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A Real Estate Agent Guide for How to Present a House for Sale

A big part of the real estate business is presenting houses for sale, also known as showing houses. Like anything else, there are good and bad ways to do this, and your approach will ultimately determine your success as a real estate agent. You should know some basic things about any house you sell as a real estate agent. Questions a client is likely to ask in a house presentation session include things like the age of the house, previous ownership, its square footage, and the current price it’s selling for.

It’s important to know that selling is more about the buyer’s emotions than anything else. How you make them feel determines whether or not they want to do what you’re telling them to. One general rule you can follow as a real estate agent presenting houses for sale is to give your potential buyers an experience. Don’t just show them a house.

Make the presentation process an experience that evokes positive emotions from your buyer. This article explores tips on how to present a house for sale in detail. It’s an appropriate guide for real estate agents who want to improve their skills.

1. Tackle Projects You’ve Been Putting Off

As a real estate agent, you want the houses you present to be in the best shape possible. A general cue for how to present a house for sale is to make it as aesthetically attractive as possible. On this note, it’s important to tackle areas of disrepair in and around the house. One area that is easily neglected or put off is the garage area and, more specifically, the garage floor.

Owing to the typical functions of a garage, the garage floor usually sustains a lot of damage over time. When you’re provided a house to sell, inspect the garage floor and ensure it’s in good condition before showing it to potential buyers. If the floor needs repairs, you’ve got to do something about it.

Again, the function and use of a garage in most homes have made a solid floor necessary. The extra measures taken here to enhance strength can make constructing a garage floor quite expensive. This is a big reason why many opt to leave it as it is when they want to sell. However, you can find ways to achieve an acceptable garage floor standard as an agent. Depending on the extent of damage to the floor, you can find ways to restore it affordably.

Following the guidance of an experienced contractor, establish the best way to go about the garage flooring. Options include; doing patchwork on the damaged areas, removing and replacing the top layer of the floor, and covering the surface with a suitable heavy-duty carpet ideal for use in a garage. This is particularly useful if the extent of damage to the floor is minimal.

2. Store Items That Would Clutter the Space

Cluttered spaces wear down the mind because they give the impression of being busy. When you enter a cluttered room, you’re bombarded with many things that distract your mind. As a real estate agent, you want the full attention of your potential buyers.

You want to present a room that will give your potential buyer enough brain space to process what they see in the room without the distractions of a lot of clutter. Cluttered spaces are hard to navigate, especially in small houses with confined spaces. Clutter also hides the real shape of the room and key attractions or add-ons that may serve as selling points that turn potential buyers into buyers.

So, a tip on how to present a house for sale is to encourage the homeowner to declutter and organize their space well. Build them if the house needs more storage facilities to help clear the clutter. This can be done in a manner that adds some artistry to the house.

3. Consider Replacing Your Roof

The roof is the crown of a house, and secondly, it covers a huge surface area. Roofs can be seen from long distances and appear even more prominently than the house in some cases. So, as a real estate agent, you want to ensure the roof is in the best shape possible. You may have to schedule a whole roof replacement if it’s in significant disrepair.

This may sound intimidating and expensive. However, some specialists can do it at a very reasonable rate and in good time. It’s also worth it because of the roof’s prominence and its general effect on the image of the whole house. It can change the face of the entire house.

Roof replacement may be a great advantage to the homeowner because it makes a house look well-maintained. The psychological effect is that the house seems newer than it is and, therefore, only needs a few repairs. Buyers don’t want houses that look old because it makes them think of the many things they may have to repair or replace.

Sometimes, a roof may look old, but it’s not necessarily in bad condition. In this case, a whole roof replacement may be unnecessary, and a paint job would suffice. In other instances, a thorough wash may be necessary to restore their luster and appeal. This is the crown you’d want for a house you sell as a real estate agent. An old roof isn’t how to present a house for sale.

4. Remove Junk You Don’t Want to Move With

Encourage your homeowners to do away with junk they don’t need. Some will likely have items in their house that they don’t plan to move with or are undecided about whether or not some of the things they’re keeping are junk. As a real estate agent, take it upon yourself to advise them to get rid of anything that doesn’t serve a purpose anymore. Decluttering helps enhance the house showing experience for potential buyers.

To find out how to present a house for sale, you’ll need to work on how you communicate with the homeowners. You must convince them that cooperating with you is in their best interest. Remember to point them toward trusted garbage hauling services that can come and pick up the junk that needs to be out of the way.

