Marketing & Showing Your Home

Once you’ve prepared your home to sell, your real estate agent will start working on marketing your home to buyers. This involves photographs, creating a detailed listing, and posting your home online.

Marketing Your Home

Your agent will use a variety of tactics to get buyers exposed to and interested in your home.

Home Listing: Your agent will create an online profile with details about your home. A well-crafted profile helps your home stand out.
Multiple Listing Service (MLS): A private database used by licensed agents to find homes for buyers. Your home will be listed on MLS and syndicated to popular home search websites.
Yard Sign: A visible sign in your yard lets buyers know your home is for sale.
Flyers and Direct Mail: Property flyers may be used at open houses or attached to yard signs.
Virtual Tours: Video tours allow buyers to see your home before visiting.
Social Media: Agents often share listings on social media to generate additional exposure.

Preparing for Home Showings and Open Houses

Be Ready

If your home isn’t sparkling clean, clean again or hire a professional. Deep cleaning and advance planning help keep your home buyer-ready.

Keep Children and Pets Out of Sight

Arrange care for children and pets ahead of time. If pets remain, consider crating them. Make sure bowls, bedding and toys are clean and neat.

Don’t Forget About the Details

If you don’t have a place to keep dirty laundry, decide ahead of time where you’ll stash your gym clothes or your child’s soccer uniform. Decide where you can keep toiletries out of sight during showings. If you can, purchase a new set of towels for each bathroom and only bring them out when buyers are coming through or for an open house.

Right before a showing, give fixtures and faucets a quick once-over to renew their shine. Make sure counters and sinks are clean. Be sure the view from any doorway is attractive, especially powder rooms and small bathrooms since some buyers might not actually go into the room. Make sure what they can see is bright and appealing. Don’t forget what’s reflected in the mirror too.

Make sure to open the shades and turn on the lights (even during the day) before a showing. General advice is to make everything light and bright, but also let common sense be your guide. If the lights in your kitchen can be as bright as an operating room, you might want to bring them down a bit.