Holding the Perfect Open House
Many times before hiring a professional moving company, you need to unload a property. It’s a tough time to be selling a house right now- buyers are not as common as they were a few years ago and they’re being a lot more cautious with their money. So if you’re planning an open house, it pays to put in a little extra effort and make it as positive an experience as possible. Everything counts, from how clean the carpets are to what flowers are on the dining room table.
Cleanliness is key, and the important of making your home spotless and tidy before an open house can hardly be overstated. Not only should all the carpets be freshly steam-cleaned or professionally treated and all surfaces sparkling, it’s also a good idea to reduce clutter. Open, empty rooms always look larger, airier, and cleaner than full ones, so it might be worth packing up extra books, toys, and ornaments and consigning them to boxes in the attic for the day. If you haven’t got attic space, consider moving to storage or asking friends to take care of a few boxes for you.
Think about the outside of the house as well as the inside. First impressions count, and the first thing potential buyers should see are clean, bright windows with the drapes pulled back, new paintwork with no chips or cracks, and a well-swept doorstep. Get a professional to clean the windows on the upper floors and repaint if necessary- it could be worth the money. Swap your old, tatty welcome mat for a new one to complete the fresh look. Consider storage and moving before you move out in order to clear important spaces.
Next on the list is the garden. If you’re lucky enough to have a one, trim the front lawn a couple of days before the open house, so it has time to bounce back and look as good as possible. Rake the leaves the day before and trim back trailing plants or anything that looks untidy. A couple of cheap plastic planters can be used to lend fresh colour to any garden or you can place them as window-boxes. It’s little details like bright flowers that make buyers fall in love with a property and they’re very easy to arrange.
Going back inside, take yourself into the kitchen. Here, and in the bathroom, open house viewers will want to see plenty of open space and gleaming appliances. Clean and even polish the outside of the stove and microwave, and if you’ve got any appliances (blenders for example) cluttering up the work surfaces, hide them away but beware- potential buyers will often open kitchen and bathroom cupboards to see how much storage space there is, so all that needs to be neat and tidy too.
One good trick is to cook a fragrant meal the night before the open house. Make your own pasta sauce with tomatoes, onions, and basil, for example, or bake some vanilla cookies for your visitors. The lingering scent of gourmet treats will make your kitchen seem like wholesome and attractive. Even if potential buyers can’t quite put their finger on why they liked your kitchen so much, they’ll certainly remember it.
