How to Prepare Your Home for Showings When Selling

Learn more about helpful tips homeowners can use to improve their home showings.

Close
Page Summary

3 Easy Tips For a Successful Home ShowingSelling your home is a big decision, and it pays to be prepared. Sometimes the smallest details make the biggest difference when it comes to getting the best price for your house. If you want to do everything you can to get your house's best price, keep reading. It's important to make your property stand out from the others. Staging your house for potential buyers is one of the most important steps in getting it ready for the market. Here are quick and easy tips to help you get started on this process!

Clear Out the Clutter

Decluttering is one of the most important things you can do to make your house more appealing to potential buyers. Eliminating clutter from rooms and hallways will give your space a more open, inviting feel and make it easier for potential buyers to imagine themselves living there. If you have too much furniture, consider removing some pieces or rearranging them so that they create a better flow throughout the house.

Keep the Home Furnished

A common mistake among homeowners preparing to sell is that many think they should remove their furniture from the home, citing that the buyers aren’t purchasing the furniture, so it’s only there to distract them. However, this is actually the opposite of what happens. Keeping the home furnished actually provides quite a few benefits. There are some secrets to home staging and some benefits as well:

  • It makes the home feel more inviting.
  • It gives the buyers an example for how the space can be decorated.
  • It helps buyers see how their own furniture can fit in the space.
  • It shows exactly how spacious the rooms are.

If the homeowner can do so, they should always try to keep the home furnished. However, in some cases it can be difficult, such as when they have already moved out of the home. In this case, the homeowner can hire a professional stager to bring furniture into the home and decorate it as if someone was living there.

Depersonalize Your Space

Buyers want to be able to envision themselves living in the home, so remove any personal items like family photos, art pieces with special meaning, or anything else that could be distracting. Adding neutral décor, such as plants or wall art, can also help make your space feel less personal and more inviting.

Don't forget the closets! No matter what, people need a place to store their things, so closets are always going to be considered by buyers. In order to show them how many clothes, storage containers, or knick-knacks can fit in a closet, clean out half of it.

Leaving it half full is a good way to show buyers how much can fit into the space and how much they have left to work with while emptying it completely can make it difficult for Crieve Hall home buyers to visualize their things fitting in it. Empty spaces tend to look a lot smaller than they are in actuality, so putting things in as an example can help buyers a lot.

Improve Curb Appeal

The outside of your home should be just as inviting as the inside. Make sure your lawn is mowed, clean up any debris around the yard, add fresh mulch if needed, and consider planting some flowers or bushes for added color and texture. You'll be glad you made these updates when it's time to take home staging photos. These small changes can go a long way in creating a positive first impression for online viewers! Window boxes with flowers can also add a nice touch.
 

Tidy Up Those Small Details

Pay attention to those little details that may need tidying up—such as wiping down baseboards or cleaning windows—to give each room a neat and tidy look. While these tasks may seem small, they will show that you take pride in keeping your home well-maintained which could make all the difference when it comes time to sell!

Spruce Up Your Kitchen & Bathroom

These two rooms tend to have a major impact on potential buyers, so don’t forget about them when prepping for showings! Cleaning countertops, updating hardware on cabinets/drawers, and adding fresh towels or bath mats—these are all simple ways to affordably renovate your bathroom.

Paint & Repair

A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for a room, and minor repairs—such as fixing broken door knobs or patching up holes in walls—can also make your house look more presentable to potential buyers. Choose neutral colors that are versatile and won’t distract from the features of your house.

Add Lighting

Lighting can instantly brighten up a room, so consider adding some extra lamps or overhead fixtures to make your spaces seem brighter and more open. Natural lighting is also key—open blinds, add sheer curtains, and clean windows for maximum sunlight.

Focus On Comfort

Your house should be warm and inviting to potential buyers, so add some cozy touches like throw blankets, fluffy pillows, or rugs. These small changes can make your home feel more like a home instead of just a house.

Hire a Professional

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done, consider hiring a professional stager or designer to come in and give your house the finishing touches it needs. They can help you create an attractive and inviting atmosphere for potential buyers and make sure all of the details are taken care of.

Take Pets Out of the Home

About 68% of American households own some sort of pet—that’s more than two-thirds. Households with pets have to take special measures to prepare their home for a showing, but the most important part is removing the pets from the home. Not only does taking Buddy to the park during a showing help the buyers, but it’s also good for the pet. Here are some scenarios that can be avoided by removing the pet from the home:

  • A buyer is allergic to certain animals and can’t enter the home without having a reaction.
  • Buyers may bring young children with them who don’t know how to interact with animals, leading one or both of them to getting hurt.
  • Buyers can forget to close doors, letting pets outside where they can get lost or hurt.
  • Pets can get stressed out by strangers in the home and become territorial. 

No one wants anything bad to happen to their pets or the guests in their home, so when the homeowner knows a showing is coming, they should make arrangements to take their pet to a kennel, board them or to a friend or neighbor’s house for the duration.

Dress Your Home For Success!

You can do many things to prepare your house to sell quickly, but these tips should get you started. With a little bit of elbow grease and some creativity, you can make your house shine and have it ready to sell in no time. Following these tips will help prepare your house for sale and make it easier and quicker when it comes time to list on any real estate market!

Posted by Gary Ashton on
Email Send a link to post via Email

Leave A Comment

e.g. yourwebsitename.com
Please note that your email address is kept private upon posting.