What do you look at when inspecting a house at an open house?

Hey all

I've just agreed to have an open house next saturday. We're putting an ad in the paper for next thursday, advertising the open house so we are hoping (and praying) that someone will come and look at it with a view to buy it.

So we want to make sure we can do everything possible to give a good impression.

What do you look for in a home when you go and inspect it? Obviously that its clean with no junk hanging around etc, so this weekend will be spent cleaning windows, mowing the lawn, picking up dog poop, going to the tip with any extra rubbish etc.

Any other tips that you can pass on? What sold a house to you? Did anything in particular make you go "wow..thats nice" or do most people just look at the house and not anything else? We dont have the nicest furniture (helllooo 3 small kids to seek and destroy everything) but we can't afford to rent nice furniture just to sell the house for us.

Tips please! (pretty pretty please, we NEED to sell our house!)

Well we just sold, and bought again.....
The cleanliness wasn't the be all and end all, it was the clutter I hate seeing... In places if you cant see the walls or carpet, you assume their crap!!

We also packed up EVERYTHING we didnt need till we moved... every room, and every cupbourd looked so so so spacious, even when they werent.

I always put something smelly in the slow cooker a few hrs before hand, the house smelled amazing, and not like fake spray.

Long neat surfaces, but not like a museum, just friendly and lived in. Turn on lights in darker rooms.
In the room we had kids sharing in, we took out the other bed, and just used a mattress at night. The room looked 100% better, and bigger!

BBL, head not working too well today...

My biggest tip would be to declutter everything so that the rooms looker bigger and possibly brighter then they actually are. Obviously you still need to use things such as kids toys but I would remove all but the essential and store them either in a shed or someone elses house for the duration. You want the floors to be clear - so remove any toys, beanbags, kiddies couches etc.

When we purchased our current house the thing that sold it to us was that all the rooms were pretty empty besides key pieces of furniture so we could see how big they were. It also allowed us to visualise ourselves in the house with our furniture, we werent overly distracted by the vendor's stuff.

I would also recommend dusting blinds (but that is a pet peeve of mine :lol:).

Fresh flowers add a nice effect.

Remove all appliances eg toaster, kettle etc from the kitchen bench to clear that up too.

Me personally....I look at the *house*, not the stuff in it. That's what you're purchasing after all.
Obviously cleanliness is important, but I tend to look for things like mould, rotting wood, the paint...all the cosmetic things that could possibly be extra costs in the long run.

What do you think are the best features of your house? Highlight them! For example if you have a fireplace, have a fire going...if you have a water feature..turn it on. Make the place feel inviting, create an ambiance with fresh flowers, lighting etc.

I look for potential expensive repairs. It doesn't always put me off, I just like to know what I'm up for.

Having said that, your unit is pretty new (and I love crappy, crappy old places to buy :) ), so I would just keep it uncluttered to show off it's awesomeness and you should be right.

**selling vibes**

Make sure you let in plenty of light by opening up all of the curtains and blinds. Hide away as much of 'your' stuff as possible, toys, photos, knick-knacks, etc (not that you'd have many ornaments, I'm guessing ;)).

What sold the unit to you when you bought it?

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What sold the unit to you when you bought it?

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It was the only thing on the market big enough for all of us in our price range that wasn't old and falling down around our ears!! LOL.. We loved that it was brand new and had a double garage.

And no we don't have many knick-knacks - what about pics though? keep the hanging ones on walls, take down ones on furniture?

No special features here, no fireplace, no water feature. Definitely will pack up some of our stuff though to make it look .... spacey.. LOL

Kitchens and bathrooms sell.
If you have a lot of personal photos etc, put them out of sight if you can.

Hun the day the buyer who bought our house came over to view it,i didnt vaccum or mop!!! the house had been open to everyday for 8 days and i was over it!!!!

The realestate man who came through b4 the photo's were done suggested taking everything off the front of the fridge, taking down bday cards and things like that, adding fresh flowers to living rooms, ensuite ect and for it to be free of clutter (not the easiest of things to do with kids in a small house. i just prayed that noone opened any cupboards because they would have had a landslide of bits fall ontop of them!

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And no we don't have many knick-knacks - what about pics though? keep the hanging ones on walls, take down ones on furniture?

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The idea is to make it look like a lovely place to live, but not your place. Because you don't want to live there anymore. ;) But then, you don't want to see huge hooks on the walls, so unless there's something generic to hang there, just leave your photos on the wall, I guess. Unless there's dozens of them!

