realtyreport
Show Ready
How you live in your home when it's on the market is different from how you normally live in it. If you're serious about selling, you need to be prepared for buyers' eyes at all times. Consider following these tips to keep your home in show-ready condition.
- Don't smoke indoors or cook food with strong odors. Take out the trash every morning. Keep your home smelling good with essential oil diffusers or light-bulb rings.
- Make some rooms "off limits" for your own family until your home sells. If you can avoid using your dining room, formal living room, guest room or spare bathrooms, for example, you'll have less cleaning to do.
- Consider hiring a cleaning service before listing your home, perhaps on an ongoing basis until it sells. All you'll have to do is light maintenance after they leave or between professional cleanings.
- Keep a storage container, basket or bag handy. When you get last-minute calls for showings, throw everything that's not in its designated place into your "clutter catch-all," and then stow it out of sight.
- Stash disposable cleaning wipes under your kitchen and bathroom sinks so you can quickly wipe down all the surfaces in those rooms when you're done in them with just one product.
- Keep small containers in bathrooms to house toiletries when not in use and hide them in the vanity. Have two sets of towels: one for displaying, another for daily use (kept hidden).
- Showings aren't likely to happen early in the morning or after about 8 p.m., so take advantage of these times to take care of chores like dishes, dusting, vacuuming and tidying.
