The open house is the opportunity for you to showcase the best of your home to a captive audience. The potential buyers are going to be walking in all day long, here are some tips to a successful open house and getting the deal closed in record time we picked up recently working with a Charleston real estate firm.
1. Light every room in the house. Whether you open the blinds or turn on a light, the more light the better in each room a potential buyer walks in.
2. Have something delicious cooking. Either a stew in the crock pot, cookies in the oven, or bread in a toaster, let the buyers smell all the comforts of the perfect home.
3. Get a professional cleaning service to treat the windows, floors, carpeting, before anyone steps foot in your house. A clean house can make all the difference to a picky buyer.
4. Get all that clutter out today so the buyers can imagine what they can do with all that extra space in your house.
5. Take a trip for the day and leave the realtor alone in your house to do what they do best, answer questions and get offers signed for your home.
6. If you have any pets, make sure they are with you or a neighbor during the open house. No one likes a barking dog or an overly friendly cat walking around the house as they look around.
7. Hire a cleaning company to increase the curb appeal of the house by power-washing the exterior, driveway, sidewalks, and deck.
8. Have some soft music playing in the background to drown out any noise in the area and give the buyers a peaceful experience in your home.
9. Remove as many pictures of your family as possible. They will be packed eventually, so do it now so the buyers can imagine their family and not yours in the house.
10. Place signs in surrounding streets to attract as many buyers as possible.
11. Post on local discussion boards on Facebook an open house is happening in your home so word spreads before the big day.
12. Clean all the clutter from the back yard. Hire a professional landscaping company to transform an outdated yard.
13. Ask your neighbors to be on best behavior because they want to attract the best possible candidates too.
These 13 tips for a successful open house will attract the most qualified candidates and give them everything and more that they need to make an informed and speedy decision about buying your home.