Please Enable Javascript Setting the Stage for Open Houses | Laura Slanec
Marin Real Estate Blog
Setting the Stage for Open Houses

Setting the Stage for Open Houses

In the weekends after the SuperBowl is over, things tend to get a little more serious in the world of house hunting. For buyers, there’s no more trying to drag your football loving significant other (or yourself) off of the couch on Sundays. It’s time to get serious, get some listings, get on Google maps and set foot in some for-sale properties.

For sellers who have been procrastinating, it can be a wake-up call. If you’re lucky, you’ll have buyers competing over you. But if you want to maximize the value of your property, you need your own house seller’s game plan.

Taking in a few open houses yourself is an easy way to get started, particularly if you’re not buying in the same area that you’re selling. The more objective you can be about selling your home, the better. Simply seeing what other sellers are offering can be a good gut check if you’ve been putting off some landscaping work or being overly generous with yourself about the state of your kitchen.

Talk to your realtor about staging. As beautiful as your home may be, a big part of the buyer’s journey is picturing themselves living in their future home. That can require mentally subtracting your stuff from it—however beloved—before they even start mentally adding their own.

Staging Your Home

First impressions matter, and staging can make all the difference, from the photos a buyer sees in a listing through the moment they step through the door, and then from room to room. When it comes to optimizing the potential of your home, a good stager is able to see the wood when all you can see is the trees. They’re skilled at subtraction and addition, maximizing space and adding the right accents where needed. There’s an art to creating an enticing canvas for the buyer’s imagination and stagers understand how to make the magic happen.

There is a time for doing a Marie Kondo-style purge of all the things that don’t bring you joy at home, as I’ve covered in a previous blog post about preparing to move house. But when it comes to creating the perfect environment for sellers to visit, it takes more than a minimalist aesthetic and a plate of freshly baked cookies.

A realtor should always be prepared to have honest conversations about the work it’s going to take to maximize the return on your home. As we move into high gear for open houses, I encourage you to start thinking seriously about the way potential sellers will experience your home. If you have any questions, I’m here to help.

Laura Slanec
Marin County Real Estate Agent
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Drysdale Properties

Telephone: +1 415.606.1466
Fax: +1 415.479.5067
E-mail: laura@lauraslanecmarinrealtor.com

DRE #: 01914618

©2024 Laura Slanec. All Rights Reserved. Site by Kiosk
Ready to Sell?
Get Started