Top tips for showing prospective buyers around your property

Moving home is understandably described as one of the most stressful times of your life. The expense, the pressure, the hope, the admin and the organising; all of it combined can mean you have a really rather difficult period. Once you are in your new property, you will soon feel that it has all been worth it but there are certain measures you can put in place to reduce some of the challenges you will face in this busy time.

One of the hardest parts of moving home can be selling your property in the first place. You’ll need to ensure you prepare your home ready to sell, or price it appropriately to allow for issues you might not want to rectify. You’ll also need to find the right estate agent and have it marketed in the right places. But it doesn’t end there. Getting the right people to view your home is one thing, but you need to make sure they are really grasping all the benefits of the property in that first viewing. It’s a rather tall order to ask someone to make the biggest purchase of their life after spending just a few short moments having a look around. As it’s such a big decision, houses will get ruled out if it isn’t immediately obvious that it suits the prospective buyer’s needs.

Homeowners will often want to show viewers around their home themselves. After all, they do know the property better than anyone. But without experience in the field, there can be a few areas which are overlooked. So, take a look at our top tips for showing prospective buyers around your property:

1. Be welcoming

It might sound obvious but you could be surprised at how nervous or clinical you might come across if you have never done this before. Being personable and putting the viewers at ease will absolutely help them form a positive feeling towards the environment you are showing them. Ensure you don’t over face them too much, step back and leave them time to take in what they are seeing will help. As will offering drinks, snacks and an open attitude that invites questions – and be careful that nothing negative slips out! Positivity is key. Don’t forget – buying a home is perhaps more emotional than financial so they need to connect with the property.

2.De-personalise the property

Your prospective buyers need to be able to envision themselves living there which would be extremely difficult if you have a huge amount of family photographs everywhere and lots of other highly personal items. If you can remove most of these, it might help them to visualise their own life at your property.

3.Be scent-sitive

Everyone’s house has a certain smell and whether that is a canine-based aroma, one of cooking or one of washing powder, smells can evoke certain emotions in people. Ensuring your home smells as neutral as possible will be one of the best ways to stop prospective buyers from having a negative association with a strong smell in your home. Cigarette smoke in particular can be extremely off-putting so refrain from doing this in the homes before viewings. And be careful with air fresheners; these can be extremely harsh on the nose and might even seem as though you are trying to hide something! Fresh air from open windows is your best bet.

4.Prepare yourself

Bearing in mind the magnitude of this purchase, any prospective buyer will probably have a great deal of questions for you. So be ready for them! Know how old your boiler is, when the windows were fitted and when the guarantee runs out. Find out about catchment areas and check your Council Tax so you can be accurate if they ask you how much it is. These are all really important pieces of information they will need to decide on your property’s suitability so giving them it up front can help.

5.Entrance and exit

Start and end the tour of your home on high points. First impressions do count for a lot more than some people realise so starting off very positively will set the right tone for the viewing. Equally, ending on the high point of the property will send them on their way with an excellent memory of the home. For example, if your kitchen is the finest room in the house, offer to make them a drink in there whilst chatting. If it’s the lounge, let them take a seat whilst you prepare one for them so they can spend a few moments really taking it all in.

You know your home better than anyone so we can understand why you might want to show it off to prospective buyers. Just make sure you do it to the best of the home’s ability. If you have any doubts about it. The experts at Adamsons Barton Kendal Estate Agents Rochdale will be well-placed to handle the viewings for you so give us a call on 01706 653 214 (Rochdale) or 0161 643 0777 (Middleton) to find out more.