Okey dokey! You’re had your house on the market for sale and the price is right and your marketing machine is on fire and your phone is ringing off the hook! You’ve done your due diligence with potential buyers and now they are ready to come and see your home! Woohooo! Right?

It’s now time to take your marketing to the next level: house showings. How are you preparing for it? You’ve inspected, checked and cleaned your house thoroughly. You made sure everything’s in place, or if they’re not, in the most ideal place to be shown. Showings are, after all, the chance to impress the home buyers by flaunting everything your house has. And remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Ok, now relax. Showing your house to home buyers is especially easy when you’re trying to sell your own house by yourself. This is a good opportunity to get personal – homebuyers would want to see more than just the house they saw in the advertisement picture. As you move throughout the house, pay special attention to objects that created some memories during your stay. Things like “My father did this beautiful carving when he was 18” will add some personal note to your home. But remember, you should have decluttered and depersonalized your house as much as humanly possible prior to showing your home. Right? Did you remember reading that in our post “Reasons to Stage Your Home for Sale?” And while you’re on the business of using your family, don’t hesitate to let your family members take part. Assign jobs for them in advance for emergencies or short-notice showings, but try not to have the whole gang around when it comes to showing your home.

You want the home buyer’s full attention on your house. But at the same time you want some elements of your house to be insignificant enough to provide a comfortable environment. Make sure the house is well aired and lighted by opening windows (during possible weather) and positioning all the coverings to show maximum sunlight. A dark house, especially when it’s a big house, will create the effect of gloom and depression; not exactly the kind of house you’d buy.

During those times when you’re forced to keep all your windows shut, make sure the air inside your house is in good, clean condition. Some homeowners will bake cookies to keep that “fresh” air hanging, but if you’re not keen on taking it that far, just be sure to wipe out any pet / bathroom odors or smoke. In house showings, the air should do what it needs to do – allows human to breathe – and do nothing more.

Having a pet around is highly discouraged. No matter how well behaved they are, or how much you may love them (I know they are family too…trust me, I have 3 cats!), it’s not a good idea to bring out your animal. God knows what kind of behaviour they can suddenly break into in front of your guests!

Last of all, if an agent is showing your house to home buyers, try as hard as you can not to be at home. Homebuyers tend to feel like intruders when they’re checking details of a house with its owners watching.

And one final word of caution: If you are showing your house yourself, because you decided against using a real estate agent, please be very, very, very careful. You are letting strangers that you do NOT know into your home. Try to get their name and full address if you can and some form of valid i.d. BEFORE letting them into your home. It’s probably a good idea to have more than 1 adult present as well. I don’t say this to scare you, I just say it to make sure that you are prepared. It’s better to be safe then sorry.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!