When it comes to selling a home, there are many ways to make the experience easier. There are also things that can make the process seem impossible to finish, and these mistakes can involve showing your home to prospective home buyers.
If you are selling your home, you need to make sure that it is ready for show time, literally! You should look at your home as a platform in which to show off all of its great features and areas of home improvements. Potential buyers don’t want to see unkempt rooms, leftover owners, or dirty homes. You want to draw attention away from your home’s worst features, not emphasize them with a messy house. Here are the top five worst home-showing mistakes:
- Smelly homes- These can turn buyers off quicker than you can imagine. Cigarette smoke and pet smells are some of the worst offenders, along with fried cooking smells. While sellers can become immune to their own home’s smell, everyone else who visits the house will immediately smell the stenches. Be sure the carpeting is clean, and try to get your home as fresh-smelling as possible.
- Leftover homeowners- If you’re still lingering around the house when potential buyers come to visit the property, you are committing one of the top worst home showing offenses. The buyers do not want to see the homeowners sleeping in the bed or in the shower, so be ready for show time or leave the premises.
- Pets- No one wants to encounter your not-so-friendly big dog or your clingy kitty when they look at your home. Take Fido and Kitty with you if you leave during showings, or take them to a family member or neighbor for a few hours.
- Home improvement disasters- You don’t want to show off your unprofessional paint job or your little office that’s being used as a bedroom.
- Weird props- Don’t leave your personal items lying around while showing your home. And make sure your Ouija board and your adult toys are hidden out of eyesight!
You can obtain a free home valuation report from Neighborhood IQ to find out how much a property is worth before you sell so that you can ask for the best price. Also, the Home Loan Advisor can analyze your property, current market conditions, local market comps, and other variables in our proprietary algorithm, and match you with potential lenders.
