 Once you've listed your home, your agent should advise you on how best to have your home show it's best. Please also refer to my section on Preparing to Sell for ways to get your home ready to show it's best! Ordinarily, your home is set-up for your maximum comfort and use. When you're trying to sell your home, that should technically take a back seat to your new primary objective - to show it's best and get you top dollar for your home. These days, the new buzz word for preparing your home to show it's best is "staging." That's because you are altering the presentation of your home and creating a stage. Much like set design in a play or movie, the objective is to create an "illusion" of sorts, to get potential buyers to picture themselves in their new home -- not your home. Your agent should review how your home will be shown. If you choose the allow a lockbox to be placed on your home, know that any agent showing your home must still call your agent to get permission each time they enter your home. No one will barge in on you while you're sitting down to dinner. If you're in residence, you can request that your agent call you each time before you show the house. If my homeowners live in the home I have listed, as a courtesy, I try to call them as soon as I set an appointment to show, just to give them a head's up that it is being shown at a particular time. Once there, I try and leave a note stating that I have been inside their home. For an unoccupied home, I try to update my homeowner at least once a week on the activity on their property, not finding it necessary to let them know each and every time it's shown since they do not live in the house. When you list your home, you can set up the system by which you want to be notified when your agent shows your house. As I mentioned, sometimes things can vary depending on whether or not you live in the home for sale or not. It's entirely up to you so make sure you and your agent have this discussion!
Always Be Prepared: The basic rule of thumb that anyone listing their home knows is to keep the house ready to show at any time. Your agent should have a check list of things that you should do each morning before you leave for work such as: - Wipe down all counters & mirrors in the kitchen and bathrooms.
- Make sure the kitchen sink is clean & empty
 Put toilet seats & lids down- Close the shower curtains
- Pick up towels and clothes
- Make the bed(s)
- Empty the trash cans
- Pick up toys
And don't forget that first impressions mean a lot. Make sure the exterior of your home shows just as well as the inside. remove the leaf litter on the roof, clean out the gutters, pull the weeds, plant some colorful flowers. In other words, do what ever you can to improve the curb appeal of the home. Your agent should be able to suggest lots of inexpensive ways you can dramatically improve the look of your home to make it show it's best! Make Yourself Scarce! If you're home, be prepared to leave at a moment's notice. Never plan on staying in the house while it is being shown. Buyers need to feel absolutely comfortable poking and peering into closets and cabinets. If you're anywhere in the house, they will feel like an intruder and hold back. They must be able to feel comfortable in order to visualize themselves in your home. A potential buyer must be able to feel free to make comments to his/her spouse or to their agent. With your presence looming in the background, it will never happen. You are doing yourself a disservice by staying. Go take a walk, run some errands, drive around the neighborhood, visit a friend. Anything at all, just don't stay in the house! When my husband and I were looking for a home several years ago, we met our agent in front of a house. She immediately informed us that the owner was home sick and couldn't leave but we were welcomed to view the house anyway. So we walked in thinking that the owner would remain in the living room or something. Instead, she followed us around from room to room, coughing steadily the entire time. Not only did it gross us out, it prevented us from truly looking at the home. We rushed through uncomfortably and left the house. Neither one of us made a comment and afterwards, without discussion, we both knew that that particular home wouldn't make our short list. |
 | 
|
|
