That’s exactly what should be happening if you’re selling a home and you have an appointment for an agent to show your home! The lights should be on and no body should be home!
Even though you listed your home, and maybe haven’t had much traffic through it, your home should ALWAYS be in showing condition. When you list your home, it should always be ready to show at a moments notice, especially in today’s market. However, if for some reason you are slacking, here are some things you need to do to prepare for last minute showings.
Turn on ALL the lights. You want it to be bright during the showings. The worst thing you can is give the feeling that your home is like a cave.
Open up ALL the blinds and/or curtains. Again, if someone walks in and all the lights are off and all the blinds are closed, it kinda feels like walking into the black hole. Not a good impression!
Boil some water on the stove and add a few cinnamon sticks or a few drops of vanilla.
Or if you’re not going very far, maybe just to a neighbors or a walk around the block when they get there, then light some candles.
Turn on some music, like smooth jazz or classical. It sets a nice tone when someone walks in.
Vacuum the carpets!!
Empty ALL the garbage cans
Clean the litter box!!! No one cares to see the litter-box with fluffy’s little surprises in it.
Make the beds. ALL of them.
Close the lids to the toilets.
Put all the clean and dirty clothes away. No one cares to see your dirty underwear. Or clean underwear for the matter.
People look in closets, so don’t hide stuff there. Stuff things under the bed if you have to.
If you haven’t bothered to wash last nights dinner dishes, you need to. If you don’t have time and you don’t have a dishwasher, shove them in the oven and pray no one looks in there. At least they will be out plain sight. (Don’t forget to pull them back out when you get home).
If you have a dog, take fido with you. If for some reason you can’t, then put fido in a dog crate or if fido is small enough and doesn’t bark, put a baby gate up in the laundry room or a bathroom and leave fido in there. HOWEVER, if fido likes to bark, try to get him out of the house. It’s very distracting to have a dog barking non-stop from the time you walk in the door until you leave. And whatever you do, DON’T let the dog roam free. Many people are scared of dogs regardless of size.
Make sure all the magazines, mail, remotes and other clutter are put away somewhere and not left out in plain sight.
If you have kids, make sure all their toys are picked up and out of the way.
Now here’s the big one. Are you ready? And I can not stress this one enough!!! LEAVE THE HOUSE!! Yes, you need to leave during all showings. If you’re there, buyers will not feel comfortable looking through your home, opening cabinets and looking in closets because they feel like they are invading your home when you are there. You being there can be a deal killer!!
So there you have it. A quick list of things to do in case of a last minute showing. You only have one chance to make a great first impression. Make it count!!
So…..Are the lights on in your home, but no body’s home? I sure hope so!!
