Top Tips for Showing Your Home in the Winter
Selling your Waterloo Region home in the winter presents its own set of unique challenges, but contrary to popular opinion it can also be a great time to do so.
Many home buyers, buoyed by intending to make, or having made, a New Year’s Resolution to find the home of their dreams, are often ready to find it right now, rather than wait until the spring when the competition for homes will increase. These people are itching to get out and house hunt and are ready to buy.
Showing a home in winter is different to showing it in the warmer months. But you can do effectively it, if you keep these tips in mind:
Keep Clearing a Path
If snowflakes are falling, it is essential that the path to your home is clear when potential buyers arrive, even if it means shoveling twice during the day.
Even if there is only a dusting, or it’s just cold, if the temperature drops ice can form quickly so make sure a layer of salt or sand is in place too.
Open a path to your home from the sidewalk, so that visitors are not forced to clamber over snowdrifts.
If it’s raining rather than snowing make sure you have a container at your entrance – preferably outside – for wet umbrellas.
Invest in a clear plastic runner for your entryway, to prevent snow/ice/mud from being tracked across the house and make sure a mat is in place for boots and shoes to be wiped on.
Let Light In
As winter can be gloomy, you need to ensure that your home is as well lit as possible:
Open drapes and blinds in every room in the house
Even with the blinds open turn on interior lights to add both light and a bit of extra warmth
Turn off TVs and computers, as they can cast a rather cold glow that is less than pleasant
Pump Up the Heat
It’s better to have your home heated a degree or two warmer than usual when potential buyers arrive than have it a little too cold. Shivering is not a state in which it is easy to enjoy viewing a home! Don’t overheat the place either though, as sweating through a showing is no fun either.
Be Careful with Scents
Some home stagers suggest that you can use scent to help a home show better in winter by appearing more welcoming and warm and to a certain extent that’s true, but you do need to be careful. Some people are allergic to certain scents and deodorizers, so don’t spray the air with chemical fresheners or plug-in air fresheners.
Instead, set out a few bowls of natural potpourri that will both scent the air and add a nice visual staging touch.
Now’s the Time to Use Photos
The standard staging wisdom is that personal photos should be removed from view before a showing but in the winter there are one or two exceptions to this ‘rule’.
As you really can’t showcase your outdoor space at its best at the moment if you have some photos of it in the spring and summer they should be placed in a prominent spot (and in nice frames) so that potential buyers can get an actual visual feel for what the space looks like in summer, rather than just having your Realtor try to describe it for them.