It’s Showtime!

So you’ve signed the listing agreement and now your home is officially up for sale. But that is just one of the first steps in the sales process. After the listing agreement has been signed you still have a whole host of things to do in order to get your house ready for showtime.

First Impression, Lasting Impression

The first impression of your home is the lasting impression buyers have of your home. So needless to say the first impression must be the best impression. In order to get your home ready for showtime and to make lasting impression, follow the tips outlined below. 

10 Tips to Get Your House Ready for Showtime

Tip #1 Clean, clean, clean! Have your home professionally deep cleaned and keep it clean throughout the period it is listed. If you don’t have the time to do the maintenance yourself, hire a professional housekeeper to clean regularly. 

Tip #2 Declutter and Depersonalize. Buyers don’t want to see your house they want to see themselves in their new home. Before you put the home up for sale, pack away your “clutter” and depersonalize the house. Depersonalize the house gives it a mass appeal. You want any configuration of buyer to feel they can make your house a home, so pack away the family photos.

If you make the house appealing to all possible buyers, you will have a contract in no time, and those family photos won’t be in storage for too long.

Remember you never get a second chance to make a good first impression!.

Tip #3 Store all valuables. In order to sell the house you must show the house as often as possible. Unfortunately with letting strangers in, even ones that are vetted and come with an agent, there is no telling you might have sticky fingers. So if you can’t afford to lose it, store it.

Tip #4 Deodorize the home. The sense of smell is one of the strongest senses humans have. So you don’t want wet Toto’s smell wafting into potential buyer’s noses when they first walk in the home. Deodorize the house with fresh and clean smelling scents like lavender and lemon.  

Tip #5 Curb Appeal & Backyard Appeal – When buyers arrive at your home their very first impression will be the curb. So it is extremely important that your home have great curb appeal. Poor curb appeal can discourage buyers from even wanting to go inside.  Landscape the outside so that it makes buyers want to come inside and have a look.

If you have a yard, clean it up. Make sure it is free of Toto’s landmines because if a buyer steps in one of those, he certainly will have a lasting impression of your house, but not a good one! Scoop the poop and make the backyard look inviting.

Tip #6 Paint, patch and fix. Take the time to patch and fix the walls and paint the house in neutral colors. Doing this does not cost much and it will give the house a fresh look and appeal to the great majority of buyers.

Tip #7 Fix any little known issues. If you have any little issues you have just been living with, now is the time to fix them. An example of those little issues can be a a door that doesn’t open properly or a broken window. Everything should be in good working order before your first showing. 

These small repairs go a long way because it gives buyers the impression that the house has been taken care of.

Tip #8 Improve kitchens and baths. Kitchens and bathrooms are the most important areas of a house. Buyers look very closely at both of these spaces. Do not remodel either the kitchen or the bath, but do spruce up and decorate both areas tastefully.

Tip #9 Let there be light! – Brighten the house up with additional lighting. This is especially important if your house does not get enough natural light. Dark houses turn off buyers, make sure you let there be light!

Tip #10 Inspection. – A pre-sale inspection gives you an opportunity to fix up any issues before the buyer’s inspection. Have an inspection done and go over the results with your Realtor®. You don’t need to fix every little thing, but there are some key areas that should be beyond reproach when the buyer’s do their inspection. 

Showing the House

Now that you have taken the time to get the house ready, get ready to show it off to as many qualified buyers as possible. Pricing the house at fair market value and showing the house to as many people as possible is the key to getting it sold quickly. So get ready for showtime!

Good luck on the sale of your house!
Désirée Ávila

Désirée is a licensed Florida Realtor® and is committed to a high-level of professionalism and to helping others with their real estate endeavors through education. Désirée Ávila was an award winning teacher for 10 years and has a doctoral level education in Educational Technology.  Désirée is a lifetime local resident of South Florida and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian.

Read Desiree’s Other Publications

• Em Português : Jornal Online do Mercado Imobiliário da Flórida 
• En Español : Diario Online del Mercado Inmobiliario de la Florida
• English & Español :  Living in Oakland Park Online Magazine

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