Prepare your House for a Showing

Once you decide on selling your house, and ask your real estate agent to put it up for sale on the market, you need to work on making the house presentable for showings. Keeping your house as it is, and not making any changes or improvements is a bad idea, as a shoddy, or ill-maintained appearance can put buyers off, leaving your home to languish on the market for a long time to come. However, with a few simple, cost-effective tips, you can transform your house into a property that a multitude of buyers will be vying to purchase.

De-clutter

While this might seem like an overwhelming task, particularly if you have kids whose toys are scattered all over the yard and throughout the house, it is essential to make a home look neat and orderly. Start by picking everything up, putting things back in their places, and arranging everything so that the entire house looks neat and orderly. In addition, make sure you de-clutter the insides of cabinets and closets too, as potential buyers often open these to check for storage space.

Make lists

Do not panic in the face of the sheer amount of work that needs to be done – make organized lists, detailing all the tasks that need to be done, and get through them one at a time. Not only will you move through the process in a more methodical fashion, you will also feel satisfied and accomplished every time you cross an item off the list.

Start small

Do not get overwhelmed by thinking of all the things that need to be done – start small, and then move on to tackling bigger issues. For example, take the home cleaning and sprucing process one room at a time, as opposed to trying to clean up the entire house in one go.

Start packing

Since you are looking to sell, and thus planning to move elsewhere, you might as well start the packing process. Start small here too – don’t pack away your essentials. Put all the things you do not need or plan to use anytime soon (such as clothes that are not suited to the current season) into neatly labeled boxes.

Clean

Naturally, buyers are subconsciously appreciative of a house that is clean and sparkling. Undertake a major cleaning operation, and wash, scrub, and polish everything in the house. However to not try to clean up the entire house in a day – as suggested previously, take it one room at a time.

Bring out the best features

Every house has a special feature or two which, if enhanced, can make the entire home appear stunning, and make it hard for potential buyers to get the house out of their minds. Study your house carefully, to determine its most attractive feature, e.g. a spacious kitchen with a huge island. Focus on enhancing this, to draw the buyers in.