What Buyers Notice First When Touring Your Home
You cleaned the house. You made the beds. You put away the laundry. Then you left so potential buyers could come through for a showing.
But what are they actually noticing once they walk through the door?
When you're selling a home, you've lived with its little quirks long enough that you probably don't notice many of them anymore. Buyers are seeing everything for the first time—and they're forming opinions almost immediately.
The good news? Many of the things that influence a buyer's first impression don't require a major renovation.
If you're preparing to sell your home in Ankeny, Iowa, here are some of the first things buyers are likely to notice when they tour your home.
1. The Exterior Before They Ever Walk Inside
The showing starts before the front door opens.
Buyers are already looking at your home as they pull into the driveway.
They may notice:
The condition of the siding
The roof
Landscaping
The lawn
Driveway and sidewalks
Exterior paint
The garage door
The front porch or entry
Overgrown bushes or trees
Overall maintenance
You don't need elaborate landscaping to make a good impression.
A mowed lawn, trimmed landscaping, clean front entry and a few simple seasonal touches can go a long way toward making the home feel cared for.
And don't forget the front door.
Buyers may spend a minute or two standing there while their agent accesses the lockbox. That gives them plenty of time to notice peeling paint, cobwebs, dirty glass or a worn-out welcome mat.
2. How the Home Smells
Buyers may notice the smell of your home before they notice anything else inside.
Pet odors, cigarette smoke, cooking smells, mustiness and overly strong air fresheners can all make an immediate impression.
The goal shouldn't be to make your home smell like a candle store.
Clean and neutral is usually best.
Take out the trash, clean pet areas, wash bedding, address moisture or musty odors and avoid cooking particularly strong-smelling foods immediately before a showing.
And if there's a persistent odor, try to identify the source rather than covering it with fragrance.
Buyers may wonder what you're trying to hide if they walk into a house filled with overpowering air fresheners.
3. Cleanliness
Buyers know they're purchasing a house that has been lived in.
They aren't expecting it to look like nobody has ever touched the kitchen.
But cleanliness matters.
Dirty floors, dusty surfaces, stained carpet, grimy showers and overflowing trash can distract buyers from everything your home has to offer.
More importantly, buyers sometimes associate cleanliness with maintenance.
If the house doesn't appear to have been cared for on the surface, they may start wondering how well the things they can't see have been maintained.
Before listing, give the home a deep clean—and then have a plan for keeping it showing-ready.
4. How Bright the Home Feels
Light can completely change the way a room feels.
Before a showing:
Open the blinds.
Pull back the curtains.
Turn on the lights.
Replace burned-out bulbs.
Clean the windows.
Buyers tend to respond well to homes that feel bright and inviting.
This becomes particularly important when selling a home in Ankeny during the fall and winter, when daylight hours are shorter and you may have showings after the sun has started going down.
Don't make buyers walk into dark rooms and search for light switches.
Make the house feel welcoming from the moment they arrive.
5. The Amount of Space
Buyers aren't just looking at square footage.
They're trying to figure out how the home feels.
Does the living room feel spacious?
Can they picture their dining table fitting?
Is there enough room to walk around the bed?
Can two people comfortably move around the kitchen?
This is where having too much furniture can work against you.
Your furniture may fit your lifestyle perfectly, but if a room is packed with oversized pieces, buyers may assume the room itself is small.
Removing a chair, extra table or unnecessary piece of furniture can sometimes make a bigger difference than buying anything new for staging.
6. Clutter
Buyers aren't expecting your home to be completely empty, but too much stuff makes it harder for them to focus on the house.
Kitchen counters covered with appliances can make counter space look limited.
A bathroom vanity covered in toiletries can make the bathroom feel smaller.
An entryway filled with shoes, backpacks and coats can make storage seem inadequate.
You don't need to remove every sign that someone lives there.
Instead, think about creating breathing room.
Clear off unnecessary items from countertops, tables and floors so buyers can see the actual space they're considering purchasing.
7. Storage
Yes, buyers may open your closets.
They're not being nosy—they're trying to determine whether the home has enough storage.
A closet packed from floor to ceiling can unintentionally send the message that there isn't enough room.
Before listing, consider removing items you aren't currently using.
