To maximize your sale price, you need to make sure your house is available to buyers. Even when they want to visit at an inconvenient time with little notice.
Keeping your home show-ready around the clock can be stressful, but we have a few easy tips and tricks to make sure your house always shows its best (even on short notice).
Take care of the Deep Clean before the house hits the market
Before officially listing your house for sale, invest in a deep clean. Taking the time to thoroughly scrub the house before it hits the market will make it much easier to maintain day-to-day throughout the listing period.
And this deep clean goes beyond cleaning. Yes, you want every visible surface to shine, but there are a few more steps to take at this stage to make the house truly show-ready.
Like decluttering and depersonalizing. Removing all the clutter helps the house to appear larger and more inviting. And removing personal items like family photos and unique collections will help potential buyers to feel more at home in the space. And the more at home they feel, the more likely they are to make an offer!
Squeeze in a quick straightening every morning
To maintain the show-readiness of your house, you just need to spend a little time straightening up each morning.
Stylish storage bins are the perfect tool to make this process quick and painless. Daily life clutter like toiletries, mail, and kids’ toys can be tossed in a bin and instantly hidden from sight.
After that, just run through the house quickly to make sure that:
- Dishes and laundry are put away
- The beds are made
- Curtains and blinds are open to let in the light
- The house smells fresh
- Everything is generally in its place
Plan to be away from the house during showings
Buyers generally aren’t able to feel at home when the sellers are present. Give your potential buyers the freedom to relax in the house and imagine themselves living there by staying away from the house during showings.
This includes pets. Many people are afraid of animals. And many others have pet allergies. Even if your potential buyers love animals, your pets may actually hurt your prospects by distracting the buyers when they should be focusing on the house.
Create a plan to get everyone out of the house with little notice. Make a little “go bag” with everything you‘ll need to keep yourself, your kids and your pets away from home for a bit. Maybe do some shopping or enjoy some time at the park while the house is being shown.
If you work away from home, you might want to make workday arrangements for kids and pets. Perhaps they could stay with family or go to daycare so you won’t have to leave work to round them up if there’s a short-notice showing.
Keeping your house show-ready 24/7 may require a little extra time and effort. But these tips will minimize the inconvenience and maximize selling potential. Plus any hassle will be worth it when your house fetches top dollar because it shows well!
This post is intended for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional advice. This post was written by Michelle Clardie. Michelle is a professional real estate blogger, specializing in ghostwriting Realtor® blogs. Her engaging content helps real estate agents become more visible online, generate more qualified leads, and increase their revenues. You can learn more at www.michelleclardie.com.
