Holding an open house is a great way to show off your home to potential buyers. But how do you make sure people actually show up to browse the merchandise?
Here are some tips from seasoned local realtors who know exactly what you need to do to not only get people through the door, but to make sure they like what they see once they’re inside.
1. Pay attention to your curb appeal.
The first thing people see is your home’s exterior. Buyers frequently drive around looking for open houses on the weekends, but if they don’t think your house looks good from their car window, they will simply drive away.
“The outside of your home should look immaculate,” says Mary Ellen Ellwood, a real estate agent at Century 21 in Southold. “It’s the one thing that will determine whether they actually stop and come inside.”
Millie Thomas, owner of Landmark Realty, agrees. “If people see that your house isn’t well kept on the outside, they’ll think the rest of it isn’t well kept, either.”
So what can you do to spruce things up?
You can start by cutting your lawn and trimming the hedges, Ellwood says. You can also power-wash any sidewalks, patios or driveways. Replace or paint any shutters that are looking under the weather.
“And make sure the front door looks great,” Thomas adds. “Paint it if you need to. It needs to look inviting.”
2. De-clutter.
Potential buyers need to be able to imagine themselves living in your house. Unfortunately, it’s harder for them to do that when your home is full of family photographs, knick-knacks and other sorts of personal memorabilia.
“People want to think about their own belongings inside the house,” Thomas says.
Even though those items and photographs might have special meaning to you, it can be distracting for someone who is trying to imagine a life in your home.
“De-clutter, and then de-clutter again,” says Ellwood. “A lot of these knick-knacks can become invisible to you over the years, but they can really draw people’s attention away from the house.”
“If you’re planning on moving anyway, you’re going to have to start packing those things sooner or later,” Thomas adds.
And if you’ve got any hunters in your house, make sure that there aren’t any taxidermized animal busts mounted to the walls. That might offend prospective buyers who happen to be animal lovers as well.
3. Create as much natural light as possible.
Bright, natural light can make any room look more inviting. So throw open those blinds and curtains to let in as much natural light as possible.
“You want as much sunlight coming into the house as you can get,” Ellwood says. “Turn on the lights, too. You want the house to look bright.”
But anyone who’s studied photography knows that any subject looks its best in natural sunlight.
“Everyone likes things light and bright these days,” Thomas says.
4. Clean your house thoroughly.
Buyers want to know that you take good care of your house. A clean home is the first sign of that.
“If they know the owner takes pride in their house and maintains it well, there’s less likely to be any surprises after the house is bought,” Thomas says.
So make sure your home is clean before you invite buyers into it. Clean the windows, mop the floors and scrub any spots off the walls. If you’re feeling really ambitious, a fresh coat of paint in a neutral color can make any room look like new again.
And be sure not to miss any dark corners. You don’t want any stray cobwebs to be illuminated by all that light pouring in through the windows.
“The sunlight might hit those corners you don’t normally see,” Ellwood says. “I always have a Swiffer in the car so I can run out and get it, just in case.”
5. Get rid of pet or cigarette odors.
If you’ve got an animal living in the house, chances are, you’ve got pet odor lingering, too.
“It’s a sensitive topic,” Thomas says. “Homeowners get used to the smell of their pets. But you’ve got to take steps to make sure you eliminate that. ”
Local pet stores like Petco and PetSmart sell many affordable products to remove pet odors from your home. “People don’t want to buy a house that has a pet odor, especially if they don’t have pets of their own,” she says.
Cigarette odor can be a little tougher to remove. Shampoo your carpets, scrub your walls and wash any cloth items where smoke might be lingering, like throw pillows or curtains. You may even need to repaint some rooms where cigarette odor has settled into the walls.
“I tell people who smoke to try to have their cigarette outside while the house is on the market,” Ellwood says. “You don’t want those smells to be the first thing that hit people when they walk in the door.”
But make sure you don’t light half a dozen candles during the open house. “People see that and wonder what smell you’re trying to hide,” Ellwood says.
Instead, bake an apple pie or a plate of cookies. “When people walk inside, you want it to smell like home,” Thomas says.
6. Get out of the house – and get your pets and kids out, too.
Overeager homeowners during an open house might want to discuss their homes with prospective buyers, or even give the tour themselves.
But Thomas knows from experience that this can prevent a buyer from really looking at the house.
“People seem to avoid the room that the homeowners are in,” she says. “If the homeowners are sitting in the kitchen, people will breeze through the kitchen. They might feel funny about checking a drawer to see how it closes, or opening a pantry if the homeowner is sitting right there.”
And though homeowners who want to give tours themselves may be well-meaning, it can be a turn-off for buyers.
“Buyers have their own agendas,” Thomas says. “They might be seeing four or five houses that day, and they don’t have time to listen to a homeowner talk to them for an hour. Let the realtor do their job. You hired us to sell the house, so let us sell it.”
So take your dog for a walk around the neighborhood, or bring your kids out for lunch. Both pets and children can be distracting for buyers, especially those who are afraid of dogs.
And if you have to stay home during the open house, try to relax outside instead.
7. Remove or hide your valuables.
Safety is important, and though the realtor will be supervising the buyers inside your home, you don’t want to take any chances with your valuables.
So hide any jewelry, cash or bank statements that might be lying around your bedroom or home office. Put your gun collection in the garage or basement under some blankets.
“It’s not a good idea to leave those sorts of thing out into the open,” Ellwood says.
8. Get a pre-listing inspection.
Although they may run on the expensive side – about $400, says Thomas – a pre-listing inspection can save you a lot of money in the long run.
Leaks or malfunctioning heating systems may only take you a couple hundred dollars to fix, but a buyer might take off several thousand dollars from your asking price if those things aren’t fixed beforehand.
“The buyer is going to assume the worst,” Thomas says. “They’re going to get an inspector anyway, and those things are going to come up then, so take care of them before they become an issue.”