To successfully sell your home, you need to attract buyers. This is why open houses are an integral part of the selling process: they allow buyers to experience the property for themselves and envision what life will look like in their new home. To prepare for an open house, you’ll need to work closely with your agent. They can advise you on what buyers in your area are looking for to increase your chances of selling your home.

How to Prepare for an Open House

The earlier you can begin prepping your home for an open house, the better, since getting it in prime showing condition will take time. Start by decluttering and organizing room by room. To truly get your home sparkling clean, you can’t miss those hard-to-reach areas like the baseboards, under your furniture, and your appliances.

To best position your home to sell, consider hiring a professional stager. A well-staged home helps it appeal to the widest possible array of potential buyers, not only for in-person showings, but in online photos as well. Professional staging is equal parts science and art. Stagers are experts in depersonalizing a home while maintaining its stylistic qualities to give buyers the opportunity to imagine the space for their own use. It isn’t just about psychology, though. Staging is a high-ROI expenditure that can add real value to your home.

It may feel counterintuitive, but your absence can be your greatest asset in making your open houses successful. Buyers will often feel uneasy in the presence of the seller as they tour, which will limit their ability to envision their own lives in the home and get excited about the prospect of ownership. Accordingly, you may need to arrange for temporary accommodations during the times your home is being shown. It’s helpful to solidify these plans several weeks in advance to avoid an eleventh-hour scramble.

Working with Your Agent

Your agent will be your greatest asset in preparing for open houses. They are experts in understanding how to effectively market your home and how the local market conditions will impact their marketing plan. Once you know it’s time to sell, they’ll analyze data to accurately price the property and keep it competitive in the current market. They’ll also work with you to schedule open houses at the times when buyers are maximally available and actively searching for listings.

Your agent will also help you to stay safe while selling your home. The reality of open houses is that you’re opening your doors to an influx of unfamiliar faces, and it’s worth it to take a few safety precautions beforehand. Perform a thorough walkthrough of your home with your agent to make sure all valuable belongings, medications, family heirlooms, and other important items have been properly secured and/or removed. Once you’ve given your home a clean sweep, discuss your process for screening potential buyers.

Written by Sandy Dodge

For any family looking forward to multigenerational living, there’s much to consider when trying to find the right property. Whether you’re planning to welcome your parents or grandparents, provide a comfortable space for adult children, or simply want to create a home that accommodates your extended family, finding the right place takes time. Let’s take a look at some of the key factors that play a role in your home search.

Multigenerational Home Buying

Prioritize Location

Just as with any real estate purchase, location is vital to finding the right home for your extended family. For your young ones, you might consider the nearby schools. For the older folks in your home, you’ll want to know your proximity to healthcare facilities and community spaces. And for everyone under your roof, you’ll want to be close to the places that help you all enjoy life, such as parks, bodies of water, and other recreational areas.

How to Search for a Home

Floor Plan

With more people living in a multigenerational home, layout can often take precedence over aesthetics. Of course, you still want your next home to look the part, but fundamentally, you have a lot of foot traffic to account for and future accessibility to think about. Homes with separate living spaces are a great option for accommodating a large family. Features like a furnished basement, a mother-in-law suite, an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), or a detached guesthouse can solve a lot of problems, present and future.

Private Spaces

Along with an ideal layout, it’s important to have private spaces so each person can enjoy their time at home. Make sure there are separate bedrooms, bathrooms, and if possible, separate living areas to allow family members to make the most of their personal space while still enjoying the benefits of living together. You can either look for homes that have defined private spaces or identify the ones that are good candidates for remodeling projects that can create them.

Buying with Remodeling in Mind

Home Inspection

A thorough home inspection is a necessity. With several people living with you—some of whom may be elderly—you need to know that your home can provide for everyone for years to come. The home inspection will help you to identify any potential issues with the property and make informed decisions about how to negotiate with the seller.

When looking for properties, look at the condition of the roof, plumbing, electrical systems, and identify any potential structural concerns. Talk to your agent about the findings of the home inspection and what it means for you as you prepare to make an offer.

Home Inspection: A Reality Check from a Pro

Think About the Future

How will your needs change at home in the future? Thinking about the long term can help you narrow your home search. Maybe you’ll need additional space as your children grow up or as your parents age into their elderly years.

A home with a more flexible design and layout may be a better investment for you in the long term.

