7 Cheap and Easy Steps to a Better Open House

A real estate agent explains how to make open houses more appealing to buyers and safer for sellers

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August 21, 2008 RSS Feed Print
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Sell the neighborhood. While potential buyers will certainly want to see what your house is like, they will have other questions as well. "I get this all the time: [potential buyers have] a young 3-year-old, and [they] want to know if there are babysitter-aged kids in the neighborhood and they want to know if there are other kids for them to play with," Combs says. Sellers should gather pertinent information about the neighborhood, school system, and utility bills and pass it along to their agent. (Or, if they aren't using an agent, directly to the buyers themselves.)

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We are into a new year! Change your attitude and simply be more positive about what is going on in the real estate market. Ignor the doomers and gloomers. Reality is only an illusion...it stems from our thoughts, so, what you think is what you will create. I have decided to make this year great and I am owning it. In the last six weeks I have sold three of my listings at open houses and with two of them, I had a back up buyer. Take charge of your life and use your imagination. Ask and you shall receive. Believe that the perfect person for that house is going to come along and want to make it their home. Albert Einstein said, "imagination is the prelude to what is to come."

Loretta Washburn of VA 12:21AM March 18, 2011

Have SHOE GUARDS for your potential buyers when they visit. Have a basket of these inexpensive gems at the ready. It's offensive to ask guests to remove their shoes. Why would they want to walk, oftentimes barefoot, on your floors that may, or may NOT not be up to their standard of cleanliness? I know I don't.

Annette Crews, REALTOR of VA 10:42AM March 25, 2010

Put a potted plant, Red Geraniums on the front porch and on the deck, Color and greenery add a lot to a house. Soft music helps too sometimes to keep everyone at ease, and a few candles burning.

Kay Sexton of VA 9:56PM March 24, 2010

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