Showing Your Home

First impressions are lasting impressions.  It is very important to curate a plan to prepare for showings with your real estate agent.  Notice periods for showings can vary and they are generally booked in 1 hour timeslots.  Failing to plan is truly planning to fail when it comes to having successful showings.  

Here are some important concepts to consider to make sure that you have the most success from showing your home.

Say "Yes!"

Showings can be super inconvenient and disruptive however they are a necessary evil. Do you best to say "Yes" and not over complicate scheduling for the real estate agents showing your home to potential purchasers. Homes for sale that do not allow access seemlessly often wind up sitting on the market for extremely extended periods of time. 

Also, making sure that there is easy access to your home with the use of keyboxes is very important. Discuss the pros and cons of having a keybox on your home with your real estate agent. 

Make it a safe & private environment.

Creating a safe environment for a showing can incude a few variables.

  • If it is winter, make sure snow removal is completed and gravel or salt is managing the ice. There is nothing quite like having to dig yourself to a front door to ruin a showing experience. 
  • If it is summer time, making sure any and all overhanging trees and shrubs are trimmed.
  • Most showings happen in the evening and although it stays light late into the summer nights it is pitch-black by 4pm in the winter. Making sure that the exterior of your home is very well lit is important. 
  • If possible, remove your pets from the home. 

Last but not least, you may think your presense will help the real estate agent and their client by guiding them aruond and answering questions.  Unfortunately this is simply not true. Showings that have the best outcome are private showings. Allowing the real estate agent and their client to speak freely and helping the potential purchasers invision themselves making that home their own.  It is very important that you vacate your home during showings and provide privacy which include turning off any recording devices (at least turning off the audio!)

Accentuate the Positve

"How we live in a home and how we sell a home are often two different things."  Try to see your home with a fresh perspective and arrange each room to bring out its best attributes, including:

  • Make sure your home is clean. (Inside and Out)
  • Take out garbages, run dishwashers and washing machines. (Never leave dishes in the sink or stinky things around your home.)
  • Remove all unnecessary clutter to better display spacious rooms (consider storage or a garage sale to dispose of extraneous items).
  • Arrange all your rooms neatly and remove excess furniture.
  • Keep fresh, clean towels in the bathroom and kitchen. 
  • Make up all of the beds and flush cushions on couches and chairs throughout our house.

Put Your Home in the best possible light.
Strategically lighting your home, even during daytime showings, can create a cozy mood and highlight positive attributes of each room, so:

  • Open draperies and blinds to let the light in during the showing.
  • Avoid the use of overhead lighting that makes rooms look washed out and lifeless.
  • Be creative and arrange lamps to help smaller rooms seem larger, and large rooms seem more intimate.
  • Use lighting to highlight the "living areas" of your home, such as a pair of chairs near a fireplace, or a table in a breakfast area.

Romance your space.

  • Turn on some soft instrumental music.
  • Bakes some cookies or bread. The smell is hypnotzing. (If this is not possible, be VERY careful about smells. A soft Saje diffusor is the second best. We do not reccommend heavy smelling candles, Sensey or Glade products. They can be very aggravating for anyone who has allergies, smell sensativitys, Asthma or migrianes.)
  • Fresh flowers throughout your home can be a really nice touch. Especially if they come from your yard.  You can tie together the insdie and outside beauty of your home this way.
  • Make sure the temperature of your home is perfect!  Keep it around 21 degrees celcius. You want people to want to stay.
  • If you have a fireplace (and it wont heat the space up to much) turn it on. Create some ambiance and set the mood. 
  • If you have outdoor twinkly lights, light them up!  

Our hope is that when the real estate agent and their client walk through your home they feel like the photos didn't do it justice.  We hope to take the beautiful home aesthetic and turn it into the feelings one desires around home. This is not simple but if you lean into the advice your real estate agent gives you, you will have so much success!

Quick Summary Checklist - Showing Preparation

Occasionally you will receive a call to schedule a showing to take place within the next few minutes. The following is a checklist for this type of panic:

  • Sound: Turn off the television and turn on the instrumental music on low.
  • Sight: Turn on every light in the house (day or night) and open every drape and blind (day time only).
  • Odors: Heat some frozen pastry slowly in the oven or turn on a soft diffusor.  Less is more when it comes to smells.
  • Kitchen: Wipe kitchen counters, place dirty dishes in dishwasher. Take out all garbages and recyclables.
  • Bathrooms: Wipe counters, flush and close toilets.
  • Living/Family Rooms: Hide magazines, newspapers, and games; remove clutter.
  • Bedrooms: Straighten beds. Hide clutter under bed (not in closet).
  • Exterior: Put away toys and clutter. Keep walk clear. Turn on lights.
  • Pets: Best thing to do is remove pets from the property. If you cannot make sure they are kennelled. 
  • Goodbye: Sorry, but this is the single most important thing you can do in a showing to help sell your home! Even if the showing agent insists that it is okay to stay, you must leave. Buyers must get emotionally committed to your home to buy it and they cannot become emotional about "their new home" if you, the current owners, are "hanging around." Please, at the very least, go into the backyard. Even better, go to the store.

Request a FREE printable Showing Prep Checklist

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