Selling Your Home? Ten Tips for Showing it Off

If you want to sell your home for the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time then you need to make sure that it looks great. Home buyers have their pick of the litter these days if they’ve got money to spare so you have to make sure to get their attention. Make your home look terrific inside and out and do a few little extra things to seal the deal.

Here are ten tips for showing off your home so that it sells.

1. Make sure it looks great from the street. You might be surprised by how many home buyers drive past a place, don’t like what they see from the outside and then never even bother to go in and check it out. You want to prevent that problem by doing a bit of clean-up and landscaping to the front of the home. If it has curb appeal, it’s a lot more likely to sell. You don’t have to go out of your way to make the exterior stunning but do make sure it’s neat, pretty and freshly painted.

2. Offer something appealing at the entrance of the home. Regardless of what room or entryway your front door opens into, that space needs to be attractive to immediately capture the interest of a potential buyer. A great potted plant, a pretty mirror or other décor is a nice touch here when showing off your home to buyers.

3. De-clutter. If you’re showing off a home that isn’t going to be entirely empty than make sure that you empty it out as much as possible before you show it. You want to get rid of all clutter, reduce the amount of furniture and general limit what is seen in each room.

4. Fresh paint is a must. A freshly painted home looks cleaner, brighter and ready for move-in. It is best to paint in light, bright, neutral colors. This opens up the space and makes it seem airy.

5. Get your hands on a bottle of Windex. You would be surprised what a little bit of shine can do to make a home much more appealing to someone who may want to live there. Take glass cleaner to all of the windows, mirrors and glass surfaces in the home. Sure, the new owners could do that themselves but if you do it for them when they come to see the place they’ll get a nice, clean feeling from being in the home.

6. Double-check that everything in the home works properly. If a potential new home buyer comes into the home, flips a switch and the light doesn’t go on because the bulb is burned out, you may lose the sale of your home. Sure, it’s just a light bulb which can easily be replaced but it suggests that you haven’t made sure that everything in the home works. Go through the house and check that all lights work, all appliances are functioning properly, all doors open and close completely without squeaking, etc. This simple check of the home can go a long way towards increasing the chance of a sale.

7. Highlight the best features of the home. Does your home having amazing light fixtures? Make sure that they are shiny and visible. Does it have wonderful molding? Make sure that accent lights direct attention to these features. Of course, you’ll be able to tell potential buyers about these things but it’s best if you set up the home in such a way so that they can see it for themselves.

8. What’s that smell? People who are looking to buy a new home can be subtly affected by the smells in the house. Of course, if there are any pet odors or other bad smells then they may be turned off. Make sure that you’ve cleaned the carpets and aired out the home before you show it off to any potential buyers. You can go a step further, though, and add an appealing scent to the home. Now, this should be a strong perfume or air freshener. People’s tastes vary too much when it comes to that and you could turn off potential buyers. Instead, use a natural scent that people tend to like. Fresh-baked cookies, freshly-washed laundry or a BBQ grill outside all create a terrific home-y smell that make buyers able to see themselves living in the home.

9. Position yourself properly in the home. When showing the home, you want to be available to answer any questions but you don’t want to be intrusive. You should remain in easy-to-reach areas like the living room or hallways but don’t follow potential buyers into private rooms like the bedroom unless there’s something specific to show them there. You’ll want pets and kids to be absent from the home when you’re showing it off just to make the people seeing it more comfortable.

10. Set the temperature to a comfortable level. You want to make sure that the home is nice and cool if it’s the summer so that the people visiting it feel like they’re getting a respite from the heat outside. If it’s cooler outside, you’ll want to make sure the house is warm. And if it’s a perfect day outside then open a window or two and let in that nice breeze. You want to show the people who may decide to live here that this is a comfortable home all year long!