From finances to fine
print, home buyers have a lot of worries. So when they decide
to go over your house with a fine-toothed comb, how can you
help ease their minds?
As a seller, you want visiting buyers to be as comfortable
as possible in your house. If they feel at home in your house,
they will be much more likely to make it their home.
In a recent column, we discussed ways to fix up a house for
showings, making a good first impression on buyers. Today,
let's discuss how to make buyers comfortable at showings.
First and foremost, buyers must feel welcome. They must
feel free to scrutinize all rooms and inspect every aspect of
your home. By simply turning on all lights and opening all
doors, you'll let buyers know that they are not intruding.
It's a tacit invitation to check out the entire house.
Of course, every room should be kept clean, too. This is
often easier said than done when you have children. But rather
than closing doors to children's bedrooms or bathrooms because
of a mess, encourage and recruit your kids to help keep those
rooms clean. And keep those doors wide open at showings!
Keeping a house clean is an essential element of helping
visitors feel at home. If buyers have to walk through kitchens
cluttered with stacked dishes or basements piled high with
dirty laundry, they will feel like they are sneaking into a
house uninvited. More important, the agents who schedule the
showings will be less eager to present a messy house to other
prospective buyers.
In the real estate business, cleanliness is next to
offer-worthiness. So try to keep your house clean everywhere -
even behind those doors that you would normally keep closed:
closet doors and cabinet doors and drawers. The cabinet under
the sink, for example, can be a critical place. Make sure the
space beneath the sink is as clean as possible. Remove all
those cleaning supplies you've collected over the years.
Leaving them there may only remind a buyer of how much work
your house is to clean ... or how many dangerous chemicals
their kids and pets might get into.
To make them more comfortable with your home, let them see
as much empty and extraordinarily clean storage space as
possible. And that means you're better off getting rid of your
junk than hiding it.
Another way to make a buyer feel comfortable in your home
is to depersonalize it; try to clear out some of the items
that convey your character, disposition, and preferences.
Throw away magazines, for instance. Why? Because it's human
nature for people to take sides. And the magazines you
subscribe to may declare where you stand in the buyer's world.
If you leave reading material lying around, you risk buyers
making unsubstantiated judgments about you, which may
subconsciously affect their feeling about the house.
For the same reason, ask your children to take down any
posters in their rooms. Remind them that they are not
compromising their individuality - just their rooms'. And the
sooner you sell the house, the sooner they can give their new
bedrooms all the personality they can muster.
Depersonalizing your house may mean removing some cherished
items. Get over it. Remove trophies from shelves. Store or
sell knickknacks and gewgaws. Be stingy with wall space. A few
family pictures on the walls and mantel are a nice touch. But
if you display too many treasured moments, buyers may feel
like an intruder or worse, a usurper, depriving you of a
beloved home.
Rather, let buyers think about what a wonderful home your
house would be for them ... instead of what a great place it
was for you.
Lastly, it's been said before and it merits mention again:
Be a no-show at showings. Pack up the kids and the pets and
let potential buyers inspect your house at their leisure and
in your absence.
Remember when you looked at houses? Remember how
uncomfortable it was to inspect a house and make comments
about a house when the owners were present? When you leave the
premises, you invite buyers to take their time and give your
house their full attention.
If they feel at ease in your home, it will be a lot easier
for buyers to ask to see it again. And ultimately, they will
be much more comfortable with making you an attractive offer.
