It has often been said that you never get a second chance at a first impression and when it comes to the sale of houses that saying rings particularly true. Keep that in mind as you ready your home for its market launch. People buy based upon a combination of logic and emotion. Emotion tends to be the greater trigger. Buyers seek a certain lifestyle and comfort in a home — a place in which they will can feel relaxed, secure, and happy. Buyers will pay for a property that fills those needs. Prudent sellers should do all they can to have their home convey those impressions.
A professional Realtor will have a checklist of things you can do to create the best first impression.
Here are a few to consider:
De-clutter as cluttered homes appear smaller and unappealing. The space in uncluttered homes makes buyers better able to visualize placement of their own furnishings. Cluttered homes are more difficult to sell.
Consider if you were buying this home yourself, what would you want it to look like? The goal is for the home to look and feel good, to maximize its space so that it compels the greatest number of buyers to act. Minimize what is in the closets and on shelves, remove non-essential or extra furnishings. Open the space up as much as possible.
De-personalize as much as you can.
While photographs and family portraits are incredibly meaningful to a seller, they give buyers the impression that they are invading someone else’s private space. You want them to envision themselves in the space and not have them feel that they are intruding on yours.
Next, clean, clean, clean. Buyers mentally read clean homes as being well maintained, inviting homes. Those are good first impressions.
Fresh new towels, well-made inviting beds and the like all make a home feel very welcoming to buyers. Please be mindful about overpowering room deodorizers and cooking smells.
Sometimes you may need to bring in some staging furniture. This is particularly important if your furniture doesn’t properly fit the space. Over furnished rooms make them look small and uninviting. Your Realtor can certainly help you evaluate whether or not any furniture replacement or supplement would be helpful.
Sometimes big changes are needed but often home it is just the little things that make a huge difference in the goal of attaining that emotional reaction from potential buyers. The result can have a profound impact. Strong emotional reactions translate into higher prices.
