Anytime you’re selling your house you need to consider how visitors (read: BUYERS!) are going to feel when they’re IN your house. Here are 3 basic rules to follow:

1.  A CLEAN house will sell faster and for more money.

Seriously, it might seem like common sense to clean your house when it’s for sale, but this actually escapes a lot of people. When I’m showing homes to buyers and we walk inside and there’s a smell? We want to leave (before the smell sticks to us!). If the house is filthy, or any other form of unclean, we hustle right out of there. Buyers will automatically assume that if you can’t keep your house clean, you can’t/didn’t/won’t take care of it and it’s full of liabilities. That makes it less attractive and ultimately results in low offers and more days on the market.

2.  No one wants to buy a sweat box.

When the temperatures rise in the spring, summer, and even the early fall – turn ON the AC. When a house is uncomfortably warm, visitors will quickly overheat. Trust me, no one likes being hot and/or sweaty when house hunting. These are prospective buyers for your property so make sure they’re comfortable. Perhaps cooling the house breaks one of your basic frugal rules. If that’s the case, you should sell during another time of year.

When people are HOT – they’ll leave your house quickly. Likely, without even seeing all your house has to offer. Also, a hot-house might have smells you’d otherwise like to avoid. So, keep it cool and they’ll be more inclined to look around – and hopefully like what they see (read: make an offer!).

3.  They’re not going to buy an ice box either.

If you turn the heat down so low in the winter that it’s colder inside than outside then you can expect visitors to run for cover and leave quickly. Usually this happens in a vacant house, but there are some serious misers out there pinching pennies. Trust me – the tiny bit you would spend to keep the temperature comfortable for prospective buyers is worth it in the long run when you sell quickly and for top dollar.

Technically, this was 2 basic rules, not 3, but the temperature is such a big deal that I had to divide hot and cold to make my point. If you have any questions, feel free to call anytime!