There’s a moment during a great showing when buyers stop feeling like visitors and start imagining themselves at home. They picture their furniture in the living room, dinner around the table, or their morning coffee by the window. That’s exactly what you want. Over the years, I’ve seen how a few thoughtful details can make it easier for buyers to feel comfortable, slow down, and connect with a home. These 10 tips can help yours feel welcoming while giving buyers enough room to imagine a life of their own there.
1. DECLUTTER
We all collect things as we live in a home. That’s part of what makes it ours. But when it’s time to sell, giving your rooms a little breathing room can help buyers imagine bringing their own lives into the space. Think about the relaxed feeling of walking into a beautiful hotel room: welcoming, comfortable, and uncluttered. You may want to clear bathroom counters, showers, and dresser tops; straighten closets; and put away the mail, keys, shoes, and everyday odds and ends near the front door. Removing a few pieces of furniture or wall décor can help, too. You don’t need to strip away everything that makes the home yours. Just give buyers enough visual space to begin imagining what could make it theirs. And if you’re wondering where all that extra stuff is supposed to go, a temporary storage unit can be a very useful friend.
2. DEEP CLEAN
There’s clean, and then there’s ready-for-buyers clean. This is the time to notice all those little places that are easy to overlook when you’re busy living life: grout between tiles, dusty window sills, corners, backsplashes, light switches, doors, and fingerprints on appliances. Buyers may not consciously notice every spotless detail, but they often notice the overall feeling those details create. A sparkling kitchen or bathroom can quietly reinforce that the home has been cared for. And if getting everything done feels like one job too many, this is a good time to consider bringing in a professional cleaning service. Preparing to sell already gives you plenty to do.
3. NEUTRALIZE YOUR SPACE
The family photos and personal treasures around your home tell your story, and there’s nothing wrong with that. During a showing, though, it helps to leave a little room for buyers to imagine theirs. Consider putting away some personal photos, collections, personal-care items, and excess belongings from end tables and nightstands. You don’t have to make your home feel cold or empty. In fact, you don’t want to. The goal is simply to create enough of a blank canvas that buyers can begin picturing their own photos, furniture, and memories there.
4. ARRANGE FURNITURE
You want buyers to feel comfortable moving from room to room without having to squeeze around furniture or wonder how a space is meant to be used. I’ve seen rooms feel surprisingly different after moving or removing just one piece. As a general guideline, a bedroom may only need a bed, two nightstands with lamps, a dresser, and perhaps a chair if there’s room. If you’d like a little inspiration, this article by Better Homes & Gardens shows 20 ways to arrange a living room, and this article shares layouts for different lifestyles. This article from The Spruce also has some helpful living room styling do’s and don’ts.
5. LIGHT IT UP
Few things make a home feel more cheerful and welcoming than good light. Opening the curtains and blinds can bring in natural light, while lamps and overhead fixtures can brighten darker areas even during the day. Hanging curtain rods above the window opening can also help create a greater sense of height. You’re trying to create the kind of comfortable, inviting atmosphere that makes someone want to stay a little longer. This article has more lighting suggestions for each room in the house.
6. USE NATURAL SCENTS
We all have scents we love, but fragrance is very personal. That candle you can’t get enough of might be too strong for someone else, and heavy room sprays can make buyers wonder whether something is being covered up. In my experience, fresh and subtle is usually the safer choice. Here are a few ideas:
- Try something natural. Slice a fresh lemon and simmer it in water before a showing. In the fall or winter, a few cinnamon-scented pine cones can add a cozy touch.
- Place natural reeds in a decorative jar with a pleasant oil such as inis, tangerine, or eucalyptus.
- Use an orange oil multi-purpose cleaner when dusting appropriate surfaces for a light, fresh aroma.
- If you like “Fabuloso” cleaning products, give the fragrance time to dissipate before buyers arrive so it isn’t overwhelming.
- Oil-based plug-in air fresheners are another option. Cashmere Woods by Glade is one example of a softer fragrance. Whatever you choose, keep the setting low and the scent subtle.
- If you’re already painting a room, products are available that let you add scent directly into the paint. If you go this route, subtle is still the goal.
Research has found that simple scents can be easier for people to process than more complex fragrances and may influence shopping behavior. So rather than giving every room its own scent, consider choosing one light fragrance, if any, and using it sparingly throughout the house.
7. REMOVE PETS
If you’re a pet person, you probably can’t imagine anyone not loving your four-legged family member. But some buyers are nervous around animals, and others have allergies. Whenever possible, consider arranging for pets to be somewhere else during showings. Putting away bowls, beds, toys, litter boxes, and other pet supplies can help buyers focus on the home, and it’s worth checking for any lingering odors or pet hair, too. Your pet may not understand why all this fuss is necessary, but it can make the showing more comfortable for everyone — including them.
8. HIGHLIGHT HIDDEN FEATURES
Every home has little things that make living there better, but buyers may never know about them unless they’re pointed out. Think about the features you’ve appreciated while living there. If you’ve added a reverse osmosis water filter, energy-efficient water heater, whole-house surge protector, or another useful upgrade, a professional-looking tent card with a short explanation can help buyers notice it. Those details may not be the first things someone sees, but sometimes they’re exactly the things a buyer is happy to discover.
9. SET THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE
You want buyers to feel comfortable enough to slow down and stay awhile. In colder weather, that may mean walking into a pleasantly warm home. In warmer weather, a comfortably cool house can feel wonderful after being outside in the heat. There isn’t one perfect thermostat setting for every home or every buyer. The goal is simply to create an environment where people can take their time and focus on the home rather than how hot or cold they feel.
10. HIDE VALUABLES
This isn’t the warm and fuzzy part of preparing your home, but it’s important — and it’s something I don’t want you to overlook. Buyers may walk through nearly every room during a showing, so jewelry, electronics, medications, important documents, expensive artwork, and anything else you wouldn’t want left accessible should be secured beforehand. It’s one simple precaution that can give you a little more peace of mind while strangers are walking through your home.
You’ve made a lot of memories in your home, and preparing it for buyers doesn’t mean pretending those memories never happened. It simply means creating enough room for someone else to walk through the door and begin imagining memories of their own. I know it can feel strange to look at a familiar home through a buyer’s eyes, so you don’t have to figure out every detail yourself. I’d be happy to walk through it with you, point out what I’ve learned buyers tend to notice, and help you decide what’s worth changing and what’s perfectly fine just as it is. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s helping your home feel its best when the right buyer walks through the door.