3 Ways To Prepare For An Open Home

Hey everyone, it’s Naomi Findlay here! Welcome to another episode of rapid renovation tips. 

This is it: you’re about to show off all your hard efforts and get rewarded for them. 

The date is set; your target market will be streaming through those doors any minute now. Is everything set and ready to wow them? Have you made sure everything has been cleaned to a T? And that there aren’t any weeds in the yard? What about the mailbox, is it empty? 

So many tiny details to remember, but don’t worry; my Rapid Renovation Formula will make sure that you leave no stone unturned! 

Inspections are the perfect moments to make your property shine and stand out from the competition; it is where you will gain your maximum profit in the shortest period of time. 

Open home inspections are like first dates or job interviews. What would you do when preparing for a first date? Would you pick out something extra nice to wear? Would you spend some extra time on your hair and personal grooming? How about a job interview? Would you empty out your handbag and make it super neat?  

First impressions stick with people forever, so you need to make sure that you leave a great one. Just like that first date or job interview, you want to make the place perfect so that your target buyers are coming back for more.  

Giving a great first impression will not only make sure that buyers will fall in love at first sight, but it will also give buyers the assurance that there’s nothing fishy lurking beneath the surface. Good looking AND reliable? Now that’s a winner. 

A property that is well looked after and low-maintenance is a something your buyers are going to be very attracted to, so the day your home goes onto the market should be the best it’s ever looked. 

So, how do you make sure you don’t miss anything when it comes to showing off your newly renovated property? 

Think of it as a 24/7 show. 

First impressions don’t start the moment your potential buyers walk through the door. They actually begin way back, at the kerb side.  

You might have a perfectly presented front porch, but what about the leaves in the gutter? If you have a whole bunch of dirt and leaves sitting in the gutter, it will be the first thing people see when they step out of the car. And although the whole street might be lined with leaves, if yours have been swept up, you have already given your buyers the impression of a well-looked after home. 

As soon as your property goes onto the market, buyers will want to see it in the flesh – especially if the photos look great (which they will!). Before the first open home, some will do a drive-by – which is why it’s so important to have the outside of your property looking fantastic.  

Now you may already have rendered the façade and polished the wooden porch. But what about the mailbox? Does it have any flyers or junk mail sticking out? Just like the leaves in the gutter, it’s these little things that count.  

Appeal to all the senses. 

You can’t control your potential buyers’ thoughts. Nor can you control what sort of mood they are in when they come to your open home. What you can do, though, is everything in your power to steer them in the right direction. 

Home staging appeals to your buyers’ visual senses. If you’re still not sure whether you will spend the money on home staging, take a look at my other blog post on it to help make up your mind.  

Beyond the visual appeal – which is what your actual renovations and home staging will be aiming at – there are many ways to use hearing and smell to make your buyers feel happier and more at home while looking through the property. 

Think about what you would do in your own home to freshen things up before guests arrive. Except these are special guests from Norway, long lost cousins who have never been to Australia before. What are you going to do to make the place feel extra special? Are you going to light a few scented candles to give the place a fresh floral scent? Will you open up the windows to get that lovely autumn breeze rolling in?  

Smell plays a big factor in making people happy – so use it to your advantage. Just make sure that it’s not a niche scent that only certain people will like. You have a whole variety of potential buyers coming through, so you want to find a happy medium for them all. This isn’t an opportunity to win them over with an exotic new smell. 

Also, don’t forget about the temperature inside your property! There’s nothing that will dampen a mood quicker if the air con is blasting subantarctic temperatures. Buyers don’t need to be given a demonstration of what your split system is capable of – unless the inspection is smack bang in the middle of an Australian heat wave. In that case, feel free to set the cooling at a comfortable temperature. And offer water while you’re at it! 

By giving your buyers the full experience, you are more likely to connect with them on an emotional level and leave a lasting first impression. 

All the little details. 

The finishing touches at your open house inspection can make all the difference to how potential buyers view your property – and whether they’ll be jumping over each other to give you your best profits.  

When you have made sure that the street appeal is at its maximum, and the atmosphere inside is perfect, you should do a thorough sweep through each room. Be your own detective and sniff out anything out of place. Are all the toilet seats down in the house? Have all the lights been switched on?  

Lights are a perfect way to create ambience and show off all parts of the house (as well as your renovation work). Real flowers are also a great way to make the home feel more alive, so buy a bunch to display on the kitchen table. 

You should keep a detailed list that you can tick off as you go – this way you will make sure that you don’t miss a thing, and you can also keep it for future renovation projects. My Rapid Renovation Formula has a great open home checklist that you can use. 

 

 

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