5 Easy Ways to Have a Successful Open House

Selling your home can be a tedious task. Between setting up your property, working with brokers and realtors, creating a marketing plan, and attracting buyers, you’ll spend countless hours to make sure everything is perfect. Among the most important things a seller can do when preparing to sell their home is to devise a well-thought-out plan for an open house. The open house is often the “closer” for many buyers and will make them fall in love with your home. In fact, 48% of all buyers attended an open house before making a final purchase. Here are five tips on how to have a successful open house and make buyers fall in love with your home!

The first thing that will disinterest potential buyers is a messy home. When preparing for your open house, the first item on your to-do list should always be to clean and organize the entirety of the property. Make sure to declutter each room and get rid of any unnecessary items that don’t add to the atmosphere of the room. The property should feel lived-in but not messy, and each room should have a clear atmosphere and intended use. Be sure to also clean up signs of pets; while you certainly love the furry members of your family, others might not – or worse, they may be allergic to your pet’s fur.

 

It is also a good idea to deep clean all of your surfaces: hardwood floors, carpets, countertops, and so on. A good deep cleaning of these surfaces will make each room feel brand new. You can tackle a big cleaning event as a weekend project or hire professionals if you feel like your home can benefit from a major cleaning.

When preparing your home to be shown on the market, you’ll want to stage it to demonstrate the potential of each space. You’ll typically want to reduce the amount of furniture you have in each room and choose pieces that accentuate the details of each space. Staging your home will bring it to life and turn it into a place in which prospective buyers can imagine themselves living. Agents report that a vast majority of buyers found a property’s staging was key in helping them visualize living in the home. In addition, a well-staged home will not only attract buyers and make them fall in love with your property, but it can lead to a higher final sale price and a shorter selling process. Consider working with a real estate professional to help create a home that buyers can’t resist and get you the best results out of your staging.

Small changes can make a big difference in a home’s presentation. You may want to take a couple of weeks before you begin showing your home to make small updates to its details. Some things, such as a fresh coat of paint on your walls, new lighting fixtures, and other detailed finishing touches, will breathe new life into a room and overhaul the entire atmosphere. These small details, in addition to potentially adding value to the home’s final sale price, will go a long way in making potential buyers fall in love with your property.

Every home has something that ties the whole property together; sometimes, it’s a unique architectural style, a stunning backyard, or perhaps a wondrous kitchen. Think about what parts of the home are your favorite and which parts made you fall in love with the property in the first place, and brainstorm how you can best present those features to buyers. You should have a list of two or three main features that you think add a unique quality to your home. When setting up and staging your home prior to your open house, figure out the best ways to draw attention to and accentuate these features. Perhaps the right furniture will frame a grand fireplace perfectly, a weekend gardening project will turn your backyard into a family-friendly paradise, or an open house at the right time of day will spotlight a beautiful view.

Your realtor will be in charge of marketing your home to prospective buyers during the open house, so it’s important that you communicate well with them and establish a plan before the event. Before the open house, make sure you spend some time on the property with them to share your knowledge of the home. Nobody knows your home as well as you do, so you’ll want to make sure that your realtor has a deep understanding of all of your property’s details so they can communicate its best qualities to your prospective buyers. Once you make a plan with your realtor for showing the home, have them tour the property with you acting as an interested buyer; this will help you understand how your property will be marketed and what changes to the plan you and your realtor should make before the open house.

 

It is also important that, once you devise a plan with your realtor that you are happy with, you trust them to handle the open house without your oversight during the event. It can be awkward for potential buyers to tour a home in front of the seller, so make sure that you’re satisfied with your plan before the event so that you can let your realtor take control of the situation on their own.

Spanning both California and Nevada, Lake Tahoe has long been one of the premier mountainside destinations for residents of the southwest. If you’re still wondering how to make an open house successful or want to learn more about real estate in the picturesque Lake Tahoe area, reach out to a real estate agency like Live Tahoe Real Estate. Chris and Brooke Hernandez are Tahoe area experts and will help you find the perfect buyer and earn top dollar.