When browsing real estate ads we've all come across references to “a handyman's dream” or “a real fixer-upper” and we see these descriptions for what they are, which is an attempt to show a property in its best light. We want to make our house seem as attractive as possible, but we should also be aware of the street appeal. After all, it is the potential buyer's first impression.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to slightly makeover some of the less savory elements of the neighborhood? Maybe you'd like to hide the 1975 Gremlin with the flat tires in the neighbor's driveway under a dust cover with a large Porsche logo. It wouldn't fit, but with any luck it may even hide some of the oil stain. Perhaps we could go next door and dispose of the skateboards with the metal rock band logos and replace them with badminton racquets and cricket bats. These would suggest that a more upscale youth was residing just steps away from the potential buyer's new home.
While we're at it, we may even want to suggest to the folks across the street that they repaint their day-glow neon orange garage doors. Although these may actually serve a purpose by directing more sunlight to any solar panels installed on the subsequent owner's roof in the future. In the meantime you may want to offer sunglasses to people being shown around the house.
When people enter the home, the scent of cookies baking can give a subliminal sense of well-being and comfort which makes the house more desirable. However, it would be hard to coordinate cookie baking with every scheduled showing of a property for sale. So some people do the next best thing. They put a drop of vanilla extract on a lamp bulb and turn it on. The bulb heats up, resulting in a pleasing aroma associated with baking desert. The thing to remember here is to just use a drop of vanilla and preferably a low wattage light bulb. If you douse a hundred watt bulb with too much liquid of any kind it will explode. And rather than have the prospective buyers surprised by a homey kitchen smell, the shattering glass could startle them into the belief that there's poltergeist present.
When the showing is winding down, all you can do to influence the potential home buyers is offer them a fact sheet describing your house. You could pass out cookies as well, unless you find that too much like Halloween.
When it comes down to it, the deal is now in the hands of real estate agents and all you can do is wait for them to bring an offer to purchase. That's okay. They know where you live.
