There’s a saying, ‘you only get one chance to make a first impression’.
Opening your home to potential buyers might feel like a daunting experience. But, with the right preparation and a few tricks up your sleeve, you can have your house prepped and ready for a successful inspection. From ensuring a clean and clutter-free environment to creating an inviting atmosphere with strategic use of lighting and styling, there are plenty of ways to help maximise the appeal of your home to prospective buyers.
It’s a good idea to keep all your interior lights on for open homes to make rooms appear as bright and open as possible. Pay special attention to any kitchen or bathroom feature lighting, especially ones that help showcase natural stone or marble. Bar areas or entertaining spaces often feature cabinetry lighting, so it’s important you showcase these key selling points to their full potential.
For natural lighting, a good trick in real estate is think coffee vs. cocktail hour. When is the best time to showcase your home to its full potential? East-facing homes will get beautiful sunrises and full morning sun until about noon, so an earlier open home is often best. If your home doesn’t get a lot of natural light, afternoons are generally ideal and you can incorporate ‘cocktail hour’ into your styling!
Of course your agent will advise the prime times for open homes in your area — this will also depend on the property. For instance, if you’re near a school you’ll want to schedule your open homes well outside school drop off/pick up hours to avoid the chaos.
Creating a warm, inviting mood helps potential buyers form a connection to your property from the moment they arrive. We suggest playing soft music in the background — streaming services offer playlists for open homes, but you can’t go wrong with chilled out acoustics or café-style tunes to help boost your home’s appeal.
Scent also plays a big part in a successful showing, but try not to overwhelm potential buyers. Candles in bathrooms are a nice touch and help provide soft lighting, or essential oils in a diffuser can help freshen the space (again, keep the scents subtle so as not to overwhelm buyers).
If you’ve been to a few open homes you might have come across the old trick of baking a pie or cake right before an open home. This is a particularly popular tactic with country homes and a very inviting way of showcasing the potential lifestyle (ie. country life, home-style cooking) on offer.
Fresh flowers are always a nice touch!
This can be a tricky one to get right. Utilising temperature control is often a safe bet, but for some properties, airflow is preferable. If your home features large French doors or sliding panels, open them up and keep the air-conditioning running in bedrooms during summer. Certain homes will call for fresh breeze — like Queenslanders for instance, especially if they feature period windows/ shutters it can be nice to keep them open.
If you’re fortunate enough to have a gas/ electric fireplace featured in your property, make sure you have it running! They are generally huge selling points for buyers and make for excellent wow factor, so make the most of it. Running a wood fireplace can be a lovely touch during winter, especially in period or country/hinterland homes where they’ll be well-utilised over the colder months.
Make sure beds are not only made, but styled! If you’re unsure of how to style your home, you might like to bring in a professional stylist to stage the house for sale. This can be a good option if your linen, bedding and throw pillows need updating but you’re not sure you want to invest in something that might not suit your next property. It also takes the hassle out of styling everything yourself at an already stressful time.
If you’re styling the property yourself, be sure to keep furniture at a minimum so the rooms appear spacious. In the kitchen, put tea towels and dishcloths out of site. In bathrooms, display fresh towels and linen neatly and close the toilet seat lids before viewings.
Having your property spotless for open homes seems like a given. But often we forget that potential buyers are going to inspect the property thoroughly, meaning they’re likely to open kitchen cabinets/drawers to check for storage. So, make sure garbage bins are emptied and your cabinets/cupboards are well organised. Put piles of paperwork away in storage and clear bench tops of clutter. Pay special attention to kids’ bedrooms where toys can take over. Ask kids to choose a few toys to keep out and pop the rest away until after you’re done with viewings (good luck with that)!
Be sure to make arrangements for pets and children during viewing times, to help make the experience as calm as possible for potential buyers.
For the first few weeks, ensure your schedule is flexible to accommodate viewings. This will offer potential buyers more opportunities to walk through your home. During the initial weeks of your listing, it’s a good idea to offer both private viewings and open house events.
Visit property.credit for more information on our services or you can contact us on 1300 829 536 (au) or 03 668 2144 (nz).
This article is for general information purposes only and is not intended as financial product advice. Consider seeking independent financial advice that relates to your individual circumstances.
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