When you list a home for your clients, you want to get top dollar and sell the home as quickly as possible. One of the best ways to sell homes faster is investing in a move-in ready service provided by a cleaning company in Scarborough to appeal to a home buyer’s sense of order.
In this article, we will take a deep dive into the psychology of home buyers to understand why thorough cleaning is a must.
First Impressions: Passing the Online Test
As you probably know, today’s home buyers start their search online. As a result, you need to post professional photos that show each listing in the best possible light.
First impressions are critical to home sales, so your listings need to stand out from the rest. When your listings sparkle, you can be sure you’ll have an edge over the agents who don’t take the time to do a floor-to-ceiling deep clean.
Cleanliness Creates Positive Emotions: Passing the White Glove Test
Even if an unclean listing passes the online test, you should still face the home tour test. Home buyers are notoriously picky and will look at every square inch of the home, opening closets, peeking behind shower curtains, pulling out kitchen drawers, etc.
As a result, you need every surface, nook, and cranny to be clean enough to pass the white glove test without an ounce of grime, speck of dust, or hint of grease.
Scent Triggers a Memory Response: Passing the Sniff Test
Scent is a memory trigger that can evoke visions of holidays past, mom’s homemade cookies, and a sense of calm with familiar pleasant aromas like fresh lemon and citrus.
Unfortunately, they also bring up bad memories or trigger alarms that a home feels unsafe, such as smells of mould, pet odours, cigarette smoke, or marijuana.
A clean home with fresh, familiar scents will trigger those positive emotions that buyers are more likely to relate to hominess, providing the positive response that translates into offers.
Clutter Creates Stress
Another important psychological response is stress. A clean home creates a sense of calm and peace. If a home feels crowded and cluttered, buyers feel stressed and can’t imagine themselves relaxing in the home.
Ensuring the home is decluttered and cleaned helps present an atmosphere of calmness that feels like home instead of a gut reaction that tells the buyer to get out of there.
People See the Mess, Not the Home
Order reduces distractions that can take away from the best points of a home. When buyers enter a clean and organized home, they are less likely to become distracted and experience mental overload.
Cleanliness Is Associated With Health
When buyers step into a dirty home, their guard goes up with fears of germs and bacteria lurking in every corner. A clean home feels fresh and healthy, so buyers don’t feel their health is at risk.
In fact, things like clutter, dirt, and mess are linked to our decision-making process. As a result, everyday messes can influence a home buyer’s decision to purchase because they feel unsafe due to the following issues:
- Unpleasant smells
- Pet stains
- Dirty toilets, showers, and tubs
- Kitchen grease and food stains
- Crumbs
- Dust
- Poorly maintained window treatments
- Unclean light fixtures
The cleaner the home, the healthier it feels, and the more likely people will have a positive response. The messier the house, however, the more likely it is you’ll trigger the flight response!
Messes Can Make People Feel Anxious
While not all people are affected by messes, those who are can become anxious when faced with an untidy home.
So, although the home might be “clean,” newspapers on a coffee table, clothes hanging on the backs of chairs (or even on hooks), or clean dishes in a dish rack can contribute to feelings of anxiousness that can send some home buyers headed for the hills!
Therefore, it’s important to advise sellers to maintain a tidy home during the selling process. Hiring a cleaning company in Scarborough to conduct a weekly cleaning can help owners maintain a tidier home.
Clutter Can Erase Memory
When home buyers see several homes in a day, they compartmentalize each home in their memory using something that stood out. Whether it’s kitchen counters, funny artwork, or a spectacular backyard, you want to provide a positive memory that helps keep your listing in the running.
Unfortunately, clutter creates a visual distraction that can lead to cognitive overload and reduce a buyer’s ability to remember things. Thus, you want to minimize clutter, so buyers can remain focused on the home’s good points, find something positive to compartmentalize, and process this information using their working memory.
Clutter Disrupts Emotional Readings
Clutter disrupts a buyer’s ability to read the emotions of others. When buyers feel stressed or anxious from clutter, they might be less able to read the facial expressions of their partner, which means they might incorrectly interpret their impression of the home.
Not only can this change their minds about the home subconsciously, but also increase the risk of couples having conflicts due to the misinterpretation. This creates a negative memory of the home, so they are less inclined to make an offer.
Call Our Cleaning Professionals in Scarborough
You want to leverage every opportunity to be the best house on the block and sell your listings quickly. The decision to work with a house cleaning company in Scarborough or the GTA is a powerful tool that will help you manage home buyers’ emotional response for more positive results.
A clean home makes yours the listing that stands out and triggers positive emotions that increase offers and perceived home value.
If you want to maintain a cleaner home, reach out to Maid4Condos to learn more about our cleaning company in Scarborough and the GTA. You can also call us at 647-822-0601.
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