Selling your home? You probably have a long to-do list before your home is ready to be shown to prospective buyers. Here are some suggestions to make those showings more memorable (in a good way!) for your potential buyers:
1. Do have all the drapes open to make the home as bright and cheery as possible. This also makes the home appear more spacious.
2. Do have all pets either kenneled or in a safe place. Even "friendly" dogs can be and usually are a big distraction. They are here to buy your home, not your dog.
3. Do have the front porch and yard looking perfect. The first impression is a lasing impression. If you are not going to be home before nightfall, leave the front porch lights on as well as the inside entryway so it's not totally dark.
4. Do try to remove any odors that could be offensive to the buyers such as pets, especially smoking, and even some food odors.
5. Do start throwing stuff away! A cluttered home is a small home and obviously has no capability of storing anything. Subconsciously or consciously, the buyers will assume there isn't enough room for storage.
6. Don't hang around the home if at all possible. Go for a walk, or if there's a blizzard, step into the garage. Stay out of the way.............that's doubly true of children! Your kids may be the greatest kids on the planet, but again, the buyers are here to buy your home, not your children. (They can make that an inclusion later!)
7. Don't have all 37 cars parked around the home and especially in the driveway. Try to have as many open spaces around your home as possible.
I love showing my sellers other homes for sale while their home is listed. They get to see first-hand how other people are displaying their homes, good and/or bad. I hear many comments from my sellers about what they should do or change. With that in mind, go outside your home, maybe even drive around the block, and look at your own home as what you see that would attract you as well as detract you. Walk through and around your own home as a potential buyer........what would you change?
Jack Wahl is the managing broker for Metro Brokers Wahl & Associates. He is also a Certified Real Estate Instructor. Questions on selling or buying a home? He can be reached at 303-397-0925, or j.wahl@msn.com