Here is how to show and sell your house to potential buyers
Have a route in mind. Start with a show-stopper and think of other attractive areas to keep their hearts beating during the viewing. Picture: iStock
Showing houses in person has returned as a little piece of nail-biting theatre.
Even with your home in the hands of an estate agent, it’s worth knowing the basics of putting on some enticing domestic drama for that vital half an hour.
Stressful? Absolutely. With the market picking up speed, you may well be required occasionally to endure the trial of steering complete strangers around every centimetre of your home, watching them flip open your underwear drawer, uninvited.
Here are a few do’s and don’ts gleaned from the property trade that might make that halting and important stroll a little less terrifying.
Yes, I know, but in general, you, the clatter of kids, the bounding dog and your nosy mother in law should decamp, leaving as little trace of your everyday, backstage clutter as possible behind you.
If you have an estate agent, the kindest thing you can do for all parties is to go out during viewing.
Most house hunters feel intimidated by the presence of the owner and will not feel at ease speaking candidly with the agent if the vendor is twitching nervously over the peninsula. Leave a loaf of fragrant fresh bread out on the counter if you really must, keeping any added aroma light and subtle (fragrance is oddly personal — fresh air is universal).
We’re presuming you have staged the house really, really well, and that the President of Ireland could alight on your loo. For more staging tips, take a look at agent Lorraine Spillane’s excellent advice here: irishexaminer.com/property/homeandoutdoors/arid-30953432.html.
Ask your agent to be brutally honest about what you can do to maximise the appeal of this house or apartment and really listen. Turn on all the lights regardless of the time of day. This is standard practice in show homes all year round.
This experience is 100% about the house, its condition, its location and its guide price. It’s 100% not about you or your taste. Put on some emotional armour.
Some viewers will be rude — very rude — to your face, regarding your most expensive and cherished décor and furnishings.
They may use the loo — and not flush.
When your viewers do arrive, and even if they are markedly late, be friendly, warm, but not over-familiar.
Don’t let your desperation show with too much grinning delight. You should know their names, but blathering on about family minutia, whining tearfully that you simply adore the house and are fisting up medication to just deal with leaving it?
A cringy hard sell. You want out. Spoiler alert — they know.
If parking is pinched in your suburban driveway move your car out to the road. This creates a far more airy feel on approaching the house and enhances its kerb appeal.
Imagine any front garden as your overture and let's steer them through a soul-stirring symphony of No 8 Get Gone Avenue.
In less than a minute from pulling up a seller can be set on registering interest or rejecting what you have to offer.
They should see potential from boundary to boundary, skirting board to skirting board.
Don’t fib about the local nursery letting out at 3pm; if they ask,-yes, it gets busy for a few minutes. Don’t catastrophise.
This will give you confidence and prevent anyone from cannoning into each other as you try to decide where the heck to go.
You’re not Liberace showing off a sequined cloak in Las Vegas, but every home has its star moments: a wonderful family room, a gargantuan garden, a superb home office or a master to die for.
If you have a truly fabulous crib, there may be multiple adrenaline-stirring surprises, but otherwise, choreography the journey to the ta-dah spaces, and let then let the surroundings do the talking. If there are some tiny rooms (single bedrooms shoe-horned with a double bed) do what the agents do and stand back and let them go in first.
This retains as much square centimetres around their shoulders as possible.
Only turn on the heating if needs be. Note: a damp house is bad enough, an overheated damp house has all the charm of midday in a rainforest.
In the winter, we’ll be more concerned about celebrating the zoned performance of that smart thermostat, but in summer we can indicate an elegant connection between the garden and house (see-through diamond clean windows and light window dressings please).
The front garden can be plugged up with garden-centre plants in bloom if you’re utterly useless at propagation. Ker-thuck all lawn all edges and all but bald it out on the day of viewing.
Cull a few fresh flowers for the hall and dining table from the local supermarket, fattened with off-cuts to suggest a florists garden awaits.
Containers are fantastic for dressing up patios and porches and can be brought with you.
Yes, you do use the garden to entertain. That’s the only answer. Make any arrangement of tables, chairs and a BBQ convincing.
If you have an older house with history attached to it (short of it being a notorious 19th-century bordello or slaughterhouse) write it up as a hand at viewing if it’s not on the specs.
Have a portfolio of paperwork concerning the maintenance and utilities of the house, including recent gas or electricity bills. This is really useful stuff to pad out the brag of the BER.
Think about what you might be asked and have honest, positive answers in mind. If there are any obvious problems, point them out yourself without then making a weasel dart past the area and hoping for the best.
The surveyor will certainly outline any visible structural defects or DIY issues, so acknowledging them can alleviate the apparent weight of the issue. The viewers will appreciate you being relaxed but up-front. Their surveyor will check finer details out if you go into serious negotiations.
Never apologise for anything in the house, whether it’s a stray toy, a depressing bedroom or a drunken neighbour trampolining into view over the fence.
Play up your home’s positive elements and the lesser-known joys of its locality. Point out hidden assets from security features to garden shrubs yet to bloom. Are there improvements planned for the area.
Is 5G broadband about to arrive? Is the local school feted for its inclusivity? That insider information is a real asset to the buyer. Radiating quiet confidence about the house and its desirability, chances are that is what the viewers will take with them from the showing. Even if you have outgrown the house, shy away from any explanation that detracts from its charm.
Most viewers will expect to look around by themselves after the guided wander, so let them have some space if and only if you feel comfortable doing this. Don’t vibrate at the bottom of the stairs.
Make tea, look engaged. Fake a call from the agent for another viewing (sorry no — don’t do that).
If they want to view the house again at a later date, ensure they contact the agent (unless you are truly selling the house yourself) rather than inviting them to come anytime, a shaky statement that implies you have no other viewers to consider.
However nice they appear, these are not your dear friends. This is business, and you’re super busy. Without lies or creating fantasy competition lurking in the wings, let the viewer mull on that. Any offers should be made through your agent; keep your cards out of sight and resist the compulsion to negotiate.
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