Are you going to be showing it yourself, or using a RE agent?

Have you had a look at any other places in the area that are for sale in the price range in your area? As long as yours looks the best you're probably ahead of the game, I'm guessing.

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i just prayed that noone opened any cupboards because they would have had a landslide of bits fall ontop of them!

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:rofl:

Oooh thats so my place.. LOL

How many toys are acceptable? The kids each have a toy box in their rooms (well the girls share a room so they share a toy box) but thats about it. Like, in the girls room we have a toddler bed, a cot, a sheepskin mat on the floor, toy box with cover, rocking horse, and their stereo with a little storage box type thing under it. Is that too cluttered?

Do I need to tidy cupboards as well just incase people look through them? I never had to worry about this stuff when we moved from Queensland because our house was empty when we sold it.

Not that I have done a house inspection for a while but the things I would be looking for are

I check out cupboards, linen press pantry etc just to see the space so I guess if they were looking neat
I also like bright light rather than dull so try and open the house up
I would agree with clearing the fridge of photos
I have heard that the smell of fresh coffee is good.

Good luck

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The idea is to make it look like a lovely place to live, but not your place. Because you don't want to live there anymore. ;) But then, you don't want to see huge hooks on the walls, so unless there's something generic to hang there, just leave your photos on the wall, I guess. Unless there's dozens of them!

Are you going to be showing it yourself, or using a RE agent?

Have you had a look at any other places in the area that are for sale in the price range in your area? As long as yours looks the best you're probably ahead of the game, I'm guessing.

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We don't have dozens of pictures - posters on the walls in the kids rooms, 2 michael jordan posters (one is like 6 foot long and goes across the loungeroom wall), a hand and foot thing of aricyn as a baby, a mickey mouse photo thingy in the hallway, a montage of kids pics near the kitchen and some wedding pics in our walk through robe.

Is that too many pics?

And we have a real estate agent.

There are 3 other units in the same complex for sale, 2 are basically identical to ours, but heaps cheaper (they are on the market for $239, ours is $255 minimum) but we have a double garage and are seperate from them, they are all joined with each other. So its like ours is a villa, not a duplex I suppose. The other one is bigger than ours, and on the market for $280.

I done cupbords, just so they look bigger!
Can you put the toddler bed in the garage, on its side likes it not being used?? Will make the bedroom heaps bigger....
Maybe move the stereo? Rug, horse and cot sounds perfect...

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I check out cupboards, linen press pantry etc just to see the space so I guess if they were looking neat

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So I'm guessing people look at things like, the walk in pantry, linen cupboard, laundry cupboard? Toy cupboard in loungeroom? Bathroom cupboards? Cupboards in rooms? What do people normally inspect? I'm guessing the kitchen cupboards aren't really going to be looked in, I mean, who looks in all of them? (tell me, please, there isn't anyone who looks through ALL cupboards?)

I didnt take down any photos, incl ones on th TV unit.
The girls room sounds perfectly fine, i just made sure there was no loose toys lying around IYKWIM?
i didnt bother tidying cupboards. our wardrobe is walk through so everything is visable, i did tidy and re fold everything in there.
dont stress too much hun, theyre there to buy ur house, not ur stuff.

Good luck, hope it goes super dooper quick for u

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So I'm guessing people look at things like, the walk in pantry, linen cupboard, laundry cupboard? Toy cupboard in loungeroom? Bathroom cupboards? Cupboards in rooms? What do people normally inspect? I'm guessing the kitchen cupboards aren't really going to be looked in, I mean, who looks in all of them? (tell me, please, there isn't anyone who looks through ALL cupboards?)

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I reckon they will only look into those cupboards that are permanent fixtures and will be sold (such as walk-in pantry, built in storage under stairs etc) I personally would never look into someone's wardrobe -built in or not. I think that's too private. But then not everyone is like me :dunno:.

I would suggest baking some cookies or brewing some coffee prior to inspection. That way the house smells nice. Also buy some flowers for the living room etc. Beautiful flowers in the front yard are always good - gives a great first impression. You can buy "potted colour" (pansies, petunias, etc) that are super-cheap and already flowering. Just pop them into the ground and voilÃ* - garden looks gorgeous. We do the same when we have our rental inspections. For just $10 both my front and rear yard are blooming and oh so pretty!
HTH

Edit: Just an after-thought. Don't MAKE the cookies on the day (too much stress cleaning it up with kids around), prepare the dough a couple of days/weeks before, freeze it and then bake it on the day. Much easier!!

