How to Prepare My House To Sell

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By Peggy Hazelwood
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Article Rating: (3 Ratings)

How do I prepare my house to sell?

So, you're selling your house. With some advance planning and follow through, the way to prepare your house to sell can be painless and in fact, a pleasure.

Here are tips for selling your house.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

cleaning supplies
boxes
paint
tools

Step 1

Get Organized. If you're selling your house, this is the time to de-clutter your house. Get three large boxes and mark them Trash, Donate, Keep/Pack. Go through each room with an objective eye. Move items that are not necessary for everyday living into one of the three boxes.

The more spare room you can make on shelves and in closets, makes your home look larger. When you're selling your house, it's an excellent time to get rid of extra stuff you've accumulated. Donate it or if it's broken, toss it. Move the boxes you've packed to a storage unit or a corner of a garage.
Step 2

Pack Personal Items. To sell your home, potential buyers will come through your house to view it. These people are strangers, so to be safe, pack up small personal items that are valuable to you--be it monetary or sentimental value. By packing knick-knacks and other items, part of your packing will be done when it's time to move.

Also, take down and wrap photos of family members. Pack them securely in a box and be sure to mark the box FRAGILE. Potential buyers want to envision their family in their new home, not your family.
Step 3

Install that new light fixture.

Repair and Paint. When you're selling your house, look for broken or worn looking features. You may be used to the front door that sticks but a buyer may shy away from buying your house if too many items are in need of repair. Invest in the time to make repairs yourself or the expense of hiring a handyman to fix those little things you've been meaning to get around to.

Paint walls and cabinets that are dirty or dated. Neutral colors appeal to more buyers than bold, individualized choices. New paint is relatively cheap and freshens a room better than anything else.
Step 4

Clean that stove!

Clean. Obviously, when you prepare your house to sell, be sure to clean. A clean house is more appealing obviously than a dirty one. Make sure the kitchen counters are cleared of clutter and sparkling. Shine the bathrooms so they look hotel fresh. Vacuum and fluff pillows.

Rid your bedrooms of "bedroom-itis" smells by laundering comforters and shams. Open windows when possible to freshen all rooms. Set a light-smelling candle out to freshen small rooms that have little circulation. Just the scent of the candle (unlit) may be enough to brighten a room.
Step 5

Is your litter box clean?

Take Care of Pet (and Other) Odors. A clean house also means your house smells clean. If you have pets, ask a trusted (honest) friend to tell you if they can smell that you have pets when they walk in the door. If so, toss old litter boxes and replace with new ones. Scoop several times a day. Wash rugs and scour floors. You may need to remove the pets during showings or open houses for safety reasons.
Step 6

Use these tips for selling your house, and you'll be ahead of the pack when you sell your home.

Comments

veryirie said

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on 6/25/2009 Great preparation tips. Very sound advice!

jenng said

on 2/2/2009 great tips thankx 5* recommended

ScarlettOHairy said

on 1/31/2009 True, Jama. I'm a #1 Packrat too! I guess I should have said gather MORE boxes and take those to storage, Goodwill, and the dumpster!

on 1/31/2009 This is an excellent article, Scarlet! The only thing I can't believe you said was purge into {3 boxes}: I couldn't fit all the extemporaneous crap around here in THIRTY boxes,LOL! Can you say "Packrat?"