How to Prepare for an Open House

The weekend open house parade is in full swing. Summer is the peak home shopping season, especially for families who want to move in and get their children enrolled in the new school district before classes start in August and September.

Holding an open house is an effective way to market your home. Generally, your realtor will first hold an open house specifically for other realtors so they can preview the new listing. Periodic open houses, traditionally on Sundays, will then be held to encourage potential home buyers to view your home. While most buyers start their search online, if they're curious about your home, they'll want to see it up close and personal. Open houses also encourage unplanned visits from people casually shopping for a home in your neighborhood. Any time you get people in the door of your home, you have a better chance of making a sale. In fact, 47% of all home buyers go to open houses.

Here's how to prepare your home for an open house:

• Turn on all the lights, even during the daytime. Turn on all room lights, outdoor lights, and those in closets, basement and attic.
• Turn off the TV, radio and stereo.
• If you have pets, fence them, crate them, take them to the park or ask a neighbor to babysit. Make sure you pick up the yard and clean and cover the litter box.
• Place an attractive tablecloth on the dining room table.
• Put out decorative hand towels in the bathrooms. Remove personal towels and kitchen towels and washrags.
• De-personalize your rooms. Remove family photos, knick-knacks and clutter.
• Make sure rooms, cupboards, drawers and closets are neat. Buyers poke around everywhere. Count on them to open kitchen cabinets and drawers, etc. to check the space.
• Put vases of fresh flowers around the house.
• Light scented candles in the bathrooms and kitchen and anywhere odors might linger.
• Sprinkle a couple of drops of vanilla extract in your oven and turn it to low to fill the kitchen with a fresh-baked smell. Remember to turn your oven off when the realtor arrives.
• Lock up your valuables, jewelry and money. Your realtor will be onsite but won't be able to watch everyone every moment. The likelihood of theft is small, but better safe than sorry.
• Take the day off. Visit friends, take the kids to the zoo, spend the day shopping or on the golf course, just get out of the house. It's hard for potential home buyers to relax when the owners are present, and you don't want to inadvertently say something that may discourage them from buying your home.

If you're planning to sell your home in Maryland or the Washington DC metro area, contact veteran realtor John Day. A top seller with prestigious Long & Foster Realtors, John will market your home aggressively and has the proven expertise to sell your home quickly and for the best possible price. Click on the post title for more excellent tips for home sellers. Visit John Day's website to learn more about his dynamic marketing plan for selling your home. If you're buying or selling a home, John Day is your key to success.

Neutral Palette Blooms With Color

Gone are the days when selling your house meant drowning it in a sea of beige to appease potential buyers. The neutral palette now blooms with color. Turquoise, purple and orange flash a bit of brilliance next to the creams and sandy tans.

"There is an entire world out there of colors that are not beige," says Stephanie Hoppen, author of the book Perfect Neutrals: Color You Can Live With (Watson-Guptill, $35). "If green is not neutral, gardens would always look ghastly; if blue is not neutral, nothing would go with the sea or sky."

Explaining color theory, Hoppen shows how to pair deep, rich hues with equally intense colors to create a soothing room. In the right combinations, even saturated colors can harmonize, not jar, she says. To aid the reader, Hoppen includes helpful reference charts for paint colors, carpets and upholstery fabrics. She also provides a source list for paint, wallpaper, carpet, flooring, fabric, leather, lighting and accessories. As Hoppen is British, a number of the specialty stores are in the United Kingdom, but most of her sources are international with products available in the US.

If you're getting ready to sell your house, consider using colorful new neutrals to attract buyers. Consult with veteran realtor John Day. An expert at staging homes for sale, John can let you know where best to spend your time and money to make your home attractive to buyers. Visit John Day's website for more seller tips. You'll find great tips for buyers too and hundreds of beautiful homes for sale in Maryland and the Washington DC metro area. If you're selling or buying a home, John Day is your key to success.

How to Sell Your House in a Tough Market

If your house is on the market, you know how tough it can be to sell right now. Housing inventories are at record highs and it is not unusual for houses to sit on the market for 60 to 90 days. Pricing right is the key, but good staging will give you an edge on the competition. With 2007 turning out to be more competitive than ever, you need every trick in the book to sell your house.

How do you stage a house to give it that "wow" factor? Here are some tips from the experts. Some may seem subtle, but it's always the little things that count.

• Don't distract or offend buyers. No dog hair on the sofa, no litter box in the laundry room, no Playboys in the bedroom, no cobwebs in the corners, no dust hanging off the ceiling fan.


• Pack up the family photos and knick knacks. Get rid of the clutter. Buyers want to envision their belongings in the house, not look at yours.


• No all-white interiors; it's too sterile. But steer away from overly bold colors too. New neutrals in earth tones, greens and off-whites make buyers think they could move in tomorrow, no matter what kind of furniture they have.


• Fertilize the grass and water until it's green. Plant whole flats of colorful flowers. You want masses of bright color and a deep green lawn to invite buyers to look inside.


• Spend a few bucks on a new doormat and, if your knob and knocker are weathered and pitted, new brass ware for the door. It makes your house look fresh and new.


• Spritz a little vanilla spray in the room just before you let the buyer in the door. It evokes a subliminal reaction of pleasure, like the smell of baking cookies.


• You can also sprinkle a few drops of vanilla on the oven door and set the temperature on low for a "fresh baked" smell.


• Lightly fragrant candles and flowers in the bathrooms smell good and look fresh.

Veteran realtor John Day is an expert at staging houses to sell. A top seller with prestigious Long & Foster Realtors, John knows the market. John can price your home right to sell quickly and stage it to appeal to buyers. Visit John Day's website for more valuable tips for sellers. (There are tips for buyers too.) If you're selling or buying a home in Maryland or the Washington DC metro area, John Day is your key to success.