10 Tips for a Successful Open House
As the seller, make sure you pick a listing agent whom you trust with your home. During an open house, you have to be willing to relinquish control to your agent and trust him or her to show off your property in the best light.
An open house can be a productive way to show a home, take a tour and connect with a real estate professional. Here are 10 tips for both buyers and sellers to make for a successful open house:
- Make your home tour-ready.
- Clean and declutter.
- Let people know.
- Stay away from the house.
- Let your agent take control.
- Move fast.
- Bring your own agent, when possible.
- Try for a private showing as well.
- Take notes.
- Talk to the agent.
Open Houses: Tips and Tricks for Sellers
Why Have an Open House?
How to Get Your Home Ready.
How to Get Ready for Your Open House
Space it Out Across 23 Little Steps…
“Nobody made the bed. Nobody cleaned off the kitchen counters or the bathrooms. You understood it was a used house; someone was living there.”
Today? Buyers demand that a house for sale be “as close to perfect as the sellers can possibly afford,” Rodger-Rickert adds.
This isn’t the type of test you can pull an all-nighter to cram for. You’ll need to start your open house preparations at least a month early as part of your general go-to-market plan:
One month before:
1. Gut check: Is this open house worth it?
2. Pack, sort, and purge your belongings.
3. Freshen up paint where needed on the inside and outside of the house.
4. Evaluate your furniture with a fresh eye.
2 to 3 weeks before:
5. Make sure you’ve optimized your open house date and time.
6. Market the house online.
7. Send out your open house invitations and post flyers around the community.
8. Get all your open house signage together.
READ MORE
Ralene Nelson, REALTOR®
JUST LISTED – 731 Turnberry Ter Rio Vista
2 bed/2 bath/1410 sqft
$410,000 – NO BONDS-Spinnaker model with private backyard. This 2 bedroom, 2 bath home feels like a very relaxing cottage for a retirement home. The patio provides a quiet place for morning coffee & afternoon beverage. Den has built-in book/curio shelves & bay window. The Master bedroom has a bay window, which creates room for a sitting area. New hot water heater. Enjoy amenities such as golf, tennis, bocce, pools/spas & a new gym, and more. READ MORE
FOR SALE – 710 Pinehurst Dr. Rio Vista
2bed/2bath/2,065sqft/5,345sqft lot
$454,000 – Solar owned & No Bonds!! Can’t get much better, this Hatteras model located in the Rio Vista Active Adult Community, Trilogy, offers drought-resistant landscaping & cozy backyard. Start the day with coffee on the patio & watch the sunset on the front porch. This home has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths with blinds throughout. The home has a living room/dining room combo and a family room/kitchen with tile floors in the kitchen/nook. Full patio with cover & is very private. The laundry room has a sink, washer/dryer convey with the sale, as well as refrigerators. Walking distance to Delta clubhouse, pro shop & Monarch Restaurant. Trilogy offers 2 swimming pools/spas, a cafe & restaurant, tennis courts, bocce ball courts, pickle ball, billiards & more. Just bring your furniture and enjoy your retirement life. READ MORE
NEW PRICE – 689 Waterwood Dr, Rio Vista
2 bed/2 bath/1,837sqft/5,436sqft lot
NEW PRICE $570,000 – Breathtaking views as you step into this beautiful home, located on the 11th green & pond. Popular Reflect model with quartz counters, white cabinets, 5 burner gas stove top & refrigerator are included. Tile floors with carpet in bedrooms. A double-sided gas fireplace makes for a cozy den & living room. The primary bath has double sinks with a walk-in shower with w/bench seating. Shutters throughout the home. Walk out either slider onto the covered patio that is the full length of the home. Small piece of turf for your pet, low maintenance landscape (front & back) & fenced. The backyard is lovely & a great place for a BBQ. Washer/dryer are included & there’s a laundry tub in the garage. Prepaid solar lease, transferrable to the buyer for the remaining years of the lease. Just bring your furniture and enjoy all the amenities, such as 2 swimming pools/spas, bocce ball courts, tennis & pickle ball courts, horseshoes, billiards, a library, a computer room, etc. So many activities to enjoy, you can be as busy as you want or idle. There is a club for just about all your hobbies. READ MORE
FOR SALE – 181 Cedar Ridge Dr. Rio Vista
2 bed/2 bath/1,433sqft
$540,000 – Look no further!! This Clipper model is like a new home, completely renovated, from new sheet rock to all new cabinets throughout, new baths, laminate flooring, quartz counters, appliances, and new interior & exterior paint. Located on the 11th fairway, bring some patio furniture & enjoy the scenery. This model provides a living room/dining room & a nook/great room. Trilogy provides so many amenities, including 2 swimming pools/spas, bocce courts, billiards, tennis courts, pickleball, gym & more. READ MORE
FOR SALE – 295 Sage Meadows Dr. Rio Vista
3bed/3.5bath/2,367sqft/6,669sqft lot
