You are either thinking about selling your home, or already have the sign in your yard. In either case, it can be an incredibly stressful time. The call for showings can come at any time and you quickly realize that your life is no longer your own. You’ll be displaced at the most awkward time and your house has to stay uber-clean at all times. In order to minimize the stress of showings, the first step is getting your house organized. Not only will your house appear better in showings, helping it to sell more quickly, but you’ll have less to manage while you hurry to clean and get out the door before the next round of home buyers show up.
5 Tips for Having Your House “Show Ready” while selling.
Five simple steps will have you feeling much more prepared for short notice showings, and they may even help you sell more quickly!
1. Pack away the small stuff. After 14 years of being a home staging professional, I can tell you that most homes have entirely too much stuff. If you look up from where you are sitting, you’ll probably find a plethora of small items. You may have a stack of coasters, candles, magazines, writing instruments, electronics, so on and so forth. Your home will look bigger, and cleaner, when all the little things are stored away. Decide if you really NEED these items, or if they should be donated or thrown away. If they are, in fact, something you want to keep, decide if you can live without it while the house is on the market.
2. Be prepared to just get it out of the house. The phone rings and someone wants to see the house in the next hour. It’s 8am and you are still in your pjs sipping coffee. You forgot to do last night’s dishes, and the bed is unmade. Don’t turn down the showing appointment! Pull yourself together. When you list your house, or NOW, if you already have your house for sale, go buy 2-3 wide plastic laundry baskets. When situations like this happen, grab your baskets and put all the problems in them. In this case, throw all the dirty dishes in the baskets and throw the lot of it in your car. Quickly get dressed, skip the makeup, and put your hair in a pony. Make your bed and throw your coffee cup in the dishwasher, or take it with you.
It’s not OK to leave the house a mess. Taking everything with you allows the opportunity to manage the work on your own time.
Looking for ideas on how to keep your house cleaned and organized, so it’s just simply easier to keep house while selling? Check out the 10 life hacks for a clean and organized house by Carly Christman
3. Get real {minimal} with yourself. This is a tough exercise for many. Ask yourself if you really need four different kinds of shower get for the next 30 days. How many of those bathroom products do you really use? Do you wear all the clothes in your closet? Pots, pans, and baking dishes – when was the last time you used them? Will you use them again in the next 30, 60, or 90 days? I’m not saying you need to get rid of them, but these are good things to get out of your way when selling. Get started on your packing and put these in storage. Your storage areas will be a lot roomier and the stress of keeping up will start melting away.
4. Forget about seasons or holidays while your house is for sale. Do you love your fleece snowman sheets? Yeah, me too. If it’s spring, do you really need them in your closets though? Unless you run a decorating blog as your profession, it’s time to realize that the world will continue moving if you don’t put out your spring, summer, fall, or winter decor this year. Save yourself the stress and simply let all of this move to storage while your house is for sale. Keep a clean, minimally decorated environment while your house is for sale.
5. Hire out as much work as you can. I realize that not everyone’s budget is the same and not everyone can afford to hire someone to manage the yard work or maid services. IF you have that ability, however. Do it. Remember, this isn’t long term, it’s only for a few weeks. You only need the services while your house is on the market until it closes. Cleaning really only needs to be done through inspections, although the house should be thoroughly cleaned after everything has been moved out of it.
Balancing the weather, work schedules, and weekend showings, can create a real headache when trying to stay on top of all the necessary tasks. The average homeowner does most of their cleaning and yard work on the weekends, exactly when showings are at their highest. By hiring someone else to come do these things while you are working your 9-5, you’ll find that life is far less stressful. The cost may even be recouped by a quick sale. Quick sales always mean more money in your pocket. That’s when offers are their highest.
Leave a Reply