Top Tips When Showing Your Home

Time-Proven Tips:  Showing Your Atlanta Home

Getting buyers through your front door is just half the battle when selling a home.  Once they step inside, you want to ensure that all of your hard work (staging, painting, cleaning, etc.) pays off.   Making sure that your home looks its very best can give you that little competitive edge that will help get it sold.  Here are our time-proven tips and staging advice that will help you maximize your home’s attractiveness to potential home buyers and get it SOLD quickly and for top dollar:

Top Tips When Showing Your Home for Sale

1)  First and foremost, you should be absent so buyers feel comfortable viewing your home and talking freely to their real estate agent about when they like and don’t like about the home.

2)  Check the front door / porch and remove any cobwebs or debris.  While the buyer’s real estate agent is accessing the key lockbox and opening the door, the buyers are looking at EVERY detail.  This is the time to make a great first impression.

3)  Turn on every light in the house – even bedside lamps.  Even if it is a bright Spring day, turning on the lights makes the home feel larger and more inviting.

4)  Open all blinds and drapes during the daylight hours to let in as much light as possible, but screen unappealing views.

5)  If you have a fireplace (and it isn’t 90 degrees outside), turn it on!  Nothing says cozy and inviting like a fireplace.

6)  Turn off the television and if you have a sound system, play some quiet background music.

7)  If you repainted the home in neutral tones, add bold splashes of color with new throw pillows or rugs.

8)  Place fresh flowers where they’ll stand out.  If you have a front porch and/or rear deck, a fresh pot of flowers can go a long way.

9)  Open windows beforehand to circulate fresh air (if weather permits)

10)  Remove all or most of your family photos.  When showing your home to potential buyers, you want them to be able to envision themselves living there… and not trying to analyze who is currently living in the home!

11)  Make it sparkle!  We’re sure this is a given for many home sellers, but if you are selling your first home, it is so important to make sure that the bathrooms, kitchen, and flooring  are squeaky clean.

12)  Clutter-free living.  Even if you have four children and are bursting at the seams in your current home, you should ensure that all toys, clutter, clothing, etc are put away and your closets are organized (not stuffed).  Even though you may have outgrown your home, you don’t want to give the buyers the impression that there isn’t enough storage.

13)  Open all doors between rooms to give each area an inviting feeling.

14)  Make your home odor free.  This includes cat litter boxes, taking the trash out, and washing any dirty laundry.  If possible, avoid cooking any foods that will linger in the air for days.

15) Take your pets with you – if possible!  Sometimes a barking or crying pup can be distracting for potential home buyers and some may even be allergic.

16) Check the exterior of your home.  Your yard may have been in tip top shape the day it was listed, but it needs regular attention to make it “showroom ready”.  Add fresh mulch to the flower beds, trim dead flowers and weeds, clean gutters, remove the tree branch that fell in the yard, the list goes on and on.

17) Showcase your home’s best features.  If there is something you love about your home, show it off!

18)  Make sure your home flyers or brochures are easily accessible.  The Metro Atlanta Suburbs team Atlanta team loves to create custom, professionally printed brochures for each of our listings, so make sure they are in plain view so the buyers can take one home!

Are you an overachiever?

If so, leaving a plate of freshly baked cookies with a nice note, is a fantastic touch!  It leaves buyers with a great feeling about your home – one that they will remember after a long day or house hunting!

If you have any questions about the home selling or staging process, please call Kerry Lucasse and the Metro Atlanta Suburbs team Atlanta team anytime at 404.721.3001.