Styling your home for an open for inspection

Styling your home for an open for inspection
Jessie RichardsonDecember 7, 2020

While there are plenty of stylists available who will dress your home for a sales campaign, not all of us have the cash to drop on an expert. However, putting on a good show come open for inspection day can make all the difference to buyer demand, and your home’s selling price.

Here are Property Observer’s key tips for styling your own home.

It’s not you, it's me

If you think your home is being marketed towards owner-occupiers, remember: it’s not about you. An attractive home will be one that prospective buyers can imagine more successful, more attractive and less stressed versions of themselves living in. Of course, whether buyers acknowledge this or not is entirely beside the point.

So try to remove obvious reminders of yourself and your family from display. That means taking down trophies or pictures of the kids. When a buyer walks through the house at an inspection, it should feel like its already theirs, not yours.

That doesn’t mean you need to clear the bookshelves and strip the sheets. Your home should still look like one that’s liveable and hospitable. But it does also mean removing yourself from view - people don't like to feel like they're obtruding in someone else's home, and they certainly don't like to feel like they're being watched as they inspect a property.

Play into the aspirational spirit of your buyer. If you’ve got a killer cookbook collection, display it proudly. But try to tuck away any eccentric collectables you might have. As we’ve seen before, taxidermy and life sized science fiction figurines might just turn off the discerning buyer.

Keep it clean

Nobody wants to live in a dirty home. There’s not much else to it, really. Unless you’re courting the true renovation enthusiast who wants to get in cheap and fix up your home (in which case, disregard this piece and prepare yourself to settle for a low price), there's no winning back buyers once a property elicits their disgust.

Vacuum the carpet, remove any stains on furniture (or cover them), empty the washing hamper and bins and don’t have any food out. Don’t forget that all the senses are in play at an open for inspection – rotten smells can turn off a buyer more than six foot high ceilings. So launder the curtains, mop the floors and open up the house to get some fresh air flowing.

A clean home won’t just make a buyer feel more comfortable, but will also de-clutter and open up your home. As we know, when it comes to houses, bigger is better. This is particularly pertinent on open for inspection day, where you’ll have much more foot traffic coming through than usual. What seems like a big enough space for two people can start to feel confined with only a few extra players, so make sure you don’t have more room taken up by superfluous objects or mess.

It’s what’s on the outside that counts (as much as the inside)

Don’t forget the garden – again, engage the buyer’s imagination. If there are plane tree leaves from last autumn carpeting your garden path, they’re going to be reminded of how much work it is to live on a tree lined street. First impressions are everything – when they pull up outside the house, prospective buyers should see a clean, tidy home, not a hovel overwhelmed by the elements. Sweep the front yard, clean out the gutters and give the garden a good weeding the day before. 

Also make sure to give yourself plenty of time to make any obvious repairs. Any cracked windows have to be fixed, falling down gutters must be replaced and oil that squeaky gate - if you're lucky, it'll be getting a workout at your open for inspection.

Click here for tips on how to get your property "open home ready" in one morning.

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