Cleaning Before Selling

By Kaci Cooper, 23 Jan 17:40

If the buying a home is all about location, then selling a home is all about cleaning it and making it look its best. Nothing will discourage a buyer more than a dirty home, so that layer of dust on your baseboards needs to be removed immediately.

For Example
Take Marie, a Seattle woman moving from a townhouse to a suburban home. She loved nothing more than a clean home. One day, while shopping around for a house, she found the perfect home. Perfect in size, shape, and style, but not cleanliness. She saw stovetops and toilets so old and dirty, they looked as though they would never come clean. Nevertheless, she did not buy that home.

Hidden Spots
If you think that buyers will not open your fridge during an open house, you would be mistaken. Buyers will look through closets, under furniture, in drawers, so everything, from top to bottom, needs to be spic and span to sell your home.

Make sure that your home smells good too, especially if you have animals. Make sure there are no odors and if you think you might have just gotten used to it, have a friend come over and let you know. Odors are a sure way to turn people off of your home.

Get Rid of Clutter
Make sure that your home is void of clutter. If there are any extra furniture you do not need, then get rid of it. Something that might look charming to you, will not look charming to your buyers, so it is best to make as much wide open space as possible. Clutter includes jars on the counters, photos, wall ornaments, decorations, figurines, etc.

Essential Tasks
-De-clutter, even bookshelves and the garage.
-Clean everything from top to bottom, including drawers and under the sink.
-Get rid of all smells and get rid of the smells before you bake cookies. Otherwise it will just smell as though you baked cookies to cover up the underlying problem.
-Use cleaning products with a lemon smell. Most people view lemon smells as clean, avoid scents like vanilla or mixed berry.
-Pay special attention to bathrooms and kitchens. These are the rooms people want to sparkling clean.
-Make sure the outside is clean and de-cluttered as well. Buy a box to put pool toys in and make sure the porch is well swept.
-De-personalize your home. Remove pictures and figurines. You want your buyers to be able to picture themselves living in your home.
-If you have an agent, use them. Ask them what to fix, this is their job and they will know what is most important to buyers.
Remember most buyers expect anything that is attached in the home will stay when you move out, so replace anything you want to take with you now to avoid the hassle later.

Preparing to move is a daunting task, so take each item on your to-do list by itself to minimize stress. This will make it feel easier to get everything done, rather than trying to do everything at once.

Things you might need

How-to Extra Advice

Tags: cleaning selling