Prepare Your Home for the Most Effective Open House

An open house is an ideal opportunity to present your home in a way that highlights the features that buyers want most. It’s a way to help potential purchasers envision themselves in your home. Since it is such an essential step in the house-selling process, it’s crucial for your open house to be well-planned and targeted to your ideal and likely buyer.

Start with a plan

An open house is part of an overall marketing plan. For it to be effective, it should not be rushed or just held to check a box on a rudimentary house selling to-do list. And the center of a sales plan is a clear understanding of who would buy your home. Is your house a good starter for a young couple? Or, is it a perfect second house for a full family looking for space? Knowing these answers will help you design and prepare your open house.
Who is your buyer?

Knowledge of real estate trends is crucial to a well-formed marketing plan as well. A hot issue in real estate is the continuing growth in millennial demand for real estate. This generation, which is much larger than the Gen Xers who may be well-settled in their homes, has particular real estate desires and goals. Millennials look for large central kitchens and hangout areas for entertaining, such as outdoor living spaces. To target this substantial group, you need to highlight these features in your home or create them if they are lacking.

Some trends are popular across generational lines. Hardwood floors, ceiling fans and plentiful outdoor lighting are features that most buyers want today. Energy efficient home features are also draws for any buyer – and, who is going to balk at the prospect of smaller utility bills?

Assess your home to see which if today’s in-demand features your home can offer. If there are deficiencies, consider if making upgrades will pay off as a short-term investment. Not all renovations return your investment, but they may spark interest in your home. And some upgrades are inexpensive, DIY-friendly and have the bonus of drawing traffic to your open house.

Cheaply create curb appeal

An open house is useless if your home’s exterior repels visitors. The inside could be full of the trendiest features, but if no one comes in because they dislike the outside, these benefits will remain unknown. Here are a few tips to make your home’s outside shine and drive in buyers:

  • Front Door. Even if you don’t use your front entranceway, your open house visitors will – and they will judge your home’s hospitality by its front door. A fresh coat of paint in an exciting color can turn heads in a good way. Be sure to match the color with the overall exterior.
  • Spend a weekend cleaning all of your windows. The seasons can add a film of grime that can age their appearance. On front-facing windows, consider removing screens if yours are removable. The grey metal screens can dull your windows’ sheen.
  • Clean up siding, patios and paths. Give the exterior a thorough top-to-bottom wash and rinse with a pressure washer. You’ll remove mildew and dirt and give your siding a like-new appearance. Paving stones, concrete walks and decks can also shine after a blast of high-pressure water. Be sure to do this step before any landscape work.
  • Freshen up landscaping. Start by trimming all trees, bushes and plants so that they are neat and new looking. Then, apply at least 2 inches of fresh mulch to all flower beds. Remember what your house looked like when it was new? Fresh mulch is the cheapest and easiest way to recapture that new-home glow.

A successful open house needs a plan that identifies potential buyer types and caters to their desires, but it also requires curb appeal so that all buyers can experience what your home has to offer.

Written by Suzie Wilson, happierhome.net

Photo Credit: Pixabay