{"id":5645,"date":"2018-09-28T13:15:37","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T20:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=5645"},"modified":"2019-03-02T08:57:46","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T16:57:46","slug":"open-house-decorations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Decorating For Your Open House All Wrong?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget everything you know about open house decorations. Yep, we said it. Times have changed\u2014and home buyers are getting younger and younger.<\/p>\n

The largest share of home buyers are aged 37 and younger<\/a>, with the median age of 31 years old, according to the National Association of Realtors\u2019 2018 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report.<\/p>\n

Even people as young as 22 years old are eager to get into the real estate market.<\/p>\n

A recent survey conducted by PropertyShark showed that Generation Z (born between 1995-2010) poses serious competition to millennials on the real estate market\u201483% of Gen Zers are planning on buying a home within the next 5 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you choose to hold an open house<\/a>, traditional open house decorations aren\u2019t going to fly. You need to decorate for the modern buyer in order to sell fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a crucial part of the process. The decor needs to be appealing to the target demographic,\u201d says Holly Connors<\/a>, a top real estate agent in Arlington Heights, Illinois<\/a>, who sells homes 54% faster than the average agent in her area. In her market, she sees young buyers under the age of 35 who are ready to start a family come from the city to the suburbs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call that the suburban march. Things that are attractive to that demographic are a more modern feel\u2014so whites, greys, navy blues, and lots of light,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Out with the old, in with the new. We\u2019ve identified 5 traditional decorations that send bad vibes to modern buyers and found fresh replacements that\u2019ll save you time and money\u2014not to mention, help you sell your home.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, let\u2019s get right into it.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: (Allie Lehman\/ Death to the Stock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Replace warm cookies with citrus scents.<\/h2>\n

One of the oldest tricks in the book: warm cookies, fresh out of the oven, ready on the counter when buyers walk through.<\/p>\n

Yes, sensory marketing is a proven tactic for reeling in buyers. But the smell of cookies is just that\u2014an old trick.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very attractive to someone who was born in the \u201860s or the \u201870s because feeling at home for them is something baking,\u201d Connors says. \u201cBut feeling at home for somebody who was born in the \u201880s or the \u201890s, which is your younger demographic now, is clean and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buyers today aren\u2019t looking for a home that smells like cookies. They\u2019re looking for a bright, clean investment to grow into and, eventually, grow out of.<\/p>\n

As Connors puts it, clean sells.<\/p>\n

Instead of showing off your gourmet baking skills, make sure your home is clean<\/strong> and smells fresh<\/strong> above all. Deep clean from day 1 and clean again before every open house or showing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are new buyers on the block. Modern home buyers are changing everything you know about open house decorations\u2013\u2013and you can’t afford to ignore it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":9713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[321,244],"tags":[566,565],"class_list":["post-5645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-attract-buyers","category-open-houses","tag-modern-decor-for-selling-a-home","tag-open-house-decorations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Open House Decorations That Send Buyers the Wrong Message<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are new buyers on the block. Modern home buyers are changing everything you know about open house decorations\u2013\u2013and you can't afford to ignore it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are You Decorating For Your Open House All Wrong?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are new buyers on the block. Modern home buyers are changing everything you know about open house decorations\u2013\u2013and you can't afford to ignore it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-28T20:15:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-02T16:57:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/open-house-decorations-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Corinne Rivera\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@corinnevrivera\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Corinne Rivera\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Open House Decorations That Send Buyers the Wrong Message","description":"There are new buyers on the block. Modern home buyers are changing everything you know about open house decorations\u2013\u2013and you can't afford to ignore it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are You Decorating For Your Open House All Wrong?","og_description":"There are new buyers on the block. Modern home buyers are changing everything you know about open house decorations\u2013\u2013and you can't afford to ignore it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/","og_site_name":"HomeLight Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/","article_published_time":"2018-09-28T20:15:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-02T16:57:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/open-house-decorations-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Corinne Rivera","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@corinnevrivera","twitter_site":"@gohomelight","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Corinne Rivera","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/"},"author":{"name":"Corinne Rivera","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c4c51db85b7df7b81db435ba37ad2712"},"headline":"Are You Decorating For Your Open House All Wrong?","datePublished":"2018-09-28T20:15:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-02T16:57:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/"},"wordCount":471,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/open-house-decorations-1.jpg","keywords":["modern decor for selling a home","open house decorations"],"articleSection":["Attract Buyers","Open Houses"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/","name":"5 Open House Decorations That Send Buyers the Wrong Message","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/open-house-decorations-1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-28T20:15:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-02T16:57:46+00:00","description":"There are new buyers on the block. Modern home buyers are changing everything you know about open house decorations\u2013\u2013and you can't afford to ignore it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/open-house-decorations-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/open-house-decorations-1.jpg","width":1500,"height":800,"caption":"Source: (NordWood Themes\/ Unsplash)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/open-house-decorations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are You Decorating For Your Open House All Wrong?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/","name":"HomeLight Blog","description":"Real Estate Advice from America's Top Agents","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"HomeLight","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/logo-hr-color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/logo-hr-color.png","width":1348,"height":262,"caption":"HomeLight"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/","https:\/\/x.com\/gohomelight","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/homelight\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCimugR9XF17-OZ7B9fNnxWw","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HomeLight"],"description":"Everything you need to know to sell your house faster and for more money. Articles, guides, and advice from top agents all over the U.S.","email":"support@homelight.com","telephone":"(888) 688-0350","legalName":"HomeLight","foundingDate":"2012-01-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"201","maxValue":"500"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c4c51db85b7df7b81db435ba37ad2712","name":"Corinne Rivera","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9c6f26412d64ab8e476e916bc4661d36b551a346dd49fb52cd73838443531d9?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9c6f26412d64ab8e476e916bc4661d36b551a346dd49fb52cd73838443531d9?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Corinne Rivera"},"description":"Corinne is a journalist with a passion for real estate, travel, and visual arts. She has a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from San Francisco State University. When she\u2019s not creating content, you can find her exploring open houses, watching HGTV, or redesigning her apartment... again.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.homelight.com","https:\/\/x.com\/corinnevrivera"],"url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/author\/corinne-rivera\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}