I had family over for dinner the other night, and almost like a ritual, I was running around hiding everything I own. Dirty laundry was thrown into the basement, garbages tossed into the alley, surfaces dusted, and of course the traditional ‘hide everything in the tub and close the shower curtains’ trick we all know but don’t admit to. I was exhausted, drowning in self pity and yet I couldn’t help but think about how much worse it could have been. Having photographed hundreds if not thousands of listings, I knew that somewhere out there, a REALTOR® was preparing an open house, doing the same as me.
The thing is, preparing a home for guests and preparing a home for an open house are drastically different tasks. Unlike a client, my family won’t be concerned when they see my dog running on the hardwood floor leaving scars in the varnish, and they probably won’t mind if a few burnt light bulbs leave a corner in the dark. An open house requires drastically more attention to detail, and a lot of that detail is less obvious than you might expect. Here are five items that buyers don’t want, or need, to see at your open house that you might not expect.
HIDE PET RELATED ITEMS
Hiding the dog bowls and cat bowls, toys, scratching posts and litter boxes help separate the living space from the fluffy companions who inhabit it. A pet-free home is almost like a smoke-free home; it just feels cleaner. Have a local dog walker take the dogs out during the open house or just drop the pet off at a neighbour’s house for the day. It’s a simple step that goes a long way to making the home feel a whole lot cleaner.
HIDE ANY AND ALL FANS
If there’s one thing that points to a hot house with poor cooling its a fan in each room. Most buyers will jump to the conclusion that it gets too hot and that something is either wrong with the air conditioning or that there’s a fundamental flaw with the design of the house. Keep the windows ajar instead for a nice breeze.
REMOVE PERSONAL ITEMS
A buyer generally likes the thought of a new house with no attachment to other owners. It’s more of a subconscious effect that family photos plastered on every wall of every room will have on a prospective buyer. You don’t want the buyer to feel as if he or she is intruding on someone’s personal life, or that they are robbing your client of their good times and pleasant memories. The less evidence there is that someone lives or has lived in the home the better the buyers can imagine themselves in it. Your client will also appreciate the privacy!
SHOWCASE ONLY THE BEST
Anything broken or in bad condition should be removed from the buyer’s sight. As overly psychological as this might sound, you want to keep the buyer thinking happy thoughts while they view a home. Broken or poor condition items will make a buyer question the integrity of everything else. Think of when you go to a grocery store to buy fruit, if you see one banana that is black and torn and you’ll specifically start looking for others that are black and torn so you can avoid them. The same goes for your house, if you see a stained couch, you start looking for stains everywhere. Keep your buyer thinking positive by only having the nicest and cleanest furniture and decorations on display.
REPLACE LIGHTBULBS
Last but not least, replace those burnt light bulbs. It seems like such a menial task, something you’ve probably avoided for the past year, but it is more than just important. I’ve seen so many homes where the owner never even noticed that half the lights in the bathroom didn’t work. A client however will notice. A beautifully renovated bathroom doesn’t shine in darkness, and that extra square footage in the basement isn’t going to count for much if it looks like a dungeon. A bright home is an inviting home!