We've bought and sold twice.

Like Lulu we looked for expensive repairs not decor. I looked for things like rising damp and patched up cracks in the walls.

We also checked out the neighbours. If the house looked like they had dodgy neighbours (old abandoned cars on the front lawn, loud music, next door to a factory etc) we usually gave those places a miss.

Compass orientation so that daylight entered the main living spaces was important.

Have fresh smells, don't cook meat... The lookers might be vego. Vapourise a citrus oil, it will convey cleanliness.

The thing with personal photos especially if faces is that it is a barrier to helping people imagine that it is their home. Just a mind game thing. We removed ours.

Fresh flowers, fruit and plants are good.

Childrens' artwork conveys a cosy ambience and is cheap to make.

Oh and we didn't look in many cupboards... But we are super polite... Many people go through everything. I would possibly seal any cupboard with clear tape if you don't want people opening that door. Tell the agent it's to protect valuables... Inspection theft is a growing problem.

Argh Bath, you tell me this just as I've cleaned up the garage and removed all the kids artworks off the walls.. LOL

And no worries about cooking meat, we're vego ;)

A citrus oil - we have a toilet spray thats the lime one, and an orange one as well, can't remember what its called, but its all natural type thingo - I wonder if that will do. I was thinking of burning some incense but maybe thats too powerful? :think: The whole area is pretty neat, new units and all, and I have a guys front yard directly behind our back yard, so all you see is trees and grass, and then the main road over the fence. To the side of us is a vacant block, so not much I can change about that.. LOL

Good point about the faces, will remove ours - except for the hanging one of the kids. Hope people like Michael Jordan.. bhaahah

Raupe - Definitely too stressful to make them on the day - I might see if my uncle and aunty can come up and take the kids for a few hours so we can get stuck into it without having to worry about them. And I never liked looking in cupboards either - but I still did it with some of them to see how the cupboard was layed out, so I'm guessing I"ll be cleaning them up a little!!!

Oh well, back to cleaning up the garage!!!

Noooooo incense! It is powerful and heaps of people don't like it. I luuurve it so I have no idea what's wrong with them.

I'm with Lulu, I love soft smells, a lot of incense gives me headaches... something natural, food, cakes etc appeals to me more!!! LOL

I haven't bought through an OH but earlier this year we had 15 OH in an effort to sell ours.

I'd probably take down the posters. We were told to be as neutral as possible. For us that meant getting rid of anything police related obviously won't relate to you but you get the idea) and huge family photos.

Going against the grain a bit with the smells thing. While baking/coffee/food is great if you have a house that needs 'cozying', but in a newer house I think that freshness is the key. ie open the windows for a bit to let the air through and if you have to have a 'smell' go with what Bath suggested in a subtle vaporised oil. Overpowering smells make me suspicious of smoking and or pet smells, and as someone who doesn't smoke or have pets that would put us right off.

I would never go through someone's cupboards, but I am an organiser and cupboard space is important to me so I like to have a look at their depth. But that's just me.
You really can't pre-empt every person that could come through your house either, so I understand how tough it is.

Yep no incense! I like it in my own home but it also reminds me of the share houses full of hippy students of my youth. People generally like the idea of moving into a space that generates a more prosperous vibe than living off a student allowance IYKWIM?

Food smells can be a bit too personal... And given the frequency of pregnant women who attend open days I too would avoid cooking smells... But that's just me.

Eta: snap Kim... I agree!

And insence, iwent to an open once and felt like i could hardly breathe! DD1 asked what the smell was pmsl

The things I looked for apart from expensive repairs/replacements were:

- Cupboard space - I open all cupboards. In particular linen cupboards, bedroom & kitchen cupboards
- Space of the rooms & where my furniture would go/fit (we were not buying anything new)
- The outside yard - very important for us as that was one of the reasons for us to move. How big, anything that seemed dangerous for DD
- General cleanliness. One house I was totally put off by b/c from the outside if was lovely but inside it looked like a tip & they were dirty / hadn't
cleaned. I couldn't get passed it and see the positives in the house....

