Hi T.,
We had our house on the market in the spring, so this is all fresh on my mind. Here's some stuff we did:
1. Before we put our house on the market, we surveyed a couple of realtors on suggestions for updates / repairs to make. We had been in our home 9 years so some things were a little dated / worn looking. We made changes to the biggest impact areas (i.e. painting, replacing wallpaper, etc.).
2. Before listing our house, we did a lot of packing of excess stuff and just stored the boxes in the attic and garage. This was great preparation for showing the house, but also in getting us ready to move. We packed up excess home decor stuff, toys, out of season clothes-- makes the closets look bigger!
3. Once we listed our house we just tried to not leave a mess when we went from one room to the next. Clean up as you go. Also, I tried to close doors to rooms we didn't need access to, so the vaccuming stayed fresh and things stayed picked up.
4. On a daily basis I tried to vacuum (this didn't always work out) and wipe down kitchen and bathroom counters with multi-purpose wipes. I bought several packets of these and kept them in every bathroom, the kitchen and my daughter's room. As we got ready for our day, or finished a meal, I'd just pull a couple out and wipe down the counters, etc. My husband even got in the (short-lived) habit of cleaning up after himself!
5. If we knew our house was going to be shown we would: (a) run the vacuum, (b) turn on all the lights and open all doors to rooms and sometimes closets, (c) put on some background classical music-- low volume.
Some other things:
-- Our main objective was to make our home look and feel like a model home (that was our main competition anyway). There's a huge difference between having your home in living condition vs. in selling condition. It was a pain, but it paid off for us, we sold our home in 3.5 weeks.
-- We invested in some baskets for toys and were able to quickly toss the toys in the baskets so they were at least off the floor.
-- I bought little bathroom totes / caddies for each of us. We stored all our toiletries, makeup, etc. in these. We pulled them out at night and then put them under the bathroom cabinet the next morning. Our bathrooms were much more clutter-free.
-- White Barn Candle Company sells some plug in room fragrance things and I bought 3 or 4 of these all in the same fragrance (Vanilla Sugar). It's a smell that's not overpowering which is important. Some people are highly sensitive to smell so you don't want to blow them over with scent. Also, I liked these because they worked on their own, didn't require me to light them or remember to blow them out.
-- We hired a lawn care company to mow during the week so we wouldn't be caught with someone wanting to show it while in the midst of yard work. Or, so the yard didn't get out of control from lack of attention.
-- We also planned to eat out more (and did!). I kept easy to fix stuff on hand like fruit and sandwiches and yogurts. It helps going into it to expect to be more flexible during mealtimes.
-- As far as what to display, I put out candles, a few framed pictures, and a couple of magazines, but put away any decor that made things look cluttered or distracting. We took everything off the fridge except for our family calendar which hung on the side of the fridge. All the pens, pencils, papers that collected under the kitchen phone were removed. Extra appliances sitting out on the kitchen counter were put away, too. You want things to look fresh and spacious without looking sterile.
OK. If you're still reading by now you have the paitence of a saint! Sorry to blab on and on. Hope something in this novel has been of help. Please feel free to e-mail me back if you have questions or want to bounce ideas off of me. I promise not to be so long winded! Also, we have dogs. If you need pet suggestions, I can brief you on that area, too. But I'll let you let me know if that's of interest!
Wishing you all the best!
A.
