1. Stage your home
Staging your home before showings is extremely important to set the right appearance for potential buyers.
Key things you can do are:
- Put away personal items such as family photographs or sentimental and unique knick knacks.
- Clear the clutter, make sure everything is tucked away out of sight – but remember, buyers will likely look into closets to see how much storage space is available so the inside of those need to be organized well too!
- Clean up and keep it throughly clean until showing time!
- Remove all pet items (if applicable). Also take your pet for a walk during the showing or see if there is somewhere they can stay so they won’t be in the house. This will avoid any issues with buyers who are not comfortable around pets or suffer from allergies.
If you would prefer to hire a professional, you can find local, vetted stagers and cleaners in our Prō Marketplace.
2. Keep safety as a top priority
With Covid-19 still a factor in our daily lives it is important to remember to conduct showings in a way that will keep everyone healthy and make buyers feel safe to be in your home.
Some things you can do are:
- Disinfect before and after showings, specifically: door handles and nobs, light switches, faucets and soap dispensers.
- Leave all interior doors in the home open and lights left on and encourage buyers to leave them this way when departing.
- Consider having hand sanitizer at the front door for visitors to use upon entering and exiting the home.
- Take out the garbage and line trash bins with clean liners.
- Hang fresh hand towels and put out fresh soap.
- Sanitize your phone, tablet, and any other electronic devices used regularly.
3. Brighten up the space
Lighting is so important in order to create an amazing first impression. Turn on lights in your home and open blinds to let natural light in. Brightening up your space will make it appear more open and welcoming.
4. Make it comfortable
Comfort is a super important aspect of any home – and potential buyers will certainly be looking to feel comfortable in their future space. Adjust the temperature to a pleasant level, turn off electronic screens, and use subtle fresh scents. Avoid any scents that have a strong smell which buyers may be sensitive to.
5. Consider leaving the house
Buyers often prefer to have time and space when viewing a home. Sellers may be tempted to walk around the home, take on the role of a great host, and point out all their amazing home features to the buyers – but it’s best to leave them to it on their own and let your space speak for itself. We suggest you take a walk or wait outside to give buyers privacy during the showing. Ultimately, as a self-represented seller the decision of how to handle this is completely up to you and your comfort level with not being present during the showings.
6. Ask for feedback
A great practice when selling your home is to ask the buyers (or their agent if applicable) for feedback about the showing. It can be an excellent opportunity to learn what you could change to impress future potential buyers. The Bōde online messaging feature makes it easy to send a quick note asking for this feedback! This is definitely a valuable way to gather insight into what an outside perspective thinks of your property, and present you with information that could help you to sell your home.
