10 Ways to Get Your Home Listing Ready vs. Showing Ready
Listing-Ready Top Five Tips
Completely Empty Surfaces. A clean almost sterile looking room can be better when it comes to listing photos. Start by clearing any clutter from countertops, floors, and furniture (even little nicknacks that are placed on surfaces with intention). Dust and wipe down all surfaces, and make sure to clean windows and mirrors. Consider removing family photos since these photos will be on many listing sites. No photos will be taken in your closets so you can fill them up to the brim if necessary.
Stage the rooms for function: Staging can help show buyers the potential of any room. Rearrange furniture to create a functional layout. Consider rental furniture if needed, but be careful in your selections that you don’t date your home. In my opinion, the less is more attitude is important in very important in listing photos so try to keep things minimal.
Maximize all sources of light: Natural light can make a space feel brighter and more inviting, so open curtains and blinds, and remove any heavy drapes. If necessary, add additional lighting to brighten dark corners and turn on all the overhead lights so that every inch of your space is exposed.
Focus on Neutrals: Fresh paint (especially bright, white paint) can go a long way in making a home feel more attractive and well-maintained. Consider neutral colors which will help present a blank space to present endless opportunities to buyers. Overpowering color and pattern can detract from the space itself in photos.
Clean lines and consistency: If one room has the blinds pulled to the top of the window, all of the blinds should be placed in the same position. This goes for repeating elements throughout your home. In a smaller home, keeping the wall color consistent can help your home feel cohesive and spacious. Consider the angles of your spaces and where the camera will likely be placed. What objects will be in line with the camera lens and are the lines clean and consistent? Think pillows, the look of indoor plants in a space, the way your drapes lay, etc. The camera loves light and crisp lines and will help your photographer with their post shoot edits.
Showing-Ready Top Five Tips
Clean and declutter: An uncluttered home makes a much better impression in person, however there is a huge difference between the blank space feel you want for listing photos and the clean and decluttered space you create for showings. Although we were told most people don’t care if your closets are packed to the brim, I do think it is nice to be able to see the functionality of the storage spaces. Utilize your garage and attic if possible.
Stage the rooms to look lived in: Staging can help create an inviting and attractive space. You should still show a room’s functionality, however, use decor to add pops of color and personality. A great example of this in the townhouse is comparing the listing picture of my daughter’s room vs how I set it up for showings. It is still decluttered but we added back in some of her items so you know it is a baby girl’s nursery. Ideally, we would put things back onto the walls, however, we just paid for someone to patch up all the holes and paint so it felt wrong to add them back in.
Maximize NATURAL light: Overhead lights can feel harsh. I prefer to set up our house walk throughs for the mornings afternoons prior to sunset. The afternoons allows buyers to be checking out our home during the day when we are able to open up all our blinds and allow the natural light shine into our home. In person, white can feel a bit stark so it helps when the lighting is soft and the textures and layers in a room build the cozy, hygge vibes.
Touch up paint and repair any damages: Fresh paint and minor repairs are some of the cheapest and most impactful ways to sway any buyer. Every potential buyer will be in your home in person (most likely) and inspecting the details… make sure you are paying attention to the small blemishes you may normally tune out. I would also recommend painting early and living in your space for a week or two before listing your home because you will likely find a few places that need touch ups.
Attention to details: Small details can make a big difference in how a home is perceived. Make sure to straighten throw pillows and bedding, fluff towels, and ensure that all light fixtures and hardware are clean and functioning properly. I love to select a signature candle and allow the cold throw to fill each room. My personal favorite is 017 Hot Like Lava from Hummingbird Candle Co. which I will be purchasing this week to put into the townhouse for showings. Showing the little ways that you have cared for your home shows people that it can also be a space that they fall in love with and make their own memories.
Bonus Section for Selling Your Home with Young Children
We have learned through this process that cleaning as we go sets our family up for success. After our deep clean for the listing photos, we kept most of our items put away. I pulled out a few things that we use everyday, but made sure we chose a spot for where it went when it wasn’t being used. For example, my daughter’s room has a quilt that my mom made for her. It adds color and personality to her room, but she also uses it during naps. We found the quilt a home on the side of my daughter’s crib neatly folded, and thoughtfully draped on the side. I also created vignettes throughout our home where previously (for the listing photos) we had blank spaces. A vignette is a small, decorative arrangement or display in a room. In interior design, a vignette is typically created by grouping together a collection of items (I aim for three or five objects but always keep it an odd number). The goal is to create a thoughtful focal point and I try to keep these out of the reach of my kids.
Selling and moving can be a stressful time, but I hope with these ten tips, you found something that helped you with your listing or even helped you curate your current home. Now let’s go list this townhouse… I’ll keep you posted on the progress!