When we had OH, I made sure it was generally clean & tidy, no dishes in the sink/on benches, rubbish bin emptied (so no smells), DD toys put away, rooms easily able to be walked into & around, fresh flowers, lights on, blinds opened, all doors to all rooms (except toilet) open, cupboards tidy so that nothing fell out! I went into one OH & opened a bedroom cupboard & a rolled up sleeping bag fell out on my head! It was funny put a pain to put it back in the cupboard b/c it was from right up top (I am short).

With regard to the cupboards the main ones is all I would be looking at, which is pantry, linen press and probably Master bedroom, just to see depth, hanging space etc etc. I wouldn't feel a need to go through absolutely every cupboard.

I agree on the incense, I find it overpower, an oil burner would probably let of a nicer scent

Arrange for any pets to be elsewhere for the inspection. Also take the family out for the hour or so. I've been to many inspections where the owner and kids are home and I find it really uncomfortable. Like I'm intruding.

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Arrange for any pets to be elsewhere for the inspection. .

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Eek thats gonna be hard, we have 2 inside cats and a dog... and nowhere to really take them!

Point taken on the incense...

we had 5 cats!!! we locked them in the garage, then for the last couple, the garden shed for the 45 mins....

for us it was the light. we needed natural light...

then it was cleanliness and a decluttered place so that yeah we could get an idea of space etc.

(we were totally turned off by places that were obviously trying too hard lol...made me think they had something to hide or wanted too much for the place lol).

I know if I was looking for a house I'd be checking kitchen cupboards, linen cupboards and wardrobes - because we lack space in ours so I wouldn't want that to happen again. Bedroom space would be a big one for me too, sometimes just moving the furniture around can make things look bigger. My stepmother is an estate agent and she swears by cookies or cakes baking - never bread. I'm not one to worry about pets, but I can see that others would. Can you take the dog for a walk during the inspection? Good luck. I hope someone falls in love with it.

Ooooh taking the dog for a walk. Yup, can do that. DUnno if the cats would join us though.. bahahaha

Definately lock the cats up - we had ours at the cattery for the open houses 'cause DH was o/s & DS & I were at my parents, failing that can you put them in a carrier and take them for a drive while the open house is on? I was worried about them escaping 'cause all the doors were open.

I think everyone else has covered it all. I second getting the pets out though. My dad loathes cats and if he saw some at an OH he would immediately decide he could smell them as well and be off the place instantly IYKWIM?
I'm another one who didn't feel I could look in people's cupboards but I always looked in the pantry!
This house was empty when we bought it but the ones we looked at that were lived in I remember one was like a 50s time capsule or someone's Nanna's house (doillies included LOL) and it felt like we were intruding and that it would be a crime to buy it and update it LOL. I found with the others it was lack of clutter that appealed most and a pleasant smell.

If I was buying I'd look at things like

Spaciousness... so de-clutter and make things look as white and bright and big as possible. I would remove the posters coz it would make rooms look smaller. If you have tiles on the floors and rugs, it might even help to roll them up.

Cupboard space - so make them tidy

Clean - Coz you get whatever mess/dirt/dust someone else leaves behind and it's not appealing to many!

Nice Gardens - I love gardening so I'd look at how big and neat the garden is. Although in saying that our house in Perth was a total mess when we bought it, but we used that as a reason to buy it so we could put our own stamp on it.

I look at the layout of the house, but there isn't much you can do about that. Some places you like, and some you don't.

Maybe put some fresh flowers in the house....it might give people the sneezes, but they are always so appealing!

Good luck and stay positive :)

Hmmm.. dunno about taking the posters down, like I know we should, but DS has them all around his wall at the moment because we got those stick on sticker things for walls, and they bloody took the paint off in different places when the kids ripped them off. So his transformer posters are covering the holes.. LOL

I just sold a house and it has tenants. The tenants, being a little on the dubious end of the scale, either didn't read their mail or forgot I was coming so they hadn't cleaned AT ALL. They got spooked by the buyers arriving before me and did a mad dash cleanup. The house was full of people, cats and dogs.

They still bought it, but it was a numbers game - cheap house in good condition with tenants in place.

I was a tenant in a house for sale a couple of times and me there with my feet up with a beer and not having cleaned, it still sold. They never gave me any notice for the inspections so I just couldn't be bothered pandering to them.

I intend to rent our current house out as soon as our new house is built, and I will be seriously de-cluttering it, removing ALL excess furniture, and having all the curtains open so it is nice and light and bright. No cooking or smells, just fresh air.

Don't go over the top, someone already said if you're trying too hard there's probably something wrong with the house or you're desperate.