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[FastDogWalker2]

We are putting our home on the market after nearly 20 years in it and I am looking for advice about dealing with Open Houses, tours, etc.  What worked or didn't work for you?  I would love to hear - thank you!

[libbyannE]

Be sure you have a good, experienced agent. Follow agent's advice on preparing the home to sell. You will probably be told to remove clutter, including too many personal things, extra furniture, etc. Stay away during open houses! Homeowners can be in the way and prevent buyers from relaxing and taking their time to envision the house as their own. 

[fluffysmom]

Get a really good realtor. Remove as much furniture and clutter as is humanly possible. Don't be present for open houses. Make sure the realtor takes high def pictures. Hang on to the seat of your pants. It's not much fun.We just went through this with homes of both our parents. Unless you live in a booming real estate market you probably won't get your asking price.

[123SuzyQ123]

Our agent held two open house tours before finally getting an offer.

I was told to take down personal photos and pack away as much as possible, and keep the house spotlessly clean, which I always did anyway. 

When someone would call to look at the house, I would leave all the lights on.

We received two offers which were a little low, so we held out for a higher offer and finally received a good offer in the 7th month that the house was on the market. 

Good luck to you on a fast sale (if you NEED a fast sale)!!

[Q4u]

We've moved four times in our marriage and have had realtors every time.  Three moves were with all our possessions in the house, one move had everything in storage (in preparation for moving across the country)....

In the three moves where everything is in the house I made sure there was absolutely no clutter.  The stuff we used every day went out of sight every day. Cabines closed, towels were neatly folded, beds made and everything made to look like "easy living".... pictures for the Internet need to be clean, clear and inviting.  We cleaned and cleared out the front yard (for curb appeal) and back yard, repaired and painted what needed to be so there were no noisy bathroom fans, etc.  Then I went crazy keeping it this way until it sold, and most sold very quickly.

The last house was remodeled and in gorgeous condition, new kitchen, all new wood floors and rugs, entirely re-painted, plantation shutters, etc.  I know you hear a LOT about  "staging" however I heard some of the feedback concerning this house that the lookers LIKED it empty so they could imagine their stuff in the spaces!  I actually agree with this because that's how I'd prefer to see houses I'm interested in. That last house was sold when the market in 2010 and 11 was starting to slide but we sold in 30 days and got pretty much what we were asking.

I did do "nice smells".... but not the cookie or baking thing... just subtle air fresheners.

I actually don't mind moving and as much as we love the house and property we have now, we're out in the country and the weather is worse out here in the winter.  I expect as we get older, we may wish to make one more move... to the city.   

[Carmie]

Are you using an agent?

Usually open houses don't help to sell your house.  They are used by agents to add to their customer base.  Many potential buyers come through the door and they get to talk to them and pick up a potential client.  Those Tuesday tours by all of the agents In a given office help.  That insures that they know their inventory.

The fastest  way to sell your house is to price it right.  A house that is overpriced will sit. After a while, the seller will reduce the price, but many buyers don't want to look at houses that were on the market for a while as they think something is wrong with it.

Kitchens and bathrooms sell a house.  Make sure yours are updated with fresh paint, new cabinet knobs and modern light fixtures if needed and are free of clutter.

if you have too much stuff, rent a storage unit and store things there.  A house that has too much stuff as in furniture and personal items such as full closets gives the appearance of being too small and not having enough storage,

Have pets?  Make sure there are no clues of one when having your house shown. Odors and cat hair scare people away.

make sure your house is available to be shown all times.  It is not unusual for a buyer to want to look at house after dinner or during dinner time.  A motivated do buyer wants instant results.

Ask your agent for feed back each time your house is shown.  If the buyers weren't interested ask why.  Fix issues if you can.  Somethings you can't change....like the size of the house or no garage.

Many  people bury a statute of St Joseph in their yard and swear it works. I don't know about that, but there are a lot of  positive stories about the practice.

[Stormygirl]

Like the others have said a good realtor will give you all the advice and guidance you need for a succesful sale. As said before de-clutter and clean is a good thing.  Also curb appeal and first impressions. When I was looking for a home I never bought one that the home owner was present and chatting me up as it was distracting and I never felt comfortable. A good realtor earns their commission by helping you sell the house, handling all the particulars, and by staging the home. Do not hire a realtor that makes YOU sell the house. good luck

[Kachina624]

I have a lot of jewelry...too much to hide.  For this reason I would not allow an unsupervised open house where people have access to dresser drawers etc.  Things are so easily stolen and you have no idea who they are.

[Q4u]

Many people bury a statue of St. Joseph in their yard and swear it works.  I don't know about that, but there are a lot of positive stories about the practice. 

Funny you should mention that.....  We're not Catholic but this was recommended to us by a friend when we put our last house up for sale  Considering the market at the time (falling) we decided to look up St. Joseph and learn about this practice.  After three weeks on the market we decided, well... why not.  Bought him and buried him according to directions we found.  A week later our house was sold.  Coincidence?  Who's to say.... but we were sold and on our way~!      

[magicmoodz]

Are you listing with a realtor?   An established realtor is no more interested in conducting open houses than a homeowner is in having them.  Today, once your home hits the MLS you as owner will start receiving text messages (or phone calls if you prefer) whereby you can either accept or decline walk throughs of prospective buyers and their agents.  

Only on two occasions was I annoyed with this method and that was because they were requesting immediate walk throughs and once I was in the middle of scrubbing the floor and I could see them standing out in front of my home. I respectfully declined.  

No disrespect to real estate agents, but I do feel their jobs have gotten so much easier while more demands are placed on the seller.  That being said, we did sell our house in five days so the process was quite easy.