It’s time to hold an open house and your real estate broker has scheduled the date and time. You may not realize that there are a few essential preparations you need to be making prior to that day.
1) Clean as if your life depended on it. My sister and her husband called me recently as they left an open house. They’d admired this home for a few years, and when it was finally held open, they were excited to see the inside of the house. This is a $2.4 million home in Denver. They entered the house and the carpet was filthy, there were stains throughout the house on all of the floors. The ceilings, light fixtures and ceiling fans were covered in cobwebs. Needless to day, they left diasppointed. The sellers should have spent the day before cleaning and getting ready for their chance to shine. Instead they fell flat.
2) Remove personal items. There are people who will visit an open house just to obtain private information, jewelry or prescription medications. Hide or remove valuables and medications. Security lock your computer and keep bills and personal mail out if sight. A few years ago, a client had recently endured knee surgery. During our open house the pain medication he’d been prescribed was stolen. The open house was very busy that day, and I had no way to keep my eye on everyone so the pain pills walked out the door with someone.
3) Think of the 5 senses. Buyers like a house that is light and bright and has plenty of fresh cut flowers, smells like vanilla or cookies, has soothing soft music and feels like home with an abundance of textures in fabrics and finishes. You can even appeal to visitors’ taste buds by offering them some cookies or chocolate.
Keep your house ready for showings at any moment. It’s more likely that buyers will see your home with another real estate broker who has set up an appointment rather than at the open house. But you never know, so help your broker who’s taking Sunday afternoon to hold an open house and make your home shine.
To view Denver Real Estate, relocation information and Denver maps visit GretchensDenver.com.
Visit the Park Hill home tour Sunday, September 28th and stop by our open house at Montview and Grape.