Open wide for open houses! Homes shown in open houses sell for $9,000 more than homes that are never open. Yet many open houses don’t lead to quick sales.
You should conduct an open house, but you shouldn’t do one just yet. You need to prepare your home for an open house by following a few essential steps.
What should you do with all your stuff? How can you clean your home within a few weeks of your first open house? How can you make the interior and exterior more beautiful?
Answer these questions and you can turn open houses into thousands of dollars. Here is your quick guide.
Unload Your Personal Items
You should remove any furnishings or items that cause clutter in your house. If you have an attic or basement that your guests will not be visiting, you can place your items in there.
If you don’t, you can move your items to a friend’s house. You don’t have to move everything you don’t use out. Feel free to store some items in your closets, which can demonstrate to your guests how they can use your closets.
But make sure your closets are neat and tidy. You should use coat hangers to hang jackets, shirts, and bulky linens. Items on shelves should be folded and sorted based on their types.
You can consider selling your items. This will give you extra money you can put into home renovations or your moving process.
Depersonalize Your Home
Depersonalizing your home will allow your guests to envision themselves in each room. The more freedom your guests have to see themselves in your home, the more likely they are to buy your home.
Remove personal items like pictures of yourself, drawings from your children, and mementos from vacations. You can also remove any valuables, as these objects can get stolen. Throw away any paperwork that has your personal information on it, especially details like your Social Security number.
You can leave picture frames on the walls. The frames can help your guests realize that they can hang up their own artwork. Replace the pictures in them with high-quality photos you find online.
Clean Your Entire House
You should start cleaning your home a month before your first open house. You can start with the exterior and work inward.
Clean your rain gutters, windows, and screens. If your paint is chipped or peeling, you should add a new coat. If your lawn does not look good, add fertilizer so the grass grows.
Inside your house, you should vacuum all surfaces, including the tops of your tables. Spray antibacterial spray on your tables so you remove stains and harmful microbes. Polish your picture frames and the insides of your windows so they are sparkling.
Remove tattered carpets, mats, or rugs. You can roll them up and place them in your attic or move them into a closet.
Keep your pets outside so they don’t make a mess in your home before the open house. You can also ask a neighbor or real estate agent to take care of them until your open house is over.
If you keep plants inside your home, make sure they are healthy. If they start to die, move them out of your house and install new ones.
Along the way, make a few easy home upgrades to make your home more sellable. Add mirrors to your bathroom and buy new kitchen appliances.
The day before your open house, you should do a sniff test in each room and remove any odors. You can use a reed diffuser to mask scents you don’t want your guests to detect.
Organize Each Room
Once you’ve cleaned each room, you need to arrange the room so all important features are visible. A guest should be able to see the bed in the bedroom or the television and computer in the living room. Move furniture around and install new lights.
In your kitchen, you should go through your utensils and dishes and make sure like items are together. The drawers should also be completely functional, even if you don’t use them often.
Use colors and textures to make each room visually appealing. Painting your ceilings and the bottom halves of your walls white can make your home seem bigger, even if it is small. Glass reflects the light, so you can use glass to make your home brighter and more inviting.
Make Your Home Appealing From the Curb
People want to buy homes that look pretty. If your home looks good from the curb, you will find it easier to sell your home.
Cleaning the exterior of your home is one way to increase your curb appeal. Many people like to lounge in their yards, so placing a hammock or outdoor furniture can be appealing. You can also plant some flowers around the front of your house.
Tricks to boost curb appeal include redoing the walkway. If the slabs or tiles leading up to your front door are broken, you should replace them with new ones. You can add flat flagstones, which are easy to walk on and can create an interesting color clash with your grass.
If you want to decorate your door, you should add a seasonal wreath. If you’re selling your home in the autumn, you can make your own wreath by weaving together sticks and fall leaves. You can also hang a Christmas wreath during the winter months.
Prepare Your Home for Open Houses in No Time
You must prepare your home for at least one month prior to your open house. Get your personal items out of your home so you have less clutter and so you depersonalize your property.
Do a deep clean on your property, including the exterior. Organize every room so a guest can see what the purpose of the room is. Increase your curb appeal through a few simple steps, including replacing the walkway.
You don’t have to wait weeks to sell your home. We Buy Houses serves the Nashville area. Contact us today.
