Preparing Your Home
It’s Showtime. The curtain is about to be raised. Your potential buyers are on their way. But wait… have you done everything to achieve a successful sale.
Remember Murphy’s Law – ‘Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong’. Your job is to ensure that this does not come to pass. Instead, you should be striving for ‘everything went well…’
This is an important task because you may not have the luxury of a second chance to correct a negative first impression. Buyers will form an opinion of your house in the first few seconds of their visit and they will inclined to reinforce their opinion as they continue to view the house. Your house should not only be in the finest possible condition just before the viewing, but should remain that way until it is sold. It’s always possible that a last minute viewing by a prospective buyer will end up as a sale.
The key to buyers’ heart is empathy. What you perceive does not matter. It is what the buyers feel that counts. They determine the sale of your house. Looking at your house through their eyes will help you be more objective in determining what needs to be done to get a good first impression. Do note that while buyers evaluate logically, they buy emotionally. Ultimately, it is not just the logical justification for the investment, but the ability to see they living in the house that will lead to a buying decision. Buyers should have a ‘good to be home’ feeling when they enter your house.
Help buyers come to a decision
It would be a good idea, for example to remove your car from the porch or any other big objects, to give buyers a clear view of your house. This will facilitate their external evaluation of your property. Keeping pets and children away during showtime would further aid you in the process of selling your house. This will ensure that buyers are not distracted by the presence of barking dogs or noisy children.
Providing Virtual Tours of your property will help buyers able to view it as many times as they want without disturbing you. It must also show photographs to highlight the attractions in the community, including existing and potential developments.
Importance of a positive ambience
Your home should also have a positive feel about it. Buyers should be greeted by a welcoming ambience. It is important to appeal to all the senses when selling your house. Enhance the buyers’ mood by cooling your house and providing soothing background music. Even the smell of the house should be pleasant and refreshing. To appeal to their visual senses, display decorative lightings and beautiful pictures in addition to waxing the floor and polishing metal finishes.
When you market your house in a highly competitive market, do not make the mistake of being a frog in the well. Most buyer will see more then ten houses before making a decision and these days they are certainly spoilt for choices. Make a point to study open houses and show flats, plus interior decoration magazines and other publications. There are lessons that you can learn to help you improve your house and enjoy better returns. As you are preparing for your house, be guided by the principle that every part of the house must tell a story of benefits. More importantly, look out for the negative elements and remove them. Buyers tend to be skeptical when viewing houses and if they find something amiss, they are inclined to think that there will more things wrong with it.
Develop a checklist
Once you have gathered the ideas, develop a checklist and prioritize what needs to be done. Begin preparing your house from the outside. This is important because many a sale has been lost even before the buyer stepped into the house. The curb appeal, in other words, the external facade of the house sets the tone of the viewing. Prior to every viewing, check to ensure your house is ready and that nothing is compromised. If the house is not ready, request for time to dress up the house. It is better to lose some time than to lose a potential sale.
When you dress your house correctly and continue to improve upon it, there is no reason why success will not come knocking on your door soon.
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