Get Your Home Open House Ready

Get open house ready

If you’re looking to host an open house you’ll want to start by giving it a good clean. A neat, orderly and neutral home will make the best impression on potential buyers. Remember, you want the prospective buyer to envision living in your house, not tidying it up. Here are some tips for how to prepare your home for an open house.

Start Making Room Rent a storage unit or borrow some space in a family member or neighbor’s garage to store extraneous furniture, knickknacks and clutter. Leaving just enough items in each room so viewers understand its purpose will make the house appear more spacious. Remove leaves from the dining room table, books from the bookshelves, family photos and other items that personalize the home, and take all items off the kitchen counters—you’ll have to pack that stuff up eventually anyway. Buyers are going to snoop, so organize all cabinets and closets so they can see your home has been well cared for and organized. Also, be sure to remove anything you plan on taking with you to your next home, like the chandelier in the dining room that has been in your family for four generations. If buyers see things in the house they can’t have, they might fancy keeping it.

Buff and Fix Make sure that your house sparkles and all minor repairs are done. Scour every inch of the kitchen and bathroom, vacuum cobwebs from the corners, wash the inside and outside of the windows, wipe down mirrors, clean out the fridge, wax the floors and re-caulk the showers, tubs and sinks. Also fix things like cracked floor and counter tiles, holes in the wall, leaking faucets, burned-out lightbulbs, and doors that don’t close or drawers that jam. Also light a candle to make sure your home has a inviting smell.

Curb Check First impressions are everything. Stand outside your house and make sure it’s looking as good as the inside. You might want to grab a home wash hose attachment from the local hardware store and give the outside of your house a rinse. Clean the gutters, mow the lawn and clean the sidewalk. Be sure the numbers on your house are readable from the street and the front door has a nice paint job.

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