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You might be selling a house, but they are buying a home.
When a buyer decides to come see your property, there is 90% chance they have looked at your listing photos online. According to NAR, 90% of home buyers look on the internet prior to contacting an agent. So, setting the stage in these photos and making sure they are of good quality is an important point in selling your home. When a buyer arrives for their tour, they want to see themselves, their life-style, and their belongings in the home. The best way to help prospective buyers achieve this is to give them a blank slate.
Think of the photos you see in magazines like Better Homes and Gardens. The displays of photos in these kind of magazines have simple style with clear horizontal surfaces with just a few decorative items placed sparsely. As you see that image in your mind, now look around your home to find what needs to be done.
Here’s the basic philosophy:
Clear Out The Clutter: The less “stuff” in the photos and your home, the bigger the rooms look. If you need to remove items, you may be able to find a storage area in the basement, garage or shed. If not, you may think about renting a storage unit temporarily, donating some items to charity, a yard sale or a healthy purge all together. Either way, this will be time well spent when buyers come through your home and can view it without any distractions.
Watch Out for Accumulation Zones: Everybody has at least one area in their home like this. It’s the hot spot where everyone “plops” their stuff for later. Let’s face it – sometimes, later doesn’t arrive. Make a family pact to put stuff away when you come home while your home is listed. It will make the daily grind of cleaning up for showings easier on everyone. Getting ready for the photo shoot is a good time to discuss this with your family.
To-Do Tips that should help:
Do # 1 - Curb appeal – blurb appeal! That first photo of the front exterior shot is the most import shot out of the whole series of photos. It’s the one photo along with the written remarks about the home that a buyer looking at their search results online decides whether to click or not to click to open and see the details of your home. So, take a walk around the perimeters, remove any trash barrels, wood scraps or building materials waiting for later, sweep any leaves or yard debris off walk-ways, clean any moss from roofs, gutters or vinyl siding, trim or prune any bushes or trees away from the house and mow the lawn. We may not get a chance to make a second first impression, so let’s not let them pass us by with a click.
Do # 2 - Clear all unnecessary objects from rooms throughout the house. Keep decorative objects on horizontal surfaces to groups of 1, 3, or 5 items.
Do # 3 - Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it’s not an item used daily or once a week at least, then re-think whether it can be packed for the move or stored in a cabinet out of plain sight. Also, clear photos, children’s drawings and magnets from the front of the refrigerator, and stacks of “out of reach” items from the top.
Do # 4 - In the bathroom, clear unnecessary objects as the other rooms of the home. Group daily toiletries in Rubbermaid containers for each family member. This way they can be stored for showings, pulled out and put away without too much interruption in everyday living. Make sure the bathroom is clean at all times. If you have tile in the bath, please remove any stains from grouted areas.
Do # 5 - When decorating the home for the photo shoot, remove the abundance of personal photos or religious or iconic pictures or statues from walls, mantles and tabletops. Keep rooms neat and organize toys, magazines, and books. Remove any mismatching blankets off furniture.
Do # 6- Make sure that pet bedding or pet designated areas in your home are clean and not omitting any unattractive odors that may cause a prospective buyer to turn their nose up at your property – literally. Keep toys and other pet products put away for the photo shoot and showings. Pet ownership may not appeal to all prospective buyers and in some instances buyers that view your home may have allergies.
All these things may seem silly to you at first or perhaps like just a little too much work, but these techniques have been time-tested and obtained proven results for many home sellers. So with little cost and moderate effort, let’s make the most of the photo shoot and maximize interest from prospective buyers.
