Showing Your Home
- Unlike the rest of one's life - in selling your house, looks are everything. You want the potential buyer to see themselves moving in, but that is not going to happen if there is too much clutter around the house, or it is overly personal. Clean up and de-clutter the entire house and yard. Take down your personal photos and put something vague and beautiful up. It should look like “a house” but not “your house.
- Part of the home selling process is letting others view your house. The goal is for buyers to see themselves in our house wanting to call it home. This is harder than it sounds. Too often sellers become their own worst enemy while trying to sell their home. Here are some rock solid tips our experience says will make sure your showing experience is best:
- Clean. Dust bunnies are not cute to a potential buyer. Making sure the house is spick and span will be the best way to give buyers the canvas they need to see their lives on. So even if our photographer could take it out with Photoshop, you still need to clean it up for showings. We recommend hiring a professional cleaning.
- Lights. Let there be LOTS of light. Any dark shadowy places in your home will not build the vibe of “I want to live here”. Instead your potential buyer will be thinking about the last scary movie they saw, and wonder if their fate will be different.
- Make it smell like home. Seeing maybe be believing, and smelling is too! While being beautiful, if a house has a funky odor, people will not want to move in. Odors signal that something messy and dirty was happening here, and is hidden now. You should open the windows, Febreze the couch and curtains, maybe even light a candle.
- Think about Safety! People are going to be snooping through your house when they come to see it. While some is going to be justified (they’ll want to see how much they can store behind the bathroom mirror) some is not (like seeing what your mail looks like). Dupuis Team will insist that other agents accompany their clients in your house, but still you need to protect your belongings. You should lock up and safely store any of the following: Mail, Jewelry, Weapons, Prescription Drugs, items of sentimental or financial value, etc. When in doubt, lock it up.
- Pets need to leave. They are sweet and wonderful, but they are not a buyer’s dream. Having pets in the house can cause smells that will repulse buyers. They can also call the quality and cleanliness of the home into question. So, while you are trying to sell your home, find a place for the pets to stay, and store all your pet’s toys and things somewhere out of sight.
- Get it ready and Get out. Once you’ve done all you can to make your house someone else’s dream home, you should leave. Buyers will feel uncomfortable being honest with their broker about the house if you are nearby. Also, like with talking to the police, anything you say can and will be used against you (and possibly in a court of law). Sellers dig themselves into holes with their own words all the time. Best thing to do is not be around when a potential buyer is there, and only negotiate with them through your broker.
are provided courtesy of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).
