the day an offer is accepted
• The Property Information Form: boundaries, disputes, notices, services, access and past issues
• The Fittings and Contents Form: what stays and what goes
• Leasehold only: the lease, ground rent and service charge details, management pack, buildings insurance and planned major works

Searches

• Local authority, drainage and environmental searches, ordered early so the buyer isn't waiting weeks
• Ask your solicitor whether they can arrange these before you list

Certificates and compliance

• Energy Performance Certificate, in date
• Gas safety record and boiler service history
• Electrical certificate, if you have one
• Guarantees and warranties: windows, roof, damp proofing, extension, solar panels
• Planning permission and building regulations sign-off for any extension, conversion, loft or garage work

About the property

• Recent utility bills and council tax band
• Shared drives, rights of way, covenants or anything unusual
• Any building work since you bought

Marketing materials

• Professional photos, a floorplan, and the property description, ready to go

A buyer's solicitor who gets a complete pack on day one spends less time chasing. That means fewer delays and a shorter route to exchange. It also shortens the time in which a sale can fall through.

Adam's view

If you only do two things from this list, get the price right and have your paperwork ready. The price you launch at matters more than anything else, and the biggest delay after a sale is agreed is gathering the documents. Both are in your hands before the first viewing, and both cost far less than a sale that drags.

Get the tick-off version

I've put the whole checklist into a free guide with a tick box for every job, so you can keep track of your progress. You can get the free Seller's Guide and PDF here. If you'd rather talk it through, book a free valuation, and I'll go through where your home stands. If you're weighing up the order of your move, my piece on selling before you buy is worth a read, and you can sign up for the monthly local property update to see what is actually selling near you.

This guide is general information, not legal, tax, mortgage or regulated advice. Questions about those are for your solicitor, lender or accountant.

More free checklists: the Buyer's Viewing Checklist, Before You Buy a Let and the Moving Checklist. You can see them all at adamclegg.co.uk/free-guides.