Showing Your Home

First Impressions are Lasting Impressions.

The exterior of your home often determines how buyers will view the interior, so:

  • Make sure your front entrance is clean and inviting.
  • Paint or replace your front door if it's faded or worn.
  • Add some paint to shutters, trim, and other outside features showing signs of wear.
  • Add vibrant plants and put down some fresh mulch.

Accentuate the Positive.

"How we live in a home and sell a home are often two different things." Try to see your home with a fresh perspective and arrange each room to bring out its best attributes, including:

  • Keep windows and floors clean.
  • Replace faded wallpaper and glue any areas that have come away from the wall.
  • Repair worn woodwork.
  • Repaint scarred or dirty walls in a neutral color.
  • Steam clean carpeting or replace it, if necessary.
  • Repair loose knobs, sticking doors and windows, warped cabinet drawers, broken light switches, and other minor flaws.
  • Check and repair caulking in bathtubs and showers.

Try to see your home with a fresh perspective and arrange each room to bring out its best attributes, including:

  • Open draperies and curtains to let the light in during the showing.
  • Remove all unnecessary clutter from your attic, basement, and closets to better display spacious rooms (consider storage or a garage sale to dispose of extraneous items).
  • Arrange all your rooms neatly and remove excess furniture. Keep fresh, clean towels in the bathroom. Use candles or air fresheners to make the room smell pleasant.

Put Your Home in the best possible light.

Strategically lighting your home, even during daytime showings, can create a cozy mood and highlight positive attributes of each room, so:

  • Avoid overhead lighting that makes rooms look washed out and lifeless.
  • Be creative and arrange lamps to help smaller rooms seem larger and large rooms seem more intimate.
  • Use lighting to highlight your home's "living areas," such as a pair of chairs near a fireplace or a table in a breakfast area.

Inside:

  • Clear all unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house. Keep decorative objects on the table restricted to groups of 1, 3, or 5 items.
  • Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it hasn't been used for three months, put it away!
  • Clear refrigerator fronts of messages, pictures. (A sparse kitchen helps buyers mentally move their things into your kitchen.)
  • Remove any unnecessary items from countertops, tubs, shower stalls, and commode tops in the bathroom. Keep only your most needed cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, in a tiny group on the counter—Coordinate towels to one or two colors only.
  • Rearrange or remove some of the furniture if necessary. As owners, many times we have too much furniture in a room. This is wonderful for our enjoyment, but when it comes to selling, we need to thin out as much as possible to make rooms appear larger.
  • Takedown or rearrange specific pictures or objects on walls. Patch and paint if necessary.
  • Review the house inside room by room. Paint any room needing paint, clean carpets or drapes, and clean windows.
  • Leave on certain lights during the day. During "showings," turn on all lights and lamps.
  • Have stereo FM on during the day for all viewings.
  • Lockbox--#1 Importance: "If we don't have it, they won't show it."

Outside:

  • Trim landscaping to reveal architectural detail (bottom of windows). "If they can't see it, we can't sell it."
  • Go around the house's perimeter and move all garbage cans, discarded wood scraps, and extra building materials into the garage.
  • Check gutters and roof for dry rot. Make sure they are swept and cleaned.
  • Look at all plants, prune bushes, and trees. Keep plants from blocking windows. "You can't sell a house if you can't see it." Plants are like children-they grow so fast!
  • Weed and then redo the bark in all planting areas. Keep lawn freshly cut and fertilized. Remove any dead plants or shrubs.
  • Clear the patio or deck of small items, such as small planters, flower pots, charcoal, barbecues, toys, etc. (Put them in the garage).
  • Check the paint condition of the house, especially the front door and trim. "Curb appeal works!"

In General

Try to look at your house "through the buyer's eyes" as though you've never seen it or been there before. Any time or money spent on these items will bring you back more money and hopefully a faster sale.

Nine Minute Showing Drill

Occasionally you will receive a call to schedule a showing within the next few minutes. The following is a checklist for this type of panic:

  1. Sound: Turn off the television and tune the radio (low volume) to soft rock in the middle of the road or classic rock station.
  2. Sight: Turn on every light in the house (day or night), open every drape, and blind (daytime only).
  3. Odors: Heat some frozen pastry slowly in the oven or heat a pan on the stove and then drop in a few drops of vanilla.
  4. Kitchen: Wipe kitchen counters, and place dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
  5. Bathrooms: Wipe counters, flush and close toilet lids.
  6. Living/Family Rooms: Hide magazines, newspapers, and games; remove clutter.
  7. Bedrooms: Straighten beds. Hide clutter under bed (not in the closet).
  8. Exterior: Put away toys and clutter. Keep the walkway clear.
  9. Children & Pets: They are a distraction, so send them outside. Sorry, but this is the most critical thing you can do in a showing to help sell your home! Even if the showing agent insists that it is okay to stay, you must leave. Buyers must get emotionally committed to your home to buy it, and they cannot become emotional about "their new home" if you, the current owners, are "hanging around." Please, at the very least, go into the backyard. Even better, go to the store.