There are many blogs and articles talking about tips to stage your home for a showing. Pretty much all of them tell you what to do but it is also to important to know what NOT to do when showing your home. It’s very hard for a potential buyer to find purchasing interest in your home after it has left a bad impression on them.
1) Be present at the home during the showing. As much as it is understandable for you to have a first-hand look at how the showing is going, from personal experience, nothing is more awkward than showing a home to a buyer while having the seller follow us around. There have been countless showing-horror-stories of sellers sleeping while the showing was going on. On the flip side of the coin, realtors need to make sure that they give the homeowners a heads-up on the showing and give them time to prepare.
2) Unpleasant Odors. Nothing will turn a buyer off faster than an unpleasant odor during the showing. Anywhere from pet odors to cooking smells (especially garlic and fish) will often be the first things buyers remember after looking at the home. You want to take the odors seriously, even if you don’t smell it (as many homeowners become immune to certain odors the longer they live in the house), clean and if you must replace carpets.
3) Clutter. Even though if the buyers were to move in, there would likely be clutter in the house anyway, cleanliness is still crucial to home-showing success. It is hard for anyone to see the true beauty of a home when they have to navigate through dirty piles of clothes or witness unflushed toilets and overflowed trash cans. Again, like with tip no.1, realtors need to make sure they give the homeowners ample time to prepare the home for showing.
4) Missing Keys. This can go on both the seller and the agent as well. This goes without saying but it is really hard to sell a home during a showing when no one can get in. Make sure that both parties know where the keys are at the time of showing, whether at the office or in a key-box.
Working with a local, family owned real estate company means that you get someone who knows the area and has a real interest in helping you find the perfect home. Our company has grown because of referrals from past clients. We believe that treating the customer right is the only way to do business. 
