What do you need to do to make your home show beautifully?
I know the truth of the matter—we all live differently than when our home is on the market and we’re trying to sell it. When I was selling my home, I even vacated it so I could stage it properly.
Here are a few tips that will make your home shine when it’s time to sell it.
1. Light your home up. Turn up all the lights and open all the blinds and curtains. We live in Portland where it can get a little gray sometimes, so no matter what, make your home as bright as possible. A good agent should turn on lights while they’re showing a home, but you never know for sure, so take care of that task for them.
2. Clear the counters. In the bathroom, you may have hairspray bottles that need to be cleared. In the kitchen, you might have a coffee maker and a toaster oven that need to be removed. In any case, clear your counters so they look big and expansive and remove all personal items sitting on them.
3. Clean the house. You can never have your house be too clean. You want it to look like a model home.
4. Create an inviting scent. It doesn’t hurt to bake some cookies or do whatever you need to do to make the home smell good. You want people to stay longer than they normally would, and creating an inviting scent can do the trick. Avoid odors that are overly pungent or overwhelming, though. This means no fish dinners the night before.
5. Set the thermostat to a pleasing temperature. I once had a client who was out of town for a showing and set their home’s thermostat at an arctic freeze. As soon as we walked into that home with the potential buyer, we walked right back out. It was that uncomfortable. You don’t want your home to have that kind of effect. You want people to want to stay inside it.
6. Depersonalize the home. If you have a lot of trinkets, pictures, or other personal items cluttering the interior, people won’t remember the home itself. Remove these kinds of things and hide them. That includes anything for your pets as well.
If you have any more questions about making your home shine during a showing or you’re thinking about buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help you.
