Open House Tips for Sellers
Open houses are a huge part of both the buying and selling process. You might be hesitant to host or attend one because they can be painfully awkward. Walking around your potential new home with a real estate agent following you from room to room isn’t the most comfortable experience, especially if there are parts of the home you don’t like or the home is in not-so-great condition.
When done right, open houses can lead to on the spot sales, bidding wars, and can open your eyes to what you’re really looking for in a home. We took a few stories from Andrew Dorn of realtor.com, who visited seven different open houses in one weekend, to show you the right (and wrong) way to host and attend open houses.
Whether you’re selling your home on your own and hosting an open house, or working with a real estate agent to host one for you, there are a few tips that can make or break how your home looks in the eyes of potential buyers.
Clean Up!
As Andrew approached one of the seven homes, right above the front door was a little perch where birds could sit. It’s a great thought, but when he looked down there was bird poop all over the concrete that enters into the door.
“It makes me sick. I actually had to kind of take a hop step and jump over it so I wouldn’t get the bird stuff on the bottom of my shoes.”
This is your home’s first impression. If potential buyers get a bad taste in their mouth from the front porch, then the expectations are set before they even walk through the door.
Remove Any Signs of Pets:
Almost everyone loves pets, but that doesn’t mean that everyone likes to see where they live – and go to the bathroom. As Andrew walked into a bathroom in one of the homes, he saw what he thought was a trash can which actually was a kitty litter box. After an even closer look, he noticed a mark left by the kitty.
In the kitchen, there was a beautiful vase of flowers on the counter. It was a great and simple touch to add to the open house; however, next to the vase was a small Tupperware container with what seemed to be little brown round things – which again belonged to a cat. It was cat food.
“If you look at it, I promise you, I think some people would pick it up and say I wonder if this is chocolate.”
Stage Your Home!
Buyers expect tip-top shape and for your home to be show-ready. Out of the seven open houses that Andrew attended, only one or two of them seemed to be actually ready for potential buyers to look at. Stage the home accordingly to make it look liveable. If it’s a home for a family, stage it to look like a family would live there, but also make sure it’s neat and clean.
