GoCompare.com Mortgages recently conducted a survey asking what the biggest turn offs are for potential homebuyers. Here are the top 5, plus ways to tackle them….

Damp patches

The dreaded damp – these patches can put the fear of God into potential buyers with nightmares about rising damp, crumbling walls and major structural damage. In reality, many damp patches can be solved easily.

If the patch is small and contained, it could be just a matter of a leaky tile or cracks in your brick work. But if it’s a large patch or numerous patches, you might need to call someone in as it could mean rising damp, or that your brickwork has become too porous.

Poor state of repair

You can clean and tidy your home as much as you like, but if things are in a generally poor state of repair, viewers will notice. This could include rotten windows, loose floorboards, peeling wallpaper or badly-hung doors.

Go around your house and make a list of what needs doing and how bad the disrepair is. Then you can see whether it’s something that can be solved with a weekend of hard graft or whether you need to get a handyman in.

Bed smells

Again, no matter how tidy your house is, if it smells your potential buyer or renter will know about it before they even get past the entrance hall. Bad smells can be caused by a number of factors including pets, damp, smoking or cooking. The problem is that over time you might have started to become used to the smells. Ask your estate agent to be honest with you if you think you might have off-putting odours.

Once you’ve identified the cause, you can start to cut it out, whether that means banning smoking indoors or moving your pet to a friend’s house while your property is on the market. After you’ve cut out the cause, bring in a cleaner for a deep clean to remove lingering traces of the smell.

Lack of parking

This can be a make or break feature, especially for those with more than one car. If you have a garage, make sure it’s cleaned out and you let any viewers know about it – especially if it’s off-property.

If your property doesn’t come with a driveway or garage, you could be stuck. Before you start your viewings, talk to your local council about getting parking permits for nearby roads. If they are available, get one organised and pass on these details about price, location etc to your estate agents and viewers.

No garden

Again, this can be a deal breaker. Gardens were high on the agenda in the recent Strutt & Parker Housing Futures report. If you don’t have any outside space at all, you can face difficulties. You could suggest nearby parks that potential buyers could use.

If you have any form of outside space, whether it’s a roof garden, balcony or small patch of land, you’ve got to make the most of it. Make sure it looks welcoming and usable. Try and get at least a couple of chairs and a small table in your outside space to show how it can be used.