Tips For Hosting An Open House – If you’re looking to sell a home in the winter season, you’ve picked a good time! While most people believe spring is the only good time to put your house up for sale, there are some benefits to winter selling. The weather might not be ideal, but you’ll know for a fact that those who choose to attend your winter Open House despite the weather are seriously interested – no lookie-lou’s here!
How Do I Prepare For An Open House Hosting?
Here are a few things you can do during a showing to make your home feel even more welcoming to winter Open House attendees (AKA your potential buyer!)
Heat It Up
First and foremost, take the time to turn up the heat in order to ensure that the temperature indoors is as comfortable and welcoming as possible. Generally, you will want to heat the home a degree or two warmer than normal, then set the temperature at normal. This will help to prevent the heat from turning on whenever the potential buyer is inside the home. If your home has a fireplace, light it! Not only does this show off the beauty of the fireplace, it show it’s function in keeping the home warm, saving the new home owner money on winter heating bills. Just be sure that you open the damper, place a screen in front of it, and check on it every once in a while for stoking and safety reasons.
Set the Mood
Consider having some soft music playing throughout the home, such as classical music or light jazz. This is a great way to show off any permanent surround sound systems or built-in speakers throughout the home. A paid music streaming service, like Spotify or Apple Music, is best as there won’t be any interruptions for commercials or radio DJ’s. If it’s close to Christmas, you could also consider playing some Christmas music!
What should you serve at an open house?
Winter-Centric Refreshments
Who doesn’t love a cup of hot chocolate?!
Consider offering refreshments such as hot chocolate and/or hot apple cider for beverages, or even a hot stew or hot soup if you want to go above and beyond as a way to help potential buyers continue to keep warm on the cold day.
Prep Your Landscaping
Tips For Hosting An Open House – Curb appeal, how your home and landscaping looks from the curb, plays a big part in selling a home as it entices the potential home buyer to want to see more. During winter, trees and shrubs can break off branches, and strong winds or snow can blow around salt and dirt, leaving driveways and entryways looking dirty or dusty. If you can brave the cold, consider sprucing up what you can by picking up dead leaves and branches, and sweeping the entry way. If there’s snow or ice on the ground, make sure to shovel and put down sidewalk salt to give your potential buyer’s a safe path up to your front door!
Thank you for reading our real estate and homeowner’s blog. We are Weichert Realtors – The Place of Houses, and we’re happy to have helped you learn more tips for a winter Open House!