For more information on finding the right home, connect with a local, experienced Windermere agent today:

Written By Sandy Dodge

A stormy night with the lights out can complicate things at home. But with the right preparation, you and your household can switch gears quickly and ride out the blackout period, however long it may last. Power outages can happen unexpectedly, so taking the necessary steps to have a plan in place should be a priority. We’ll walk through some essential steps to stay safe, calm, and cozy when the lights go out.

Lighting During a Power Outage

The first thing you’ll miss during a power outage is light. Make sure you have flashlights, candles, lanterns, and plenty of batteries readily available. Check your devices to see which size batteries they require and make sure you have all the necessary sizes on hand. LED lanterns are energy-efficient and will stay lit for a long time to provide some illumination during an extended blackout.

Emergency Kit

A well-stocked emergency kit is essential during a power outage. Make sure you have a substantial supply of non-perishable food, bottled water, and an assortment of basic utensils. Along with your emergency kit, keep a first aid kit handy to ensure you’re fully prepared for a blackout-related emergency.

Staying Warm During a Power Outage

Even though the lights in your home are out, that doesn’t mean you have to be uncomfortable as you wait for them to come back on. This is especially important if the power outage occurs during the colder months of the year. Keep plenty of blankets and extra layers of clothing close by to make sure you and your family stay cozy. If you have a portable heater that you plan to use, pay attention to the manufacturer instructions to avoid possible carbon monoxide poisoning.

Home Security

Home safety and security is vital during a power outage. Make sure your home’s security system’s motion-activation is still functioning properly, and if it has a backup system, check that too. Unfortunately, some burglars may see a blackout as an opportunity to take advantage of the low-visibility conditions. Lock your windows and secure the deadbolts on your door so you and your household can wait out the power outage in peace.

Preserve Food

Try to keep your refrigerator and freezer closed as much as possible. Use your perishable food rations in your emergency kit as a first option for a meal during the power outage and stick to other non-perishable food items in your pantry. Hopefully, the power will come back on soon enough and you’ll be able to resume your normal food preparation. But if you’re constantly opening the fridge and freezer while the power’s out, your food will spoil quickly, and you could have quite a mess on your hands. 7 Tips for Cleaning Your Appliances

Staying Entertained

Who says you can’t have fun during a power outage? With all your preparations in place, a blackout presents the chance for you and your household to enjoy some electronic-free activities. Have board games, books, arts and crafts materials, and decks of cards at the ready. If you have kids, plan some fun activities ahead of time that they’ll enjoy.

For more tips on emergency planning at home, visit the Living section of our blog:

Windermere Blog | Living

Written By Sandy Dodge

This time of year is full of spooky moments. If you’re selling a home that has a history of paranormal activity, it could scare buyers away, or intrigue them. Haunted houses are a great attraction for thrill seekers, but buying one is a completely different matter. There’s one central question that haunts sellers who find themselves in this situation: Do I have to disclose that my house is haunted?

Selling a Haunted House

All sellers have to provide disclosure forms to illuminate issues with the property and the home listed for sale. Regulations vary by state, with some having certain language requiring that sellers disclose material facts that could affect the value and/or desirability of the home, while others do not have these requirements, and caveat emptor or “buyer beware” applies instead. So, where does paranormal activity fit in? Again, it depends on where you live, but many states do not require such disclosures.

However, there have been legal cases where buyers have sued sellers for neglecting to mention the fact that the house they purchased was haunted. In the classic 1991 case Stambovsky v. Ackley, new homeowner Jeffrey Stambovsky won a lawsuit against the seller for not disclosing the home’s haunted history. In this case, stories about the previous owner’s experiences with paranormal activity in the home had been published in Reader’s Digest and the local newspaper, establishing the home as one with a spooky reputation. Though this case had a ripple effect in the housing industry, you should still check with your agent regarding the seller disclosure laws in your local market.

Although the laws around haunted disclosures are a bit murky, if a buyer asks about the history of the home, you as the seller have a duty to be honest. State laws even vary when it comes to disclosing recent deaths in the home, but if a buyer asks you specifically about whether such an event occurred, withholding that information from them could come back to haunt you, especially during negotiations.

How to Negotiate as a Seller

This time of year is full of ghostly tales, and there’s nothing more thrilling than that moment of fright we experience during a spooky story. But unfortunately, failing to disclose the fact that your house is haunted could send chills up your spine and cause the buyer to back out of the deal. As always, lean on your agent’s expertise for the best way to handle your unique situation. You never know, your haunted home may generate added interest to buyers who have an affinity for the paranormal!

For more tips on selling your home from list to closing, visit our comprehensive selling guide:

Written By Sandy Dodge