5 Tips to Make Your Open House Stand Out
When selling your home, it is common practice to host an open house. However, not everyone still does. For some home sellers simply showing the house to potential buyers one by one just makes more sense.
Even if you aren’t planning to host an open house you can still use these simple tips to help you. The real key is to make your house feel like it could be their home. So here are our special tips to make your open house stand out from all the others.
- Stage Your Home
Staging your home does so much more than you might think. And when we say “stage your home” we don’t just mean decorate with some furniture.
Anytime you show your home (during an open house or just to an individual buyer) you want them to picture themselves living there. You want them to picture where their own furniture could go.
Once a buyer is able to see themselves comfortably living in the home the likelihood of them putting in an offer goes up exponentially.
And there are some tricks you can use to stage your home in a way that buyers will respond to.
Reduce Yourselves
The first and biggest secret (take a bit of the home out of your house). This means you need to make the house not look like your home.
Get rid of family pictures, put away your kids art that is hanging on your fridge, and pack away special belongings. (It is hard for someone to picture themselves living in a house that already has a family living there).
Another key to remember is reducing clutter goes a long way. Even if you need to temporarily rent a storage unit, minimal furniture and decorations are always best. This allows potential buyers to see how large the space is without all the clutter.
That includes closet and storage spaces. Remove at least half of everything you currently have in your closets and pantries. This will help make the storage space appear larger.
Bonus tip: Make the place look cozy. Find the softest throw blanket you can find, put out some candles, put some luxury hand soap and lotion in the bathroom. These little things will show potential buyers that this is not just a possible new home for them. This is a comfortable oasis that they won’t want to leave and have the opportunity to make their own.
- Serve Amazing Food
What is the number one place where people want to hang out when they come over for a party or family get-together? The kitchen. That is why the kitchen is called the heart of the home.
When selling your home you need people to see what the space can be, and a great entertaining area is a must for almost everyone. And what is the key to any great party or family gathering? Food and drink of course!
This is where you can really make your open house stand out from the rest.
Keep the kitchen spotless and beautiful and always have great food ready for people to snack on. If they can see and experience a great time in that kitchen they will fall in love with the home.
- Invite Your Friendly Neighbors
If you are going to have an open house, it can be a great idea to invite some friendly neighbors. Whenever anyone buys a home they wonder what the neighbors will be like. So if buyers have an opportunity to meet some of the more friendly neighbors it can put the buyer’s mind at ease.
Not to mention, the neighbors can talk up the house and the neighborhood. If any of the interested buyers have kids your neighbors can help talk about the schools, parks, and other kids that live in the neighborhood.
- Have a Fun Property Description Sheet
During most open houses and even private walkthroughs, potential buyers have the opportunity to take a property description sheet (or packet) that will talk about the main features of the house. One way to keep your home in everyone’s mind is by making the property description sheet a little more fun.
Play with the description of the home. You could write your entire property description sheet with a bunch of funny puns or put in some tasteful jokes.
You could also add a puzzle or coloring page on the back to keep kids entertained while they are at your home. Little things like these will really stand out to buyers and help them remember you.
Trust us, it will set you apart from other sellers.
Don’t forget to have an online option as well! Some people just don’t want to walk around holding papers or deal with them getting lost. So make sure you have an easy to access online option for people too.
- Theme Your Open House
Some people will use holidays as an opportunity to set themselves apart from other homes. You can do a themed open house. If it is near the 4th of July, you can host a fun cookout and have sparklers for the kids.
Or if it is Halloween you can do a haunted house theme for your open house. Obviously, if you decide to go with a theme you need to make sure that you don’t overdo it. Remember to use tasteful decorations and choose family-friendly themes.
And don’t clutter your home with decorations. Make sure to stick to your theme and keep it simple. Maybe offer some treats or food that go with your theme. But above all else remember to keep your decore minimal. You don’t want your home looking cluttered.
