With 90% of buyers starting their home search online, your ‘first showing’ is often a digital one.
A showing appointment booked by the buyer’s agent is one of the most important steps in selling your home. It is your chance to really show off your home to potential buyers!
How to Prepare Your Home for a Showing
With 90% of home buyers starting their home search online, your ‘first showing’ is often a digital one. That’s why home staging and professional photos and video of your home are so important. It’s also why The Peggy Hill Team offers our clients complimentary home staging and complimentary professional photos and video.
Showing appointments should be treated with great care. They are your home’s chance to make a great first impression and leave buyers dreaming about buying your home! With a little bit of effort, you can greatly increase your home’s appeal to potential buyers. Removing any distractions will allow the buyers to focus on the best features of your home and what their lives could look like if they lived there.
Since you’ve likely already listed your home, you will have already staged your home and taken care of any minor repairs and renovations, but there are a few tasks to keep in mind for showings while your home is on the market. The checklist below will tell you how to prepare your home for a showing and ensure that your home always makes a great first impression:
Curb Appeal
- You want to draw the buyers in with a ‘WOW’ as they drive up to your home!
- Make sure your lawn is cut and trimmed and the gardens are weeded in the summer and that snow is shovelled in the winter.
- Add some seasonal decorative pots or flowers. This will greatly enhance your curb appeal.
- Pick up outdoor tools such as shovels, rakes, lawnmowers etc.
- Pick up after your pets.
- Remove any obstructions from curb view, i.e. garbage and recycling bins.
- Clear driveways and walkways.
- Remove any seasonal decorations promptly.
Inside the Home
Once inside, you want to keep that feeling of ‘WOW’:
- Open curtains and blinds to let natural light flood in.
- Turn on the lights for evening showings.
- Turn on your fireplace (if applicable) to create a cozy atmosphere.
- Set the home to a comfortable temperature – if your home is too hot or too cold, the buyers may think there is a problem with the heating or air conditioning.
- Make sure all noisy radios and TVs are turned off. Contrary to what you may have been told, loud music is distracting to the buyers and may hinder their ability to talk to each other during the showing.
- Make sure rugs are clean and straight.
- Empty wastebaskets.
- Clean off counters by putting away dishes and small appliances in the kitchen.
- Put away toiletries in the bathroom and ensure that the sink, toilet, and showers are clean and the toilet seat is down.
- Pick up dirty clothes.
- Make sure all beds are made.
- Deodorize pet areas and tidy up any toys or pet bedding. Be careful not to ‘over-deodorize’ or buyers may think that you are trying to hide something.
- Do a “once-over” cleaning: vacuum, sweep, dust.
- Set out your special occasion towels (kitchen and bathroom). Hint: remove them after the showing so you can use them again next time!
- These next items may not always be possible but will add to the atmosphere of your home:
- Set a fresh flower arrangement in the kitchen or main living area.
- Create a pleasant smell by having fresh baking in the oven or potpourri throughout the home.
Preparing your home for a showing may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be! Get the whole family to pitch in, and you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in a short period of time and how big of a difference this attention to detail can make. If you’ll be away from the house all day, try to work these tasks into your morning routine so your home is ready, even for last-minute showing requests. You never know which showing will be the ‘The One’!
For more tips on how to stage, go to remax.ca and check out their guide to home staging.