How to Prepare for a House Viewing

Selling your house is a major endeavor and should be taken very seriously. There are many houses on the market today, but not so many buyers. If you want to sell your house quickly, and for top dollar you need to make every square inch of your house count! By preparing correctly for a house showing or open house, you can maximize the viewer's interest in your house and maybe even get an offer! There are many simple practices you can take to prepare your house and make it look appealing to any buyer. Follow these guidelines when preparing for a house showing and the person viewing your house will not forget it!

The first thing you need to do is to be sure your house is SPOTLESS! I don't mean just clean, but absolutely sparkling. Every corner should be vacuumed and dusted, every ledge wiped clean and all fixtures should sparkle. Your bathrooms need to be free of mold and mildew and soap scum. Every spot in your house should look brand new. The appearance of new items makes the buyer much more likely to be interested in your house. Even though they may not notice how it sparkles, if your house is dirty, they will notice that for sure and be turned off by the dust and dirt. Keep your house clean all the time so that if anyone wants to see the house on short notice, you can do a quick clean up before they come.

The next thing you will want to do is remove personal items. Pictures and memorabilia that involve you and your family members should be minimized. You want the buyer to focus on your house and not on the family living there. If you are trying to appeal to a family buyer, you can leave some pictures of your kids out so that they can recognize it is a great house for a family.

Also, try to leave only neutral decorations out. If you love to display your collections from traveling and hobbies, you may want to put them away while trying to sell your house. Some people may be turned off by foreign decorations and get a bad feeling while in your house. It is just best to allow the house to feel very neutral so that the owner can envision their own family living there.

One great tip for a house viewing is fresh flowers. They bring ambience to any house and people love to see flowers. Do not over do it, but a vase on the table and in the bedroom filled with fresh flowers will make the house stand out among all the others.

Another fun way to prepare for people to view your house is to do some baking. Cookies that are fresh from the oven leave a delicious smell and will help the house to feel extra homey. This especially applies if you are trying to sell to a buyer with children.

Another essential step in preparing for your house viewing is to remove any evidence of a pet. Some people will not buy a home that housed animals and will be turned off right away. Take the pet with you and hide any food and water dishes. Completely remove the litter box if you have a cat as they can be very unattractive and smelly!

Many people can walk into a home and know within three minutes if they like it. These first impressions are so important to you as a seller, so be sure the entry way is clean and tidy and that the house follows suit. A clean house will always sell over a dirty house, so clean away, and wait for those offers to come in!