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If you’ve ever walked through someone else’s home, then you know that making a great first impression is key. You only get one chance to make a good impression on potential buyers, and if they don’t like what they see when they walk in the door, there’s a good chance they’ll leave and never come back. In this blog post, we’ll discuss five tips to help you make sure your home showing is successful. Follow these tips and you’ll be able to increase the chances of getting an accepted offer on your home!
#1: Put your attention on the outside.
Make sure you don’t overlook anything on the outside of your home. The appearance of your property’s curb appeal may make or break whether someone gets out of their car to come in. They’ll wonder what else isn’t being taken care of if they pull up and see a lawn that needs edging and an unkempt flower bed. You want everything about the outside of your house to be as perfect as you can make it. Clean the siding, windows, and doors thoroughly. Make sure there are no dirt smudges, cobwebs, or other things that need painting that haven’t been done yet.
#2: Take yourself out of the house.
That means that you want to take out all the personal stuff. Remove the family photos from the wall or tables. You want the home to look neutral so that the potential buyers can look at your house and picture it as themselves living there. Everything should be as neutral as possible in terms of personal items. For safety reasons, be sure to remove any valuable items – like jewelry, antiques – and controlled items – like prescription medications.
#3: Remove all the extra clutter you see at first glance.
If you look around, it’ll amaze you at how much stuff you’ve accumulated over the years. Some of it might very well be important, but that doesn’t mean that your potential buyers should see it. When you have a lot of clutter, it shrinks the living space of the house. It makes it look and feel cramped and smaller. Many homeowners get something called house blindness. They’ve lived in the home for so long with the same clutter that they don’t even really see it anymore. But a stranger will always notice. So clean out your house and make the space as big as possible.
#4: If you have a pet, no one that walks through your house should be able to notice it exists.
We all love our pets – but that doesn’t mean all of your buyers will feel the same as you do. When getting ready to show a home, this means no cat litter box, no dog to jump on anyone, no food sitting around in a dish. Your home should not have any pet odors. Having a clean house that’s odor free is a big selling point. You don’t want to lose a possible deal just because they can smell your pet’s presence or your pet makes a bad impression.
#5: Stage your home!
You can hire a professional or you can do it yourself. Stage your living areas in a way that shows off your home. You can rent furniture to make your home furnishings look good if you don’t use a stager. Someone who knows how to stage a house knows how to play up the best features of your home and knows what to bring in or get rid of to make the entire house appeal to a buyer.
First impressions are HUGE when showing you home to potential buyers, but by following the simple tips above you will be well on your way to making a great impression and, hopefully, receiving multiple offers! And if you are at all anxious about this important step, reach out to me! I’m here to help guide you through this process and make it as stress-free as possible.
