Tips for Staying "Showing-Ready" While Selling Your Home

Tips for Staying “Showing-Ready” While Selling Your Home

One of the hardest parts of selling a home is keeping it “showing-ready”. Potential buyers could drop by at a moment’s notice and a dirty or cluttered house could turn them off from making an offer. Follow these helpful tips to stay clean and organized during the home selling process.

Step 1: Declutter/Depersonalize

One way to make your house instantly show-ready is to declutter. When you have too many bulky items in the way, your home can appear smaller than it really is. Remove items or furniture that block pathways or overwhelm closets. This is when storage boxes or even a storage container can come in handy. You’ll also want to depersonalize your home. Take any family photos down from the walls, remove family heirlooms, etc. You want the home to be a blank slate that the potential buyer can envision themselves living in.

Step 2: Cleaning/Laundry

Clean like your life depended on it. (Or just clean like your in-laws are coming over.) A clean home can be indicative of how well the home was maintained. If you stay on top of the chores each day, it will be easy to stay spotless. This includes keeping clothes hung up, folded in drawers or neatly stored away in laundry baskets, not left in the washer/dryer or, worse, in piles on the floor. In fact, use this time to donate or throw away old clothing items. If you have children, make a game out of cleaning up their toys with them. (The last thing you want is for someone to step on a Lego during the showing.)

Step 3:  Make Repairs

Make sure to keep up with any repairs during the selling process. This includes tightening leaky faucets, replacing burnt out bulbs, keeping smoke/carbon monoxide detectors working, etc. Having tools, extra light bulbs and batteries on hand can make this easier to keep up with. Painting the walls can also be a great way to freshen up the space. (Use a neutral color though as bright or unusual colors can actually turn-off potential buyers.)

Bottom Line

If you are ready and willing to buy or sell a property -contact Liz Sandwick, licensed in Minnesota,  your Coldwell Banker Burnet Real Estate Professional, to analyze all of the options and opportunities available to you in today’s marketplace. 

Liz Sandwick, Coldwell Banker Burnet REALTOR® helping buyers & sellers in areas like: Apple Valley, Lakeville, Burnsville, Prior Lake, Savage, Farmington, Rosemount & throughout Minnesota!