Preparing the Interior

It's a common mistake for home sellers to show their house before completing certain repairs or maintenance. They tell the buyers about the intended work and expect them to imagine how nice the house will become. But buyers are not that imaginative, and uncompleted repairs cause most to cross the home off their list. So it is important to take care of these things before it comes time to show your home. Below is a list of common repairs and maintenance that you should make sure are completed before the house goes on the market.

General Preparation

• Give your home a thorough, deep cleaning, including dusting, washing, and waxing everything.
• Painting your interior will give you a great return on your money. Paint any room with dirty or scuffed walls, and any that are already painted dark colors. Use neutral tones like off white.
• If you are not having a complete house inpsection, check your faucets, toilets, and electrical items to make sure they're working properly.
• Clutter will ruin a buyer's opinion of a house. If you don't need it to live, box it up and move it out.
• Steam clean your carpets. Replace any that's worn, stained or stinky. You may try to give a "carpet allowance" instead. Just remember, buyers lack imagination.
• Make sure all closets are neat, clean, and organized. Empty them out as much as possible.
• If you have a fireplace, have it professionally cleaned and inpsected.
• Replace any old, broken screen doors or cracked window panes.
• Replace your furnace filter.

Room By Room Preparation

In addition to these general repairs and maintainence, there are several things you can do in each room to make your home more appealing to potential buyers. Here is our list of suggestions:

Bathrooms

• Clean all tile, sinks and tubs. Look for deteriorating grout or rust spots. Have them fixed if possible.
• Use a spray-on mildew remover anywhere that's necessary.
• If you have plumbing problems (drippy faucets, runny toilets), consider hiring a plumber to fix things up.

Kitchen

• Clean and sweep your floors.
• Clean your appliances thoroughly. Make sure they look good. Look for spots you haven't cleaned in a while that buyers are likely to notice.
• Remove all clutter from countertops. Wipe them off and make them look nice.
• Clean cabinet faces.

Bedrooms

• Make sure bedrooms are clean and neat - no unnecessary items.
• Clear a path so buyers can walk through.

Entry Room

• Since this will be the buyer's first impression, make it a good one. It should be clean, well lit, and inviting.

Living Room or Great Room

• Keep it nicely furnished, but not too-furnished. Make sure there is pleny of free space.

Family Room or Den

• This room should be comfortable and inviting, but not worn or overused. Take out that old beat-up recliner and ragged sofa, but don't make the room look sterile.

Basements

• You might want to run a dehumidifier to get rid of that damp, musty smell.
• clear out all the clutter you can, so the buyers can see the space (and realize it's a good spot to put their clutter!).

Garages

• Get rid of as much junk as possible. The buyer's should be able to see the whole space.
• You can clean those oil marks off the garage floor. Check at your local hardware store for a cleaning agent.