So you’ve decided to sell your home – congrats! This is a huge decision but you are making the right decision to research what you can do as a seller when you have open houses or showings. Those are relatively similar things – a buyer (or groups of buyers) will be accompanied by their Realtor and will tour your home without you there.
There’s no doubt about it – a lot goes into selling a home. From having a staging consultation, making minor or major repairs or renovations, changing out fixtures or appliances, repainting, decluttering, organizing and depersonalizing, a lot of blood, sweat, tears and money goes into preparing to put your home on the market. But now that you’ve had professional pictures taken and it’s live on the market, you are ready to make your home shine!
During the height of the market during Covid, our strategy was to list a home on a Thursday or Friday and have the homeowners leave for the entire weekend. Showings will most likely start immediately after it goes live (especially in this competitive market) and we do encourage hosting open houses on Sundays. If so, a Sunday open house will bookend having people in your home. This works for everyone as the homeowners won’t need to have to do everything on this checklist every time there is a showing – they will only need to do it once before they leave for the weekend! As the market is shifting, our strategy is very similar, however offers many not be rolling in as quickly as they used to.
Once you have a confirmed showing or open house, take these tips into consideration. If you’ve had a staging appointment, the stager may have told you many of these things, but we’ve condensed it into a checklist below.
- The first thing buyers will see is the front of your home, and you want to make your home shine. If there’s snow on the ground, quickly shovel it so there is a clear path. Shake out the mat or rug and rearrange flower pots so they’re not blocking any walkways, and take out any mail from the mailbox if you have one on your front façade.
- During the Spring and Summer, buyers will spend more time outside of your house. Tidy up the yard, remove any dog toys, put hoses away, place your outdoor furniture in a pleasing fashion, and rake any leaves away.
- Quickly sweep or vacuum the floors if you have time. Buyers realize you are still living in your home so it doesn’t have to be totally spic and span clean, but tidy it up best you can.
- Make sure you turn all the lights on, even the outdoor ones.
- Open all drapes, blinds and shades. You want as much natural light in as possible.
- Close all of the toilet seats.
- If you have kids, store their toys, books and clothes in the closet (or take them with you). It probably won’t be possible to get your child’s bedroom(s) perfectly clean, and buyers will understand! Additional bedrooms are not high on the list of buyer make-or-breaks – they focus on the living spaces such as the kitchen, dining room, living room, and outdoor spaces.
- Don’t forget your pets! Depending on how comfortable you are, you can leave Fido or Fluffy home and make sure the Realtor knows, you can leave him with a neighbor, or you can take him with you when you leave.
- Take care of any odors, such as pet odors, baby odors and food odors.
- While we love home cooking, strong food scents can turn a buyer off. Try not to cook immediately prior to showings or an open house.
- Another great tip is to take out the trash before showings. You never know if buyers will open drawers and cabinets and the last thing you want them to see is a full trash bin.
- Speaking of waste and pets, don’t forget to clean up any of Fido’s droppings on the lawn, or Kitty’s litter box. Keep any pet areas clean.
- If you have closets (especially walk-in closets), open the door just a bit, so buyers can see inside. Buyers (and Realtors) love to peek behind closet doors and it’s inviting if you have them partially open.
- Something our staging friend Kelly Sohigian of KellyDesigns recommends is having clean, white towels on hand. Don’t use them, but rather switch those out in your bathrooms before you leave. White = clean, and a clean house = a happy house!
- Have some laundry bins or Tupperware easily accessible. Once that showing request comes through, start putting all of the undesirable items, kitchen gadgets, personal photographs, and religious items into those bins, and put them right in your car when you leave.
- While you would think it would be easier to just move everything into a closet, basement, or garage, buyers will look in those places, so it’s just easier if you take some bins with you when you leave. If you can’t take everything with you, make the closet space as organized as possible by using large Tupperware containers, boxes, or pretty bins (personally we love bins from Marshalls and Target!)
- Some small touches you can take to freshen up your home are to add plants or flowers, bowls of fresh fruit, or a cozy blanket over a couch.
- Finally, do a quick run-through of your house, top to bottom, and make sure all lights and lamps are on, TVs are turned off, blinds are open, toilet seats are down, beds are made, and things are relatively organized and clean. Imagine you are a potential buyer. If you spot an eyesore, dirty rug, cluttered bookshelves, or smudges on the window, clean those now so buyers can admire your beautiful and clean home!
Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and you don’t want potential buyers remembering things like too many personal photographs, cluttered closets, scattered toys, dark rooms, or dirty countertops. Call us at 203.414.5571 if you have any questions with selling your home, staging your home, or preparing for showings, and we would be happy to help!
