You can find open houses in your area just about every weekend. Depending on where you live, some areas of the country do them on Sundays, some on Saturdays, and some do them both days. Times vary as well. Check your local paper, online papers, real estate agency websites, or other places where open houses are advertised in your area.
Many people are hesitant to visit open houses for fear of being “harassed” by the agent hosting the open house. Just be honest. Tell them you are just beginning your search and prefer to just browse on your own. Explain that you are already working with an agent. You can even tell them you are staging you home and your agent suggested visiting homes for ideas. The agent will most likely be flattered that you chose his/her listing to look for ideas. And, since you aren't a contender for buying, agents will spend their time with other serious buyers who visit.
Bring a notepad with you. If you are still not sure about your home’s listing price or would just like to reinforce what your think or what your agent suggested, visit comparable homes to your own. Make sure to grab the listing or flyer, or at least jot down the basics, such as price, square footage, number of beds and baths, acreage, and any special upgrades or amenities.
If you are looking for ideas for staging your home, you might also want to consider a unique approach I explain in my article, Using Staging Principles to Buy a Home. It might seem a bit out-of-the-box, but I think you might want to give it a try in your own home search.
If you are just looking for staging ideas, don’t worry whether the home is comparable to yours. Keep in mind that you want to make note of what you like and don’t like. Both of these will be helpful to you. You might see something that looks unattractive and then realize that you have the same thing in your own home. Now you are looking at the home as if you were a buyer and you can more clearly see the types of complaints buyers have.
It’s also okay to visit homes that are not staged. It will really reinforce why staging is so important.
If you can, visit some that are vacant too. You'll really be able to see why all home should be staged -- even vacant homes.
Jot down features you like or ideas you think might work in your home. Even if you don’t use these exact ideas, they will often spark other ideas. Even more important, notice those features you don't like or what you find unappealing. The photos below show some of these unattractive features.
Here are some examples. This first shows a homea staged beautifully. The rest show those with features that missed the mark, or homes that weren’t staged at all.
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This home was recently staged and has already received multiple positive comments from buyers.
Copyright 2012 by Sarah Hudak
You may be wondering why this picture is here. It is an absolutely gorgeous home! However, when selling a vacant home, it needs to be staged. Can you image what this home would look like staged? Instant offers!
Copyright 2012 by Kristen DiNobile
What's wrong here? Fake fruit! Never use fake fruit when staging. It looks tacky.
Copyright 2011 by niXerKG
This example breaks a few staging rules. First, refrigerators should be cleared off completely. Second, there are personal and religious photos displayed.
Copyright 2005 by Lucy Tartan
This last example shows that is is possible to de-clutter too much. This space looks too cold and stark. It needs to be warmed up. Even a few towels would help.
Copyright 2009 by Janie Coffey
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