If you choose to sell your home through an online estate agency, you could save yourself a great deal of money. However, although some online estate agents do offer to manage your viewings on your behalf, most will expect you to carry them out yourselves. Doing your own viewings sounds straightforward enough. After all, it’s just showing people around your house, right? How hard can it be? But there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way. Follow our tips to make sure you and your home create that all-important, positive first impression and increase your chances of getting an offer.
1. Cool, calm and collected
Family life can be hectic at times, so time your viewings strategically. If you have children, it’s best not to book a viewing when you’re trying to get them ready for school! If possible, group as many viewings as you can into one day, either when the kids are at school, or arrange for childcare. You’re aiming for cool, calm and collected, not frazzled and frenetic! Likewise, if you have a dog that loves to bark every time the doorbell rings, you might want to ask a friend to look after them or arrange for a dog walker to take them out while you carry out your viewings. Not everyone appreciates being greeted by an over-enthusiastic pooch and noisy barking won’t help you create a Zen-like atmosphere either.
2. Be prepared
Keeping the house spotlessly clean and clutter-free all the time is a pretty big ask for most people, especially if you do have children and pets, but viewers are pretty unforgiving on this matter. You probably don’t even notice the mess and detritus of everyday life, but believe us, your viewers will. So keeping your house super-clean and tidy is a hard and fast rule that you don’t want to break. It’s another good argument for grouping all your viewings into 1 or maybe 2 days. It’s much more manageable than keeping everything spotless 7 days a week.
3. Dress it up
There’s no need to go overboard with this, but by adding a few attractive little flourishes to your property, you can really help to form a good first impression in the mind of your potential buyer. It sounds clichéd, but a vase of freshly cut flowers or the smell of bread or buns baking in the oven, will trigger positive associations that will ultimately impact people’s overall impression of your home.
4. Play up your best features
You want to try to emphasise the best aspects of your home, so it makes sense to begin your viewings in the best room in the house. Starting on a positive note will help to compensate for any other rooms you have which may need a little work.
If you have a great garden, why not ask people to enter the house that way so you can showcase it right from the off? Of course, it won’t hurt if you just happen to be lounging in the sunshine enjoying a coffee and a good book when they arrive! It all helps to build a picture of the lifestyle your viewers would enjoy if they bought your house.
5. Give them some space
There’s nothing worse when you’re viewing a property than the owner following you around, breathing down your neck as you try to form an impression of the property in question. Be mindful of this fact when you’re showing people round. By all means take them round once to show them the general layout of the house. But then excuse yourself and let them explore on their own. Just let them know where you’ll be if they should have any questions. Ideally in the garden finishing your coffee!
