Putting your house on the market is a big decision. If you’re a homeowner who is planning to sell your home, you’ll want to give it the best shot at attracting attention from the right potential buyer. Whether you plan to use a real estate agent or to sell your home yourself, planning for an open house is important when it comes to getting the most out of your property. While some things are obvious, like removing clutter from your home or taking political signs out of the yard, other things you can do to prepare your home for an open house are more subtle. For ideas on how to open your home to prospective buyers effectively, read on.
The Big Picture
When beginning the planning of your open house, start by thinking of the bigger picture. Imagine yourself as the prospective buyer hoping to find your dream home with not only curb appeal but a new home that will be perfect for creating a lifetime of memories. It likely wasn’t long ago that you were thinking about ways to complete your dream home and putting yourself in their shoes now will help you to have a more successful open house.
A great way to start is by walking through your home and looking at it from a buyer’s perspective. Bring a notebook with you and find areas that may need help, like broken baseboards, rooms cluttered with personal items and family photos, or messy closets. Write down a list of things you can clean up now, necessary repairs, and deep cleaning areas that might need a little more work or even outsourcing to a professional cleaner.
The Little Details
Once you’ve put a fresh coat of paint on the walls, cleaned up clutter, fixed that baseboard, and done some yard work, you’ll want to pay attention to smaller details. While you’ll want to put your belongings in storage or at least tuck them away, you don’t want your home to look sterile either. Remember, you’ll looking at your home from a buyer’s perspective. Part of that means giving them the opportunity to see how warm your home can be.
One way to prepare for an open house is to clean every room out, fix things up, and then go back for the tiny decorative details. Here, you want to think minimally. You don’t need pictures of your family all over the house but will still want a few personal items to give your home that lived in and cared for feel. For ideas on how to make rooms look professionally styled with tiny details, check out places like Pinterest and blogs that focus on home design.
Staging Your Home
The final staging of your home is the last step in preparing it for an open house. This doesn’t have to be time-consuming. If you’ve already hired a cleaner to handle deep cleanings or done a Google search for ‘5 household chores we want to outsource,’ this last step will be easier. Like adding minor details, you’ll also want to consider ways to make your home comfortable for that couple of hours during the actual open house. Consider picking up bottled water, refreshments, and scented candles or essential oil diffusers to make your home inviting. Something as simple as a welcome mat in the entryway can set the tone for a successful open house.
In the end, homebuyers are looking to find a home they can picture themselves in. By cleaning up any mess, paying attention to details, and spending that extra time cleaning out things like gutters ahead of time, you’ll be helping buyers do just that. In planning properly, you’ll also be giving yourself peace of mind as you put up that open house sign. Good luck with your impending sale and congratulations!
