Ready to Sell? Why Your Agent Will Walk Through Your Home Before an Open House

A walk-through with your agent is a must before debuting an open house to lure in prospective buyers—or their agents. You’ll have to prep your home to make the place shine when prospective buyers arrive on your front door step. To ensure success, your agent will take a walk through your house and give you pointed advice on what needs to be done.

What agents look for in a walk-through

The goal of a walk-through is to work with your agent is to determine “what you need to do or address to sell your home fast—and for top dollar,” said Bruce Ailion, a broker with Re/Max Greater Atlanta. Typically, this means guiding your agent through a tour of your home, peering into every nook and cranny both inside and out, and devising a plan with takeaways to improve the space before a buyer crosses the threshold.

And don’t be alarmed if the feedback isn’t all positive. Listening to constructive criticism is what will help you score a buyer. “Agents are trained to view a property with a buyer’s eyes,” Ailion said.

During the walk-through, your agent will be examining the home for all sorts of the little things that can turn a buyer off. They can range from suggestions for major repairs, to how you have arranged your furniture, or even the looks of the inside of your pantry.

What needs work

After the initial walk-through, your agent will be ready to discuss what you need to do to make your home open house ready.

“As you can imagine, some homes are perfect, some are disasters, but most are in-between,” Ailion said.

Some homes will require major work, including upgrades to the flooring, repairing a leaky roof, or addressing structural damages. For homes in need of big repairs, Ailion typically recommends either taking the house off the market or delaying an open house to ensure a seller has enough time to finish the job before prospective buyers see the place.

If you have an average house, you may need to spend a week or two completing small repairs and upgrades. “A loose railing or banister costs only a few dollars to fix, but a first-time buyer might conclude the home was poorly built and unsafe and needs $5,000 of work,” Ailion said.

You will also discuss functional obsolescence—something in the home that works, but is out of date. Ailion recently sold a home “that had the original push-button electric stove and a giant floating exhaust vent.” While the stove still worked, all buyers would make it an immediate priority to replace it. You’ll need to decide if you have anything in your home that can be easily remedied with a modern upgrade.

Finally, you’ll discuss any and all cleaning that needs to happen. “Kitchens and bathrooms are critical areas” for buyers, Ailion said. Your agent will likely have suggestions for which areas of your home need serious cleaning.

Developing a marketing strategy

Once you know what work needs to be done, your agent will come up with a marketing strategy to sell your home and promote your open house.

Ailion said that after he does a walk-through with a seller, “If there are particular characteristics of the home that would appeal to a particular type of buyer, I’ll discuss those and how we will target our marketing to include that buyer profile.”

Since your home is unique, your agent will likely use a similar strategy by determining your target market and staging your home to attract that type of buyer. This process can take several days and your agent will work on marketing up until the moment buyers and their agents arrive at your doorstep.

SOURCE: Realtor.com