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In the family room, dust, clean,
vacuum and polish. Use lots of colorful cushions and throws to jazz
it up. Get some flowers or attractive plants. Clean the windows and
pay particular attention to any sliding glass doors. Don’t forget
the drapes and/or blinds.
You have already packed away your “treasures” and photographs.
Get rid of any broken down furniture like dad’s favorite recliner
that has coffee stains, is torn and shows years of use. Cover any
old couches with throws and send excess furniture to storage.
Once again, have the drapes open and the lights on. The family room
should also have potpourri and fresh flowers to give it that extra
oomph.
The family room would be a great candidate for some track lighting
as it should be the brightest living space area in the house.
Before buyers arrive or at Open House, turn on ALL the lights in the
house and garage, including table lamps. Even if it is daylight and
the sun is shining in the window, you will be surprised at the
difference it makes. You don’t notice any shadows or unlighted areas
yourself while you are living there (and you want to conserve
energy) but your buyers unquestionably will.
Prior to buyers arriving, turn off the TV and have some soft music
playing in the background.
Showing houses with the TV on is hard as your buyers will tend to
get distracted from their purpose if there is something interesting
on. I have “lost” husbands during showings because there was a ball
game playing. If there is something you really want to watch, record
it for later viewing.
Go through any other rooms you have like an office, living room,den,
play room, dining room etc. and do the same as you did for the rest
of the rooms. Clean thoroughly and pack or put away everything that
is not essential. Anywhere that’s dark, liven it up with flowers or
light colored artwork. It doesn’t have to be light, it only has to
give the impression it is. |
