Front Doors And First Impressions
Just as first impressions are very important with people, the functionality of your front door is a buyer's first impression. Squeaking hinges, a shaky door, or a sticky door is the best way to get buyer's on a bad note. If your door creaks like it was came out of a haunted house then your buyer's first impression of your house will be something like this: "The seller does not care for this house. They don't take care of this house. What else is wrong with this house?"... So spend good effort into making the front door environment welcoming.
Hint: Place a good conditioned mat in the front of the front door that says, "Welcome". It is a subtle way of saying to the buyer that your home is friendly and the area is welcoming and safe. Also, the importance of placing a mat that is new or near new, will set the tone for the buyer.
With your new "Welcome" mat and a door that opens almost effortlessly and silently, you are sure to start off on a good note with the buyer's. If your door is making screeching noises then all is not lost, but you can guarantee that it will not be love at first sight.
As a real estate agent, opening doors is one of the many things we do. So by making this very small task easy it will encourage real estate agents to show your property again. Sometimes agents will show a property three times to one buyer alone and may show the property 5-7 times over the course of its listing period.
You certainly don't want a real estate agent to psychologically distant themselves from showing your house by associating it with the hassle of lifting up on the doorknob of your front door with a minimum of 7000 lbs. per square inch while moving the key in a upper-right direction and simultaneously pulling half-way through.
If your door squeaks you want to go to the Fix a Squeaky Door page.
