Final Preparation

Put away the dishes, make the beds, vacuum the rugs, clean the bathrooms and maybe even add some flowers and put on the coffee. Your house is now the statement of perfection.

Will this help? Well, little touches and flourishes are nice, but a clean home is a necessity. You might consider when prospects come through they are not necessarily coming to admire your décor (although we’ll come to that later), but they will certainly notice if your home looks as though they interrupted the family in the middle of supper.

People will be looking for lights in each room, especially if it’s in the evening. Improve the look of the room and avoid having your prospects fumble for switches by using table lamps or track lighting. This will portray your rooms better than a bright, overhead light will.

You might also try adding some mirrors to increase the brightness of a room (always a sought after feature). Also clear the fridge of excessive magnets, pictures and notes.

Consider having children and pets staying away with family or friends while prospects are viewing your home. The extra chaos and excitement might be too much for visitors, and if they don’t like pets it’s just best not to throw it in their faces that yours is a pet household.

If you know someone who works in finance or mortgages, you might want to ask them to come by for the open house. This way, if you do have an interested prospect you can have them talk to your financial wizard to determine if they might be qualified for a mortgage or even to start the process right there.

Some buyers are not already pre-qualified. Having someone to work out the figures for them can be a big bonus, not only in establishing the possibility of working with them, but keeping a qualified prospect in the running. They may not know what they can afford and consider this just a preliminary viewing before taking steps to get pre-qualified for a mortgage.

If you don’t have a financial friend, try to ask hesitant prospects questions about their income, debt and down payment. If both are working full time, have low debts and a good down payment, encourage them to get pre-qualified or make an offer subject to financing before your home is off the market.

Have your forms ready and filled out (this will be explained in the legal issues chapter). Also have receipts for down payments on hand.

What Not To Do…

Before you get too excited about the parade of enthusiastic buyers, be prepared for professional browsers. These people might be very complimentary, but are not likely buyers. Perhaps they are not really ready to commit or are just curious. Never mind. They will still give you traffic and traffic will encourage the real prospects to make an offer.

If you feel there are less-than-desirable features in your home, do not take extreme measures of hiding them. Small yard? Unfinished basement? Older wallpaper? You don’t know what your prospects see as bonuses.

Perhaps they don’t like yard work. Or maybe they only want the basement for storage, or have their own plans to build a workshop or suite. Older décor may appeal to buyers who are anxious to put their own stamp on the place and would feel guilty paying for new paint and paper when the existing décor is brand new.

Don’t feel you must escort your prospects out the door. Many people prefer some privacy while viewing the home they are considering buying. They may wish to go back and look more closely at certain areas. If they come as a couple or a group, there may be some discussion needed without your presence.

Invite them to continue to look around at their own pace. Be certain that you’ve given them a feature sheet with your phone number and the details of the property and home. If they are leaving without making a deposit, invite them to return if they’d like another look.

Dealing with Negative Comments

Some people may rile you up with their negative comments. Accept this as their means of bargaining. They may feel that it is important to portray to you that they are not really that satisfied or interested in the property and hope that you will drop the price.

If you believe the prospects are really hiding a sincere interest, try to turn the tables. If they complain about the size of the bedrooms, remark how large the living room and kitchen are. If they suggest the home is too close to a busy area, remind them of the easy access to shopping and transit.

If someone really pushes your buttons, just keep smiling. If they are interested they will accept your blasé-faire attitude as confidence that the home is a good one. If you get defensive, it will be difficult to turn the situation around.

When a young couple arrives and shows interest in the home, they may suggest that they’d be happy to make an offer but require the input of their parents. Do not waste your time sitting down with them to draw up the papers just yet. Tell them that you would love to talk with them and their parents after everyone has had an opportunity to view the home. Often times the parents input will alter the decision and so it is not valuable to make arrangements (or get your hopes up) before the parents have come.