Your client is motivated to sell, but they're also swamped at work, stressed about moving, and just plain busy. The place just always feels like a mess. So they hire a staging professional and a personal organizer to help deal with the clutter. They've got a cleaning service coming in once a week. The place looks so great they joke about how they might consider staying. (And you're thinking... oh - no, you don't!) And now it's up to them to make sure the place is slick as a whistle for each showing. But how can you be sure when you turn that key that you won't find it looking like it did when you first met them? You know what I mean...
Magazines piled in the corner, bills on the table, food on the counter?
Well, for starters, their stager should have given them what I call the "pre-show checklist," personalized for their property. But if they don't have one, please feel free to pass this article along.
When your client wakes up in the morning, they should feel like they're staying in a swanky boutique hotel. The catch: there won't be a bill slipped under the door, but you (their realtor) might as well be the front desk with their wake up call. Only you're calling to say there's somebody in the driveway right now who wants to take a look. The price for living in the Pottery Barn catalog they used to call home? They're the housekeeping staff and they've got to keep it looking perfect, 24/7.
Their "pre-show checklist" will help save their sanity (and yours) and help give them the edge over their comps. The key is for the list to be prioritized and timed out so it can be done in an hour or less if they're home when you call - or before leaving the house each day:
1) At the very top of the list is "hide the clutter!" In drawers, under beds, just hide it!
2) Next, empty the garbage and anything else that might be causing a stink. (If there are pets, they should already have made arrangements for caging their dog, or putting their cat in a carrier and taking them out of the house with them for the showing.) Refrain from lighting incense or spraying air freshener unless it's absolutely necessary -prospective buyers will think it's a cover-up!
3) Next up, clean up the kitchen and bathroom. They're the biggest selling points for most buyers, so make them look perfect. Hide those pots and pans, and put away that cereal left out on top of the fridge. Bring out the guest towels, hide those toiletries and for goodness sake, sponge off that sink and commode.
4) Finally, shine, shine, shine. It only takes Windex and a few paper towels to get all reflective surfaces looking like new - sinks, shower knobs, mirrors, any stainless steel appliances.
5) On the way out the door, remember to flip on all the lights, take out the trash and look around as if you're that potential buyer.
For more tips on selling and staging property, contact a Certified Redesign Specialist with Eye to Eye Interiors for an affordable consultation. Serving Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. (773) 350-7020.
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