Home environments influence the way we think, feel, and behave. It makes sense, then, that selling a house should include focused attention on creating a healthy setting that sets buyers at ease.
This guide to Creating a Healthy Home: 8 Tips for Your Real Estate Listings offers tips for healthifying a property listing.
It provides easy updates, fixes, and tweaks that you can apply to a home to make its outdoor and indoor environment a more pleasant one.
From clearing clutter and cleaning green to sectioning off spaces in a home for physical activity, these tricks will help you sell the idea of your next listing as a happy and healthy one.
Take these steps to create an optimal atmosphere for all of the properties you list.
1. Clear the Clutter
Healthy homes don’t have cluttered spaces where dust and other debris can settle. So, every time you list a home, make time to clear clutter and tidy up every room.
Beyond putting excess personal items into cupboards and on shelves, consider renting a storage space to hold most of your seller’s belongings.
Emptying a home of everything but necessary furniture and a few works of art gives the appearance of health. It also lets buyers better imagine themselves living there.
2. Clean Green
You want your listings to be squeaky clean, but buyers don’t want to walk into a home that smells strongly of bleach or other harsh chemicals.
When you clean a home to ready it for the market, use green cleaning products that cut grime and kill germs using natural ingredients.
You can find many eco-friendly cleaners that are effective against bacteria and viruses while giving off a more pleasing odor, thanks to essential oils and other plant ingredients like citrus extracts.
3. Set Aside a Place for Quiet
The world can be chaotic, so many seek quiet and solitude in their homes.
To create a relaxing setting in your listings – areas that remind buyers of peace and comfort – turn to furniture placement.
Group sofas and chairs in intimate settings for quiet conversation. Place small end tables near chaise lounges, creating the perfect place for reading.
4. Bring Mother Nature In
Many environmental studies show that plant exposure reduces stress and improves mood.
If you have pictures of plants, add them to walls to mimic nature’s positive effects.
Bring in live plants to provide a restful feeling and purify the air.
5. Optimize the Temperature
Cornell scientists found that people prefer an indoor room temperature of 77 degrees over a colder setting of 68 degrees.
This is because a body that constantly needs to be warmed tends to experience various health issues.
Therefore, when you show a home, keep the indoor air temperature set at least in the mid-70s.
6. Focus on Lighting
Poor lighting leads to fatigue and general malaise, so pay close attention to how much sunlight enters your listing and how light fixtures illuminate the space.
Even slightly dimmed rooms can affect how buyers perceive a home’s comfort level.
A recent study showed that poor and artificial lighting negatively impacted cortisol levels, so open up window coverings and use light bulbs that mimic daylight when possible.
7. Make Room for Activity
Staying active is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle. So, make changes around your listing as needed to highlight areas for exercise and physical play.
Dedicate a room to yoga or gym equipment. Clear a lawn and stage a space with football or soccer nets.
If a home has a pool, play it up as a health feature in your property listing description.
8. Create the Appearance of Health with Color
The simple task of painting walls a crisp white or adding yellow throw pillows to furniture can make a big healthy impression on buyers.
White offers the feeling of cleanliness while providing a mental energy boost of splash of calm, depending on the hue.
Bright colors energize and give exuberance to uplift the spirit.
With color, you can infuse a feeling of health and vitality into any room and create spaces that buyers want to be in.
Summary
Whether you’re listing a small or large home, you may have places that seem easier to close off than clean, like laundry rooms. Don’t do it!
Today’s buyers want to feel comfortable in every area of a house. They want every square inch to seem sanitary, so use the tips above as a checklist to get your listing in top-health shape.
Want more tips for getting a real estate listing ready for the market? Read our Be Better Blog.
