How a Buyer Sees Your House… You May be Surprised!
Learn How a Buyer Sees Your House
Putting your home on the market is one of the most stressful and confusing events you can face. It’s hard to realize buyers are not seeing your home; they are seeing your house. A buyer’s critical eye can be a little insulting sometimes, and it’s hard to step back and remove ourselves from taking it personally! Remember one thing though… you are not alone! The process can be intimidating, but I’m here to help you get through it and learn how a buyer sees your house.
The first thing to know is that most of us live in a house that is much different than the vision of perfection buyers have when they go house hunting. House buyers are fastidious and have visions of neat perfection…not that they live that way either; these same buyers may very well live with life’s clutter in their own house. When they go shopping for a new house however, they expect neat, tidy and absolutely uncluttered.
The truth is that we all have busy lives and we LIVE in our houses. Few of us are persnickety enough to keep a perfect show-ready house! In fact, it’s hard to separate our house from our life. We end up with piles of shoes in the hallway, laundry baskets at the bottom of the stairs with the contents waiting to be put away when there is time, and small appliances lined up on our kitchen counter-tops like little culinary soldiers. Is this so wrong? The awful truth is when you’re selling your house… it is! When you are staging your house to sell, clutter is usually a deal-breaker.
In order to make your house as salable and appealing as possible, you need to match the buyer’s dream. A clean slate is the only way buyers can see their dream. To you, as the seller, this may mean some big temporary changes. So where do you start?
I suggest you begin at the outside; with the first impression your buyer will have…before they even enter your front door. You help you with this, you may want to visit 2 or 3 model homes in new communities to see what the exteriors look like.
Notice what your first impressions are. Make some notes. What strikes you about this house the moment you drive up? Is it the clean driveway, the sparkling windows, the flower beds? If you’re doing this exercise in the middle of winter, you’ll be looking for neutral holiday/winter exterior trimmings as flower beds will not be a benefit for sure in our area!
Notice if there’s something distracting; has there been a storm; is there a broken light fixture? Whatever it is, jot it down, good or bad, and be prepared to go home and look at the exterior of your house in the same manner!
When you return to your own house, stop down the street and approach your house very purposefully as if you’ve never driven up to it before. Be as critical as your buyers will be. Is the front door paint faded and chalky? Is the mailbox dented or falling over? Are there trash barrels on the front lawn? You get the idea.
When you look around as a buyer, ask yourself what impresses you, and what would be a perceived negative for you? That’s exactly what you need to know when staging your house for sale. Knowledge is power, and knowing what a buyer is looking for is exactly what it takes to get your house sold quickly and for top dollar!
Check out this post to help you declutter to get ready for a fast sale at a great price!
Helping You Find a Home You Love!
Cheryl Major, Realtor
Cheryl Major lives in Westford and is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. Follow Cheryl on Twitter @WestfordAreaRE and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WestfordAreaRealEstate/
Cheryl is a full time residential Realtor with more than 25 years experience.
Questions? Email Cheryl at Cheryl.Major@nemoves.com and be sure to put Real Estate Question in the subject line.