Selling calmly: five things to do before you show your house

After fourteen years of selling houses, Elena Marín is clear about it: “What sells most is light, and it's free.” These are her five tips.

One: open everything. Curtains, blinds and interior doors. A house with light looks bigger and better cared for. Two: put away half of your things. It's not about emptying it, but about letting the architecture show.

Three: fix the small things (a dripping tap, a door that sticks). Buyers read them as a sign of how the house has been looked after. Four: don't renovate to sell; you almost never get the money back.

Five: tell the story. Who built it, what changed in the last renovation, which is the best corner at six in the evening. That is what makes someone imagine it as their own.