Showing your Home
TIPS ON SHOWING YOUR HOME
Buying a home is 80% emotional and 20% rational. Keep this in mind when showing your home. Accentuate the positives of your home. You shouldn’t hide the negatives, but stage the home so the buyer’s focus is on the best features.
- First and foremost is to leave the house. Allow the buyers to roam without feeling hindered by your presence. Buyers will not speak openly about their concerns with their real estate agent if you are there. There is no way to overcome any objections unless they are expressed.
- Keep the temperature of the home at a comfortable level. Now is not the time to be conserving energy. If it’s too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer, the buyer might become concerned about the efficiency of the home’s heating and cooling systems.
- Create an atmosphere that is relaxing. Turn on the gas fireplace, have soft music playing, and rid the house of any bad odors.
- Allow plenty of natural light into the house. Open the curtains and blinds before the buyers arrive. If it’s winter, leave out photos of the landscaping as it shows during the spring and summer. If you have a garden or water amenity put out photos of those as well.
- Turn on every light and ceiling fan in the house. It’s important to have as much light as possible in the darker areas of the home such as in a basement area. You also want the air circulating in the home.
- Invite the buyers to open any and all closet doors, cupboards, and drawers. Be sure to have those areas organized and in order.
- Leave printed flyers and property disclosure forms on a table or counter for review. It would also be helpful to put out a copy of the covenants and restrictions for the neighborhood.
- Label certain features such as convection oven, hidden safe or gun closet, security system, or DSL service. If your neighborhood has pressurized irrigation, you may want to put a note on the automatic sprinkler control box.
- Allow plenty of time for the buyers to look and to explore. If you come back to the house before the buyers have finished, find something else to occupy your time. Do not interrupt them while they are still in the house.
- Leave a note thanking them for looking at your home and requesting that the real estate agent leave a card. Perhaps you could leave the buyers and their agent a treat next to your note.
Not everyone will find your home as attractive as you do. Do not take offense if buyers have objections. It only takes one buyer to see all the positives, over look the negatives, and make an offer that you can accept. However, when showing your home it’s important that you be prepared for that one important buyer!