Hosting an open house is one of the best ways to maximize your listing’s exposure and attract potential buyers. However, it’s not a guaranteed tactic for success.
If you don’t take the right steps or prepare your home properly, you’ll fail to get the offers you want. You might even turn buyers away.
We don’t want to see that happen to you. Keep reading for nine open house tips to ensure a plethora of offers and a swift sale.
1. Hire an Experienced Real Estate Agent
First, hire a local realtor with several years of experience. They will have the necessary expertise and insight to help you host an open house.
They can look through your home and give you solid advice on how to make your home more appealing to buyers. Just as importantly, they’ll do most of the heavy-lifting in terms of:
- Marketing the open house
- Giving tours
- Talking to guests
- Fielding offers
- Collecting feedback
- Etc.
Hosting an open house on your own will require a lot of time, effort, and patience. Buyers touring homes during an open house are brutally honest and won’t hold back their critiques.
2. Market the Open House Properly
One of the most important open house tips is to work with your realtor to get maximum publicity for your open house. Aside from what your realtor does on their end, there are several things you can do to improve your open house marketing.
Start by spreading the word on social media. Use your Facebook account to share the listing with your friends and followers. We also recommend joining a community buy/sell/trade page and posting the event there as well.
Additionally, invest in “open house” yard signs. This will attract people driving by. It will also help people who saw your listing online find your house quickly.
3. Take Care of Any Major Damages
Before selling a house, it’s important to have your home inspected for any minor or major damages. The inspector will write up an official report to give you a clear indication of your home’s condition. Based on their findings, there might be a few things you want to repair before hosting your open house.
For example, significant roof damage, foundation leaks, mold, or signs of pests will send buyers running in the opposite direction. If it turns out your home is in worse shape than you thought and you don’t have the money to make repairs, that’s okay. In this case, you can work with a cash home buyer to sell a house quickly.
4. Consider Making Renovations
Renovating and updating your home is one of the most effective open house tips. Buyers want to see modern kitchens and bathrooms, new flooring, and finished basements.
Successful open houses don’t present buyers with a list of things they’ll want to change after they move in. If you have the finances to do so, making these renovations can significantly increase your sale price. It will also bring in more serious offers.
5. Make Aesthetic Touch-Ups
Whether you decide to invest in renovations or not, you can increase your home’s appeal by making aesthetic touch-ups. These are easy and affordable.
For example, a fresh coat of paint in each of the rooms makes the home feel brighter, fresher, and cleaner. If the outside of your home has faded or peeling paint, it might be a good idea to repaint the exterior as well.
There are also small cosmetic repairs you can make, such as:
- Drywall
- Trim
- Windows
- Sealing and weather stripping around doors and windows
- Floorboards
- Etc.
Finally, consider investing in new hardware throughout the house to make it feel more modern. This includes doorknobs, light fixtures, drawer pulls, cabinet handles, sconces, and more.
6. Maximize Your Curb Appeal
One of the most important open house tips is to focus on your first impression. The exterior of your home and your property is the first thing buyers are going to see when they pull up to your house. What impression are you going to make on them?
Make sure the appearance of your home draws the buyer in. It should motivate them to take a closer look. If your yard is trashed and the exterior of your home is in disrepair, many people will skip the open house altogether.
As noted earlier, add fresh exterior paint if necessary. Additionally, make sure the vegetation on your property is neat and trimmed. Remove all trash and debris, including leaves and other organic materials.
Finally, consider investing in planters and other subtle niceties to make your home look brighter and happier.
7. Move Out or Declutter
When selling a house, it’s incredibly beneficial if you can move out before you start showing the home. Once you move out, you can take all of your stuff with you. It will also be easier to keep it clean.
However, if this is one of the open house ideas that isn’t plausible for your situation, you have another option. We recommend renting a temporary storage unit so you can declutter the home before the open house.
This will make your home feel cleaner and more spacious. If you don’t declutter, buyers will have a hard time looking past the clutter, dingy furniture, and all of your other belongings.
8. Hire a Professional Staging Company
Whether you move out or just declutter, hire a professional staging company to breathe new life into your home. While this might seem like an unnecessary expense, staged homes spend 73% less time on the market.
A professionally staged home shows buyers the true potential of the house. Professional stagers are skilled in interior design. They can make your home feel warm, comfortable, classy, and luxurious.
9. Deep Clean the Home
Finally, make sure your home is spotless on the day of your open house. This is one of the most important open house tips if you want to impress buyers.
If they walk into a dirty home, they’ll question the rest of the home’s integrity. After all, if you couldn’t be bothered to clean the home for an open house, what other home maintenance issues might you have neglected?
Deep clean the home or pay a residential cleaning service to do it for you. There should be no trace of dirt, mess, pets, or odors.
Looking for More Open House Tips?
Hosting an open house is no walk in the park. However, it does have the potential to help you sell your home quickly.
Work with your realtor to set up an event that’s sure to attract buyers and generate offers. Follow our open house tips for maximum success.
And if you’re looking for more real estate tips or homeowner advice, don’t go anywhere. Our blog is full of the content you need to make your life better.