Open House Tips for Home Sellers

When selling your home, an open house or buyer walkthrough is an outstanding opportunity for potential buyers to see your home.  Not only are they able to see your entire house, both inside and out, but they can begin to picture themselves living there.

Often, however, home sellers are unsure what they should do to prepare for an open house and what to expect from the process.  Here are a few tips from the pros!

Don’t be there during the open house

We realize that you may want to be there, but trust us, an open house or buyer walkthrough will be much more productive without you there.  Not only will buyers be much more comfortable while they’re there, but they’ll be more open about what they do and don’t like, potentially giving your Real Estate Agent valuable information to make your home more attractive to potential buyers.

The goal of the open house is to provide your Real Estate Agent with an opportunity to engage with interested buyers and that will be much easier if they’re comfortable and relaxed.  While we completely understand wanting to be there, it’s strongly recommended that you leave the open house and showings to the professionals.

Tidy up before the open house

Preparing your home for the open house can significantly increase your chances of finding a buyer.  Here are a few things you can do now to ensure your home puts its best foot forward:

Depersonalize: You want potential buyers to be able to imagine their families living in your current home and your family photos can be a bit of a disconnect.  Depersonalizing may seem like a silly thing, but it can make a huge difference.

Tidy up and declutter: A clean, tidy, house looks larger, appears better cared for, and is easier to sell.  Before the open house, clear any clutter and clean through the house to ensure that everything is ready for the potential buyers.

Put valuables away: Keep in mind that anyone can come into your home during an open house and, while rare, things can go missing.  To avoid potential issues, it’s always a good idea to put valuables away in a safe place.

Find a place for pets: Whether you’re able to take your dog with you or find a friend or family member to watch your cat during the open house, it’s always recommended to find a place for your pets so that they’re not home during the open house or showing.  Having people in the house they don’t know can be stressful for your pet, plus you don’t want to risk them getting out of the house as well.

Make your house smell nice: You want your home to smell clean and inviting without smelling like you covered something up.  Lightly spray an air freshener, put out a couple of oil diffusers, or better yet – bake some cookies before you leave!  Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh baked cookies?

Discuss key features with your Real Estate Agent before the open house

Your Real Estate Agent is the perfect person to present your home during the open house but may be unfamiliar with key features like radiant heat, certain home fixtures, or what content items may be sold with the house.  Before the open house, take some time to review any items or features that may be a potential selling point with your real estate agent so that they’re prepared.

The right Real Estate Agent will be able to help with everything from recommendations to prepare the house for sale, to the open house and buyer showings, right through to the closing and will be happy to answer any questions that may come up during the process.

Consider addressing known issues before the open house

Have you been meaning to finish painting a room?  Do you have a moisture or Mold issue in your basement or attic?  Do you have a high Radon level?  These are all issues that could come up during the buyer’s walkthrough or home inspection, so it’s a great idea to address these issues ahead of time.

While we firmly believe that issues discovered during the home inspection can generally be resolved without affecting the ultimate sale of the property, some buyers can be scared off by these issues.  Instead of waiting for these issues to be discovered by the buyer or their home inspector, addressing these issues now will help your house show better and could speed up the closing!

We hope this answered some of your questions and hope you have a wonderful open house!

As always, if you or your buyers home inspector discover an issue like Water Damage, Mold, Asbestos, or Radon and need professional assistance, please don’t hesitate to Contact Your Local Disaster Blaster. We’re always here to help!

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