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I have been looking at homes for a long time in anticipation of our move. As a mater of fact, I was getting MLS listings sent to my inbox WAY before we ever even decided to put our house on the market. I figured the more I knew the better when it came to the current home market, and I am hoping that it pays off. During my search, whether it be online or in person, I am utterly AMAZED at how horrible the seller allows their house to look. The pictures are smudged and cluttered, and the open houses don’t show any warmth. I can tell right away when I walk into an open house the people that took time to watch some HGTV! It doesn’t take much…so why don’t people try?

Photos When Listing Your Home

I am not sure the cost, but I think getting some professional photos taken of the rooms in your home is definitely worth it. If that’s out of your range then at least do your best to take good ones yourself.  At this point I don’t go look at a house unless the house “looks” good in pictures, and going that extra mile could make the difference in me seeing your house and not. Sure I may miss something, but we aren’t desperate yet, so why bother?

Clean up the clutter! I don’t want to see the mornings breakfast in your photos (yes, I see it all the time!). I don’t need to see the room with a Christmas tree in it, and I don’t need to see your dog. Clean up EVERYTHING and let the room speak for itself. As a matter of fact, take as much out of the room as possible so people can imagine what they’d do with all the space!

Take lots and lots of pictures! Take a picture of every room in the house. If you don’t show me your bathroom I start to wonder if you are hiding something. So many listings show just one picture. To be honest I don’t even bother to look at that house. Not worth my time.

The Open House

You can NEVER go wrong with making your house feel as warm as possible when showing the house. I ALWAYS notice the little touches like fresh flowers or a fire in the fire place. Those little extras don’t take much.

Choose a realtor that really knows about your home. I hate when I ask a simple question like what year was the house built and the realtor has no clue. Know your facts people! In one of my favorite open houses the realtor walked around with us and gave us facts about the home. He read me well and told me ways to make changes and update the home. I really liked having a vision of what the house COULD be.

If you are a realtor…BE PREPARED! So many open houses had me write my name and contact info on the back of a piece of paper. So unprofessional! Not to mention that those same people didn’t even follow up after the open house. I actually like when a realtor follows up with a call or e mail asking for feedback.

Both the sellers and the realtors need to woo the buyers in this market. Someday, it will go back being a sellers market and you can do what you want. But with the market the way it is today, us buyers have the advantage. So spice things up a bit!

Bottom line? A little HGTV goes a long way. Watch it and learn!