Preparing Your Home for a Showing
First impressions are lasting impressions. You will want to make sure that buyers comparing your home to others are left with the best possible impression. There are many things you can do which does not mean you have to spend a lot of money.
Exterior
- For night showings, all exterior lights should be turned on
- House exterior in good repair
- House number easy to read
- Eaves troughs, down spouts and soffits in good repair
- Garage/carport clean and tidy
- Litter picked up
- Cracked or broken window panes replaced
- Lawns and hedges cut and trimmed, garden weeded and edged
- Walks shoveled and salted
- Boot tray inside front door
- Doorbell and door hardware in good repair
- Porch and foyer clean and tidy
- Replace burned out light bulbs
Interior
- Chipped plaster and paint touched-up and repaired
- Doors and cupboards properly closed
- Leaky taps and toilets repaired
- Burned out light bulbs replaced
- Squeaky doors oiled
- Mirrors, fixtures, and taps cleaned and polished
- Seals around tubs and basins in good repair
- Floors cleaned, garbage containers emptied
- Inside of closets and cupboards neat and tidy
- Appliances cleaned
- Countertops neat and polished
- All lights turned on
- Air conditioner turned on in warm weather
- Fresh air in house
- Fireplace lit in cooler weather
- Halls and stairs cleaned
- Drapes opened during daylight
- Carpets freshly vacuumed
- Fresh flowers in various rooms
- Jewelry and valuables locked safely away or taken with you
- Valuable property, such as objects of art, vases and figurines out of reach, out of sight, or locked away
- Pets absent, where possible, or contained during the showing, and litter boxes clean
- If you are a smoker, there are many things you can do to ease on the smell of smoke