You’re excited – you’ve got your home for sale and you want to make sure you are ready to show your home fast. It’s important to be available for a potential buyers so here are some tips to keep you out of panic mode.
When the time comes to start showing your home, there’s nothing more important than keeping it immaculately clean for your potential buyers’ eyes. But of course, you’re still going to be living there during this process, and I don’t know about you but life can be messy. Rather than walk on eggshells during this marketing period, use a trick that I learned many years ago: it’s called the “laundry basket cleanup trick.”
This trick comes in handy for those inevitable moments when you’ve spread all your papers for something on the table, or your kids have made a huge mess, or some domestic accident has occurred—and you get a call from a potential buyer who wants to stop by in ten minutes.
You need to be prepared to clean FAST! And who knew the trick was a simple one. Everyone has an extra laundry basket laying around and that is going to be your secret weapon so you’re prepared to be “show ready” at all times.
Just keep that empty laundry basket handy. When those “can we see it in 10 minutes” moments arise, scoop all your clutter into the laundry basket and put the laundry basket in the back seat of your car. That way, when your potential buyers are gone, you can pick up right where you left off.
Make sure to put your daily mail in the laundry basket. You don’t want anyone to see your important papers or start thinking about bills and obligations when they are walking through your house. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shown a house and found a stock statement sitting right out in the open for the potential buyers to see. Don’t let your stock market accounts be visible: you don’t want your personal financial state to enter into the negotiation. Let your buyers see only what you want them to see.
Have the contents of all your cabinets stacked neatly, especially the pantry and bathroom cabinets, because your viewers are definitely going to open them for a look (you know, buyers can be a little nosey). If your closets are full, it makes them look tiny. Be sure that all closets—including those in the kids’ rooms—contain minimal items and are organized neatly. Buyers don’t overlook messes, even when they are clearly the fault of a child. Clutter, even at its cutest, is still unattractive.
Do not forget the garage, either. If you think of your garage mostly as the place where you store the Christmas lights and bicycles, the garage might not matter much to you. But many men will buy a house because of the garage. Do your best to make it look like a place to park cars – not a mini storage unit. Clutter counts in the garage too!
Use the attached “Get Ready To Show Your Home FAST! Checklist” to use every time you need to show your home. And guess what, before you know it, it will be a habit.
Happy Selling!
