Prepare Yourself For Showings and Get Your Home Sold

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Prepare Yourself For Showings

Prepare yourself for showings of your home, and you’ll be on your way to getting it sold. You've already talked with your agent about the physical work involved to get a home ready to show, but have you talked about the other events that may take place while the house is on the market? Getting a basic education in Buyers 101 will help prepare you for the realities of showing your home. Just keep in mind that if it’s priced right, these events will only be temporary, until you sell your home.

Be Ready to Show at All Times

Sellers should be aware that same-day and even last-minute requests for showings are common, so a seller with a '24 hour notice to show' stipulation often cuts himself out of a good chunk of the buying market. The only standard hefty lag time that should be necessary is when you must give ample notice to a tenant.

Once a house gets tagged difficult to show by agents, you won't receive as many calls to show it.

If you choose to make showings difficult, understand now that it will cut down on showings, and fewer showings equals fewer potential buyers.

Keep it Flexible

Most agents do try to arrive within the scheduled showing time, but sometimes it just isn't possible. They may get stuck in traffic, or the house they saw prior to your showing took longer than expected. It happens, and sometimes it happens too late to be fixed by a phone call.

If you can, stay away from home a little longer than you think is necessary, just to make sure that you don't interrupt a showing. Good agents will usually give you an hour window just in case.

Sellers Who Want to Be Present

Seller who wants to be present for showings This is always a bad idea when you are trying to prepare yourself for showings. You may think agents and buyers won't be able to find everything, or that you must be there to point out important features. Most sellers just want to be present to see buyer reaction firsthand. This is a no no.

You need to be aware that at the very least buyers feel uncomfortable when you are present, and that it can actually kill a sale. Buyers often won't even open closet or cabinet doors when the seller is home, and when they cannot view a house comfortably, they'll hurry up and move on to the next one. The longer they spend in your home, the more probable it is that they’ll write an offer. They need to feel at home. And they can’t do that if they’re rushing through the house and out the door, while they’re being watched.

Most sellers want to talk, and not just about the house. You never know when a buyer will be turned off by your mood, or by a statement that you make. Buyers are there to look at the house, not chit chat about hobbies or the weather or worse--politics and other controversial topics.

If you must be home during a showing, please either go outside or stay put in one location. Don’t wander around with the agent and buyers. And again, if at all possible, don’t be there.

Sellers Who Want Their Agent To Be Present for All Showings

If you're selling a large estate or complicated property, it might be the norm to plan on your agent being present for all showings, but it's not necessary or smart for the typical house.

Other agents generally feel uncomfortable with the listing agent hanging around, listening to and participating in conversations with potential buyers. If the other agent is representing the buyers as a buyer's agent, he or she won't be free to have open discussions about the house in front of the listing agent.

There's another negative that may be more important: busy agents don't have time to work around your schedule. Requiring the listing agent to be present for all showings is another way to give the house that difficult to show reputation.

If you are worried about theft of small items, you should store them away. Packing up collections and small personal items is part of the process you should have already gone through to prepare yourself for showings of your home.

Pets Must Be Controlled

Pets should be out of the house during showings, especially large dogs, since many people are afraid of them. A gruff bark coming from inside the house is enough to make some home buyers turn around at the front door.

If there are pet odors, this needs to be remedied before the first showing. Most people are not aware of odors in their own home. You don't want buyers to remember the home as the house that smells. Yes, I have heard that one before from buyers. The husband says, “Honey which kitchen did you like the best?” At which point she says “the second one, I think”. “Was that the house that smelled?” “Oh no, it was the other one.”

Make Your Home Clean and Non Personal

Hopefully, your agent has walked through your home with you and been over the very basics to prepare your home for sale. Here’s a run-down of some of my favorites, just in case.

• Clean, Clean, Clean – make sure your home is spotless with all clothes put Spotless home that is clean and non personal away and everything in it’s place.
• No personal photos anywhere. This is an adjustment for some people, but if buyers are going to sign on the dotted line they have to be able to picture it as their home, and they can’t do that with pictures of your kids, grandkids or pets on the wall, fridge, dresser, etc.
• Clear off the kitchen countertops. Leave only a couple of small appliances on the counter and clear the rest.
• All blinds and curtains need to be opened before showings. Natural light is always a selling point, and the more of it that comes into every room the better.
• The home needs to smell as fresh as possible. In most cases, this boils down to maintaining a level of clean, but be conscious of it.
• No matter what the season, curb appeal matters. Keep the view from the curb and the grounds in acceptable condition. A few select placed flowers, or at the very least as clean and “well kept” looking as possible.
• In short, the home needs to feel almost like a high end vacation rental. To you as the homeowner, it will almost feel “sterile”. If it does, it will be non personable enough for the buyers to picture themselves living there. And even if the décor is not to their tastes, it will be very easy for them to envision their own changes as easier to make.

And lastly, if you have a smaller home and tons of furniture, brace yourself, put 40% of your furniture in storage until the house sells. Any furniture that looks too big in the space or that you don't use every day, pack it away in storage until you move. You want home buyers to be able to see what they're buying. Your beautiful home. Not looking at spaces that are so packed that they have to figure out which way to walk from room to room.

All of these tips will help prepare yourself for showings of your home and “draw” a steady supply of potential buyers to help you get the true market value for your home in a timely fashion. If we can be of any assistance to you, give us a call or email us at homes@sandhillsnc.com .

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