How To Prepare Your House For Sale

Prepping and staging a house. Every seller wants her home to sell fast and bring top dollar. Does that sound good to you? Well, it's not luck that makes that happen. It's careful planning and knowing how to professionally spruce up your home that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks. Here is how to prep a house and turn it into an irresistible and marketable home.

Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.

Say to yourself, "This is not my home; it is a house -- a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.

Make the mental decision to "let go" of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.

Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owners!

De-Personalize.
Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers can't see past personal artifacts, and you don't want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can't do that if yours are there!

De-Clutter!
People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Consider this: if you haven't used it in over a year, you probably don't need it. Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.

Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.
Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Rent a Storage Unit. Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage.

Remove/Replace Favorite Items.
If you want to take window coverings, built-in appliances or fixtures with you, remove them now. If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to your great grandmother, take it down. If a buyer never sees it, she won't want it. Once you tell a buyer she can't have an item, she will covet it, and it could blow your deal. Pack those items and replace them, if necessary.

Make Minor Repairs

Replace cracked floor or counter tiles

Patch holes in walls

Fix leaky faucets

Fix doors that don't close properly and kitchen drawers that jam

Consider painting your walls neutral colors

Replace burned-out light bulbs

Make the House Sparkle!

Wash windows inside and out

Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior

Clean out cobwebs

Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks

Polish chrome faucets and mirrors

Bleach dingy grout

Replace worn rugs

Hang up fresh towels (Bathroom towels look great fastened with ribbon and bows)

Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no.

Scrutinize.

Go outside and open your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside? Does the house welcome you?

Linger in the doorway of every single room and imagine how your house will look to a buyer

Examine carefully how furniture is arranged and move pieces around until it makes sense

Make sure window coverings hang level

Check Curb Appeal.
If a buyer won't get out of their agent's car because they don't like the exterior of your home, you'll never get them inside

Keep the sidewalks cleared

Mow the lawn

Paint faded window trim

Plant flowers and make the outside inviting

Trim your bushes

Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number