Sellers: Try the 30-Second Front-Door Test

Homeowners stop seeing their houses the way visitors see them.

Before listing, try this simple exercise.

Walk outside. Pause. Then return through your front door as though you were seeing the property for the first time.

Pay attention to the first thirty seconds.

Where do your eyes go?

Is the entry bright and welcoming?

Does clutter compete with an architectural feature?

Is furniture blocking a sightline?

If the home has a beautiful backyard or mountain view, does your eye naturally travel toward it?

Martha’s Tip

Good preparation isn’t always about adding something.

Sometimes the most effective improvement is removing the thing that competes with your home’s best feature.

After years of living in a property, an outside perspective can be extremely useful because buyers encounter everything for the first time.

Help make those first moments count.

Request Martha’s Home Preparation & Staging Checklist.