realtyreport
Safe Selling
Opening your doors to strangers in the hope they'll buy your home obviously brings up some safety concerns. But it isn't just your valuables you need to safeguard. Here's how to make your home safer for potential buyers, too.
- If you have pets, it's best they be absent during showings and open houses. Even the friendliest animals can get spooked by, or spook, strangers, so keep them outside, drop them off at a friend's place or, better yet, take them for a walk since it's preferable you be absent as well. If your pets must be home, confine them to one area or keep them caged. It's for their protection, as well.
- Don't leave buyers in the dark. Be sure your home is well lit, inside and out; replace burnt out bulbs and swap out dim ones for higher-watt bulbs. Not only is a brightly lit home safer to navigate, it's more appealing to potential buyers on an aesthetic level because the light can make the space appear bigger than it really is.
- Make sure there's nothing around your home that could cause buyers to trip, fall or otherwise injure themselves. For example, stairs and traffic paths should be obstacle-free, there should be no unruly cords laying in wait to snare buyers' legs as they pass, and nothing should fall out of your closets when their doors are opened.
- This last tip is really more for your own protection, but it does pertain to having buyers in your home: Make sure you have adequate liability insurance so that, in the event a prospective buyer does get injured while on your property, you're covered.
