from the realtor.com blog:

Few buyers want to buy a house sight unseen. Holding an open house is a great way to get many potential buyers through the door, but first you must make sure your client’s home is ready to be seen. Buyers need to envision how they’ll use the available space, and that means staging the home so that it looks inviting but not too lived-in.

Here are 10 tips to share with your members to make their next open house the one that gets offers:

1. Clear clutter. Buyers get turned off when you have too many appliances on the kitchen counters, piles of magazines on every flat surface of the living room or too much furniture. The clutter makes it hard for visitors to picture their stuff in your space. How to remedy this situation? Start packing! You want to move anyway, so now’s a good time to pack up anything that you don’t need in the short-term and put those surplus items in storage. That includes furniture – you might want to store a few of the larger items, like a sectional couch, while your home’s on the market.

2. Hire a cleaning service. Buyers won’t notice if your home is spotlessly clean, but they will notice if it isn’t. A cleaning service tackles all those dusty places you might forget: baseboards, tops of picture frames, ceiling fans.

3. Remove family photos. Yes, your children are stunning, and your animals are so cute! But buyers need to see a neutral field where they can put down their roots instead of viewing your family tree.

Click here to read the rest of the tips!