$559,000 – Calistoga model, with private courtyard, located on a corner lot. New interior paint (including garage) & tile/grout cleaned, gives this home a fresh look. Island kitchen with granite tile, black appliances, w/5 burner gas stove top & maple cabinets. Open floor plan makes this a great home for entertaining & the fireplace makes it cozy. Large master bedroom has bay window, upgraded tile in bath (walk in shower & tub). Den has been enclosed as well as another room, so this could be 4 bedrooms. One can be your den, other can be your craft/sewing room. 2nd bedroom has full bath, with courtyard entrance. Laundry room has sink, cabinets & folding space. Full patio & fencing secures this backyard for your family pet. Trilogy offers many amenities, from tennis, bocce, billards, pickle ball, golf, 2 pools & spas and even playground for grandchildren. Just bring your furniture & make new friends.READ MOREFOR SALE – 718 Allender Wy. Rio Vista
3 bd/2 bth/1346sf
$514,999 – Gorgeous home, shows pride of ownership, and has been renovated since purchased. 3 bedrooms & 2 baths with all new flooring/baseboards, interior paint, light fixtures, etc. The kitchen has newly painted cabinets with quartz countertops with an island. Auxillary electric heaters in 3rd bedroom & living room. Whole house water filter with under-the-sink reverse osmosis. The front yard has been totally relandscaped with a new walkway to the front door, with drought-resistant landscaping, a drip system & timer. The driveway extended as well as the sidewalk to the backyard. The backyard has a sprinkler system as well as a patio. Just bring your furniture and enjoy!! Rio Vista is a quaint town located on the Sacramento River, close to SF, Sacramento & bay area. READ MORENEW PRICE – 623 California St, Rio Vista
2 bed/1 bath/934sqft/4,792sqft lot
Price Reduced to $395,500 – Adorable cottage/bungalow, 2 bedroom, 1 bath and has been updated. Larger backyard with patio & raised garden beds for your vegetables. The kitchen has been remodeled & there is an inside laundry & single car garage. Convenient location, walk to town for breakfast, snack, and/or dinner. READ MORE
PENDING SALE – 1536 Michigan St. Fairfield
3 bed/2 bath/1,260sqft/4,792sqft lot
Events in Northern California this Weekend
Macy Gray at Blue Note Napa
Sat Jan 14 2023 at 6:30 & 9:00pm, Sun, Jan 15 at 3:00 & 6:30pm
Blue Note Napa, 1030 Main Street, Napa
Check out Macy Gray at The Blue Note in Napa on January 15, 2023, and get detailed info for the event – tickets, photos, video, and reviews. Food and Bar Menu Available in all sections BLUE NOTE NAPA is located on the 1st floor of the Historic Napa Valley Opera House. We are an intimate 182-person seated live music club and restaurant where you may enjoy performances of world-renowned and local Bay Area artists alike. We offer a dinner menu with an elegant wine and cocktail list in all seating sections. READ MORE ~ BUY TICKETS
Something Rotten Musical
January 14 – 29
Livermore Valley Arts, 2400 First St, Livermore
Welcome to the Renaissance and the outrageous, crowd-pleasing musical farce, Something Rotten. Created by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick, and successful screenwriters Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, Something Rotten was lauded by audience members and critics alike, receiving several Best Musical nominations and hailed by Time Out New York as “the funniest musical comedy in at least 400 years”.
Set in the 1590s, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. But amidst the scandalous excitement of the opening night, the Bottom Brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to thine own self and all that jazz. READ MORE
Elvin Bishop Big Fun Trio, Mill Valley
SAT, Jan 14, 2023, Doors: 8pm Show: 9pm
Sweet Water Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Ave. Mill Valley
Ever since Rock & Roll and Blues Hall Of Famer Elvin Bishop first hit the scene with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band back in 1965, he’s blazed his own musical trail. Whether he was playing raw, eye-popping blues, or penning the evergreen radio hit Fooled Around And Fell In Love, or touring the world for decades delivering his original, good-time countrified blues, Bishop has always inspired his fans with his rowdy guitar playing and witty, slice-of-life songs. Rolling Stone calls Bishop “a legendary guitarist” whose playing is “impeccable and spirited…a distinguished American player.”
Late in 2015, Elvin Bishop formed The Big Fun Trio, with Bishop on guitar and vocals, and his friends Bob Welsh on piano and guitar and Willy Jordan on cajón (a hand-played Peruvian drumbox) and vocals. After playing just a handful of live dates, the group’s instantly crowd-pleasing music and undeniable chemistry took the blues world by storm. With the release of their self-titled CD in 2017, media and fan response was immediate and overwhelming. READ MORE ~ BUY TICKETS 415.388.3850
Carrot Top in Modesto
Sunday, January 15, 2023 5:00PM
Gallo Center for the Arts
Scott “Carrot Top” Thompson has been making audiences around the world laugh for more than three decades. Since his debut on Star Search, Carrot Top has soared to success and become one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world. Since 2005, fans have flocked to his Las Vegas headlining residency at Luxor Hotel and Casino to catch comedy’s King of Props induce sidesplitting laughter with his current take on pop culture, music, and headlines of the day in a continually evolving show. Now here’s your chance to catch Carrot Top in his first-ever show at the Gallo Center!