Saving the Best for Last: Why You Want to Save the Best Rooms in Your Home for the End of the Showing

Do you remember when you were buying your first home?

You may have looked at dozens before you settled on the perfect home for your family to live and grow in. Perhaps another home came in a close second, but you ultimately settled on that house or apartment – the one you're now selling.

Chances are you don't remember anything much about most of the homes you viewed, and the things that stand out are the best (that bedroom with a fireplace!) or as bad as they can be (remember the sofa placed over the cigarette burn in the carpet?).

When you're staging your own home and giving tours to prospective buyers, it's important to give them something to remember, and saving the best for last is one way to do it.

First In, First Out

When it comes to memories, older isn't necessarily better.

In fact, research shows that the brain clears out older memories to make room for new ones. That's why what you did today is fresh in your mind, but things get hazy when you think about last week or try to remember life as a child.

If you show off the best rooms in the house toward the end of the tour, it will stick in the buyer's mind after she leaves.

Just like you make sure the first impression is good - this is known as 'curb appeal' - you'll want to end on a high note. This helps sell your home faster.

Doorway To The Mind

Entering a new room causes you to forget why you're there in the first place. Researcher Gabriel Radvansky from Notre Dame completed a year-long study about this phenomenon, which is also known as 'event boundaries.' In essence, your brain compartmentalizes data to a specific location.

When you're indoors, the walls around you literally become mental boundaries. As soon as you step through a doorway, you forget that you meant to put the phone back on the hook. For home buyers, every new doorway acts as an event boundary.

If you put the bedroom with the fireplace or the outdoor jacuzzi in the first half of your tour, buyers will walk through a lot of doorways after seeing some of the best parts of your home.

Every doorway is an opportunity for their brains to forget something that might help you when it comes to getting the sale closed. Put fewer doorways between the strongest architectural or design features and the end of the tour to make the biggest impact.

If you have further questions about staging, contact your real estate agent today for advice and strategies.