Preparing Your Home 

Now that you have decided to put your home up for sale, it is imperative that you get your home in the best possible shape.   Preparing your home will help you get the highest possible price, in the shortest time.  You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make sure your home is ready before any potential buyers step foot in your home.

The first step is looking at your home through your buyers eyes.  Get a pad of paper, walk through every room and take notes of any minor repairs, painting, cleaning, etc that needs to be done. 

The Outside Of Your Home

Remember this is the first thing buyers will see! 

Keep your lawn cut, shrubbery trimmed.  Remove any clutter from your yard, sorry kids no bikes or toys!  Make sure the yard is free of weeds, and leaves.  Try adding some colorful flowers.

Any fences or gates should be repaired, and painted if needed. 

Vinyl or Aluminum siding should be power washed.  Also clean sidewalks, patios, driveways, etc.

Front doors should be clean, add a fresh coat of paint if needed. 

Windows should be cleaned, and check any screens for tears.

The Inside of Your Home

Getting your home ready to show gives  a new meaning to SPRING CLEANING!  Your home should be immaculate.  Every shelf, closet, baseboard, etc should be clean.  In other words, clean your home from top to bottom.

De-clutter your home.  Don't just clean, organize your home.  Pack away any items you do not use regularly.  If there is furniture that takes up a lot of space and really isn't needed take it to storage.  Remember square footage sells a home.  The bigger it looks the better!

Clean the walls.  Clean any fingerprints or smudges off of the wall.  If it still looks dingy you may need to apply a fresh coat of paint to the walls.

Clean the windows.  Sparkling windows can really help a home when showing.  Opening up the curtains or blinds during a showing lets in the light and can help rooms appear larger.

Clean the Carpets.  Make sure all rugs are clean and stain free.  You can rent a carpet cleaner or have someone come in to shampoo the carpets.

Organize closets.  If it is summer pack away all of those winter clothes.  Removing items and packing away clutter makes closets look larger which buyers love.

Don't Forget The Little Things

Buyers see little things like leaky faucets, or strange noises coming from the toilet and wonder what else might be wrong with the house.

Repair leaky faucets, squeaky door and drawers.  Check your light switches and outlet covers, if they are old looking or have paint on them buy new ones.

Families learn to live with little things like doors that don't shut properly, a broken drawer, but all of these little things can stack up in a buyers mind.  Don't let little, easy to fix things turn potential buyers off.

Other Preparations:

Find any appliance, or other warranty papers that come with the house.
Know what your property taxes are, and get a parcel map of your lot. You can find both of these by using the Logan County Auditors Website. Simply find your property by entering in your address, or your first and last name. You can print a parcel map by clicking MAP, once you find your property.

Know what your average utility bills, gas, electric, etc are for the year. Many buyers will want to know this information.

Next Topic: Pricing your Home

The information above is a general guide, and should not be considered legal or professional advice.