The same goes for:
Kitchen cabinets
Pantry
Linen closets
Primary closet
Basement storage
Mudroom
Garage
You don't have to make every storage space look empty.
You just want buyers to be able to see and understand the space.
As a bonus, you'll have less to pack when it's time to move.
8. The Kitchen
For many buyers, the kitchen gets a lot of attention.
They're looking at more than cabinet colors and countertops.
They may be evaluating:
Counter space
Cabinet storage
Pantry space
Appliances
Layout
Lighting
Condition of finishes
Dining space
How the kitchen connects to the rest of the home
Before showings, clear unnecessary items off the counters and clean the appliances.
A kitchen doesn't have to be brand new to show well.
A clean, organized kitchen where buyers can easily see the workspace and storage can make a much stronger impression than one filled with everyday clutter.
9. The Primary Bedroom and Bathroom
After the main living spaces and kitchen, buyers often pay particular attention to the primary suite.
They're looking at whether their furniture will fit, how much closet space they'll have and whether the bathroom works for their needs.
Make the bed.
Clear off the nightstands.
Put laundry away.
Remove unnecessary furniture.
In the bathroom, clear toiletries from the counters and shower, hang clean towels and make sure mirrors and fixtures are clean.
Again, you're not trying to create a luxury hotel.
You're trying to make it easy for buyers to picture the space as theirs.
10. Flooring
Buyers spend an entire showing walking around your floors, so they're hard to miss.
They may notice:
Carpet stains
Scratches
Worn areas
Damaged flooring
Transitions between rooms
Flooring styles throughout the home
That doesn't necessarily mean you should replace all of your flooring before selling.
Sometimes a professional carpet cleaning or small repair is enough.
Before investing thousands of dollars into new flooring, talk with your real estate agent about whether the improvement is likely to make sense for your particular home and price point.
11. Signs of Deferred Maintenance
A loose doorknob doesn't cost much to fix.
But to a buyer, several little maintenance issues can start adding up mentally.
A dripping faucet.
A broken switch plate.
A door that doesn't close correctly.
A missing piece of trim.
Peeling paint.
A damaged screen.
One small issue probably isn't going to stop someone from buying your home.
But when buyers see one neglected item after another, they may start wondering:
"What else hasn't been maintained?"
Before listing, walk through your home specifically looking for those small repairs you've learned to live with.
You may be surprised by how many can be addressed relatively easily.
12. Whether They Can Picture Themselves Living There
Ultimately, this is what you're trying to accomplish.
Buyers are walking through your home imagining their own lives.
Where would the couch go?
Could we host Thanksgiving here?
Where would the kids play?
Could this room be my office?
Will our king-sized bed fit?
Where would we put all of our stuff?
Your job isn't to remove every bit of personality from your house.
It's to give buyers enough visual space to imagine adding their own.
That may mean packing away some personal collections, reducing family photos and simplifying decor.
Think of it as getting a head start on packing rather than stripping your home of everything that makes it yours.
You Don't Need to Renovate Your Entire Home Before Selling
One of the biggest misconceptions sellers have is that getting a home ready for the market means spending thousands of dollars updating it.
Sometimes improvements are worth making.
Sometimes they aren't.
For many homes, the biggest improvements before listing are much simpler:
Clean it. Declutter it. Brighten it. Fix the obvious maintenance items. Make the rooms easy to understand.
Before replacing countertops, remodeling a bathroom or installing new flooring, talk with your real estate agent.
You want to spend money where it's most likely to make a difference—not complete an expensive renovation just in time for someone else to enjoy it.
Preparing to Sell Your Home in Ankeny, Iowa?
When you've lived in your home for years, it can be difficult to see it through a buyer's eyes.
That's one of the reasons it's helpful to have a real estate agent walk through the property before you're ready for photos.
The Hokel Real Estate Team helps Ankeny homeowners determine what should be done before listing, what probably isn't worth the money and how to prepare a home to make a strong first impression.
You don't have to wait until your home is perfectly ready to contact us.
In fact, we'd rather talk with you before you start spending money on projects.
Thinking about selling your home in Ankeny? Contact the Hokel Real Estate Team for a walkthrough and a personalized plan to get your home market-ready.