5. Ensure It’s Comfortable Inside

Another area a real estate agent should be sensitive about is the house environment. Once a buyer comes into the house, the smells, the lighting, the visual stimuli, and the house’s temperatures should all be conducive. All these conditions should give potential buyers a general good feeling once they enter that house.

So, air conditioning, heating, and cooling systems should all be in good working condition to ensure that the temperatures in the house are just right. A potential buyer will pay attention to how good the HVAC system is at maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature, which is key to making a house habitable.

If the air-conditioning is not working properly, contact a reputable HVAC contractor and have them look at the system. They’ll ensure these systems are in good working condition because if a showing is done when faulty, it’ll likely be a deal breaker for most prospective buyers.

6. Improve the Curb Appeal

As the frontage of any house, the curb is a crucial area for a real estate agent to be keen on. The idea is to make the curb as appealing as possible, as it’s the first thing a potential buyer will see upon approaching the house. It creates the first impression in the mind of the buyer and will impact their perception of the rest of the home. That’s why the first interaction with a home needs to be as positive as possible. The rest will likely move smoothly if the showing starts on a high note.

In other words, you’ll be more likely to sell that house, having captured the attention and interest of your potential buyer from the beginning as soon as they pull up the curb itself. Looking at the curb, they can tell whether it’s a home they’d like to live in for the next few years.

So, the next tip on how to present a house for sale is to find ways to enhance the curb appeal. Stucco painting creates a beautiful exterior finish and is largely recommended because of its durability and allure. Restoring the garage door can also make a big difference in enhancing the appearance of your curb area.

7. Install High-Quality Window Treatments

Window treatments are aesthetic and functional house accessories. So, as a real estate agent selling a house to a homeowner, you want to ensure that that house has the appropriate window treatments fitted during the property visits. The conditions of the house location should guide the choice of window treatments.

The prevailing weather type in that particular area is also a key factor. The window treatments you opt for will depend on the position of the windows and the amount of light that comes in through them. Window treatments also help regulate room temperatures as they block out exterior temperatures. This helps in increasing energy efficiency around the whole house.

Aesthetically, your window treatments should complement the room according to the building style. It should be done in a way that ultimately attracts potential buyers. You may be wondering whether to recommend soft window treatment or hard treatment. Consult the services of an interior designer to help determine whether it’s better to go for hard window treatments, for example, window shutters, or soft window treatments like curtains. This is yet another tip on how to present a house for sale.

8. Clean the Siding and Gutters

Clean gutters and siding also go a long way to improving its aesthetic appeal. So, real estate agents and homeowners should be keen to clean the exterior components, including the gutters and the sidings of a house, before opening the house for viewing. It isn’t easy even to imagine the alternative.

Can a real estate agent expect to sell a house if they only present the unkempt version of it? This isn’t how to present a house for sale. It’ll just give your potential buyers a bad feeling about the whole place, and the sale process may be jeopardized.

Luckily, it doesn’t take much to do this cleaning job. As long as you have a reliable ladder or scaffolding, you can do it yourself. If you don’t have scaffolding, there are many scaffold rentals available. It won’t be hard to find one near you.

9. Tidy the Landscaping

Another step to take that improves the property’s aesthetic appeal for real estate agents interested in selling houses is landscaping. It improves the compound’s tidiness and the house’s curb appeal.

For plant lovers, a well-manicured lawn and nicely done landscaping with lots of beautiful flowers may be why they buy the property. A tip on how to present a house for sale is to include a mix of vegetables, plants, shrubs, and flowers as a part of your landscaping because most people generally love having greenery in their homes. For areas you don’t want plants to sprout, you can use crushed rock deliveries to bring in rocks that can cover these areas and ensure your plan is successful.

10. Keep Every Room Clean

Lastly, before doing any house showing, house viewing, or property presentation, it is important to always ensure on that day, everything is clean. The whole house should be clean from the outside, from the curb area to the lawn to the inside. When potential buyers get into the house, the house should be clean and smell good. You should also ensure it’s tidy and clear of any clutter.

To this end, hiring local house cleaning service providers is advisable to ensure a thorough job is done. Cleaning the whole house can be a daunting task for homeowners, and in the end, they may not get to do the best job. So, a solid tip on how to present a house for sale is to ensure you get professional cleaners to get the house ready for viewing.

These ten tips on how to present a house for sale all hinge on the visual cues and the aesthetic appeal a house can bring. When approached right, these tips can help you successfully sell houses.