When it’s time to sell a house,  it’s important for homeowners to make sure they’re doing all they can to pitch in. This may be especially true when it comes to planning and preparing for an open house.

With this in mind, homeowners may want to consider the best ways they can prep their homes for the big day, looking at everything from simply de-cluttering well-trafficked areas to rearranging furniture and lighting, according to U.S. News and World Report. One of the big goals here should be to make things look as simple as possible, and to highlight as much square footage as a space can provide. The more open space, the easier it will be for prospective buyers to imagine what they might be able to do with each room based on their own tastes.

How to accomplish it?
There are generally two things that homeowners should look at when they’re examining these issues. First, they should determine the focal point for each room – whether it’s a big-screen TV, bed, kitchen table, or other feature. The other is to make sure there’s plenty of space to get around furniture or other home decor so there’s a clear and easy path to any feature of a given room.

It might also be wise to look at issues such as whether decorations impede easy opening and closing of doors, or entrance to rooms. In addition, if pieces of furniture or art have sharp edges homeowners know to avoid, that won’t be the case for visitors at an open house, so getting them out of the way is crucial.

Generally, the more that can be done to make any given room appear “neutral” so there’s no specific feel with respect to the homeowner’s taste, the more likely buyers will be to visualize themselves in the space.

Avoid simple missteps
In addition, it’s important for homeowners to keep in mind that buyers will be entering their homes for the first time ever, and there’s such a thing as “nose blindness,” according to The Huffington Post. What that means is that a home may have certain smells owners no longer notice but which can be quite affecting for visitors. Be sure to deal with even the possibility of odors is vital with a little cleaning. Some agents even recommend that owners bake cookies for the open house so the home has that fresh-baked smell permeating it.

Finally, it’s important for homeowners who are about to host an open house to vacate the home during the showing hours. Agents will recommend home sellers make plans outside of their home, because it can be uncomfortable for would-be buyers to look through a home while the people who live there are sitting in a room upstairs.

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