Would you rather a home be bright or a little dark when showing it?

Good morning Scott Godzyk,

Great advice. I always advise my sellers: curtains opened and  lights on! Always want to showcase the house in its very best light!

Scott,  Light, Bright, Open and with lights on is the optimum way to show a home.  No buyer wants to walk into a creepy, eery feeling of a dark house with curtains drawn.

Scott Godzyk I am helping a client that has an out-of-state property. He wants it sold. I replaced all th kitchen spots with LED spots and told the listing agent to just keep the lights on 24/7.

Bill Roberts

Totally agree with everything you have said here Scott!

    My Broker friend has a $950K listing that is stale on the market.  When I showed it, every blind was closed, the owner was using 40 watt light bulbs, etc.  That Seller knew well in advance that I was coming with a Buyer; he could have lit it up.

   My Broker friend said he is going to throw in the towel and cancel the listing.

Hi Scott - Good point. If the home has attractive features, it doesn't matter of they can't be seen. And it takes a lot away from a showing if the spends a bunch of time running around opening up the curtains and turning the lights on. That kind of reveal doesn't work so well.

Light, light, light, Scott! When I was first in the business in NYC, because light was a precious commodity in many NY coops, we were taught to always get to a showing early and open up all the drapes and turn on lights because people are attracted to light (unless, of course, your windows were facing a brick wall). In 25 years I've only ever once had a client who asked me for a dark property (that's because he traded commodities in the far east and slept during the day and worked through the nights).

 I must agree wholeheartedly with you on only having the lights on in the late afternoon and evening. If you have the lights on during the day it gives a sense of trying to hide the house being dark and cold Scott Godzyk 

Scott- absolutely, let there be light.  Years ago we looked for our own home in VA. It was a January day and a little gloomy.  By the time my agent and I got all of the lights on so we could see the property, I'd lost interest. 

Of course light and bright is my preference and also the preference of most buyers. Open those windows and let the light shine in. 

What a great series Scott. I have had people skip a showing because it was not bright. Who wants to live in darkness?

Leaving a home with a lot of light pouring in the windows or the lights on is always best.

When we sold our own home about 10 years ago that was one of the common complaints in the feedback we received. "This house feels like a cave." We were sure to leave on light and open shades after that!