Make your open house a success by being smart home seller! Make your house shine inside and out and you will have a successful open house and sell quickly.

You’ve listed your home and scheduled an open house. A great first step. Now get busy on making your home look great.

Start with the outside of your home. Make sure the lawn and landscaping are mowed, neat, weeded and watered. Freshen up the front door. You don’t want to turn buyers off before they even step in the door.

Once buyers get inside your home, appeal to their every sense. Start with smell. If your home smells stuffy or like pets, kiss their interest good bye. Obviously, if you live with them day in and day out, you won’t notice them. So how can you be sure? Baking! Nothing says “you’re home” like the smell of freshly baked cookies or muffins. Of course another way to make your home smell fresh is to make sure it’s clean from top to bottom. The smell of “fresh baked” will only cover so much.

Make your home light and bright. If it’s warm out open the windows to let in fresh air and sunlight. If it’s cold, open blinds and curtains to get the same effect. This is especially important in smaller rooms. If a room doesn’t get enough natural light, light lamps. Light gives the illusion of space and cleanliness.

Next, play music. Why? Music can greatly affect mood. No hard rock, or elevator music, but jazz or classical are good choices. Play it softly, in the background.

Have a fact sheet about your home. Buyers looking will have many of the same questions, such as when it was built, how old the roof and heating system is, schools, etc. Unless you want to be answering the same ones all day, a fact sheet is very handy. Also helpful if your property is family friendly, have a small area set aside for children with coloring books, crayons and small toys. That way mom and dad can look while the kids are occupied.

Stage your home. Set the table, set out flowers, light fireplaces, light candles. Rearrange furniture to make rooms look larger and less cluttered. Make sure the temperature is comfortable, and then if you live in a seasonal area, set out pictures of what your home looks like in different seasons.