4 Mistakes To Avoid When Showing Your Home

• Posted on July 22, 2016

If you’re trying to sell your home, you know that showing it to prospective buyers can be high stress—and high stakes. Real estate agents know the kinds of things that tend to turn people off at a home showing. Learn from their experience to make sure you aren’t making mistakes that could cost you a sale.

Because we all know you want to get the selling process over as quickly as possible so you can be on your way to the next exciting place in your life.

Here are four mistakes to avoid when you’re getting the house ready to show:

1. Leaving messes in plain sight

One of the biggest turn-offs for buyers is a home (or even just a room) that’s been left messy. Keeping a house spotless is nearly impossible, and sometimes there’s not a lot of time to prepare for a showing.

For your home to look attractive to a buyer, there shouldn’t be dishes in the sink, laundry on the floor, or toys scattered everywhere. Clutter and uncleanliness aren’t just distracting them from all the great aspects of your home. They can give buyers the sense that you’re careless and lead them to wonder if they’re looking at a house that’s been neglected in other, more important ways.

2. Shoving everything in closets

It’s one of the oldest cleaning tricks in the book. But while stacking and shoving and squeezing everything into the closet gets clutter out of sight, someone looking to buy a home isn’t going to be content with a superficial glance.

Storage space can be a huge selling point in a home. If a buyer opens a closet door and finds it filled to the brim, they’re not going to get the impression of space. Too much stuff crammed together will make it look like there’s not enough room to keep things neat and organized.

Ideally, you should go through your home before you officially go on the market. Pack away or discard things you know your family doesn’t really need around in the near future. Even renting a storage unit for a couple of months could be worth it to help your home sell faster.

3. Leaving pets at home

When you leave the house so an agent can do a showing, always take pets with you. A large dog or even just an unexpected cat can distract buyers, make them uncomfortable, or even literally scare them off. Your safest bet is to make sure there aren’t any animals in the house when the buyer arrives.

4. Closing the curtains

Do yourself and your realtor a favor and open curtains before you leave. That way your buyer can see your home at its best and get a feel for how much natural light there is.

They might not even think about it, but buyers will instinctively feel better about a home that feels bright than one that feels dark and gloomy.