Your home has been listed for sale and the showings are about to roll in. How do you keep your home showing ready? It can certainly seem like an ongoing battle especially if you have kids, pets, maybe a business in your home – chaos abounds! With so much activity in today’s market, there’s a lot of pressure to stand out amongst the other listings. A good thing to remember is that showings are only temporary and will stop when you accept an offer on your home. So, if you have a good Realtor to price your home correctly, and you have it marketed, and ready to sell, it will hopefully sell fast.
The first step in keeping your home showing ready is to do a super clean. By now you should have de-cluttered your home, put away items you don’t need, including lots of the knick knacks, photos, and other items that tend to gather dust. Stock up on all the cleaning supplies you may need, so they are on hand when you need them. Take some time and get the entire home spic and span, if you can, before the photographer comes to take your listing photos. A clean home makes a big difference in the photos resulting in more showing requests to hopefully get home your sold faster!
Once you have your home neat and tidy, be sure to keep up on your daily chores as it is much easier to keep it picture-perfect. Procrastination is your worst enemy. Since showings can be requested at the drop of a dime, keeping up on the everyday chores is key and should be done right away so they don’t pile up. Put dirty clothes in the hamper, not on the floor, make your bed when you get up, not when someone schedules a showing, clean the dog’s paws before she comes inside, mow the lawn sooner rather than later, and so on.
Remember the goal of having your home on the market is to get it SOLD so you can move on. Even if being a neat freak is not your thing, it is worth keeping your home showing ready. You won’t need to keep your home tidy forever, but buyers love a fresh, clean home, so be sure to give buyers what they want. And hey, maybe this could be the start of better habits for your next home!