Cleaning Tips to Prepare Your House for Sale

Getting your house ready for sale can be major stress, so here are a few cleaning tips to help you. By now you should have completed part one of getting your house ready - decluttering. If you haven't, do it before trying to clean. If you don't declutter first, you will only make yourself crazy.

Step #1 - Let the whole family know that while the house is up for sale, there is a new sheriff in town,. Even if you have always allowed a build-up of mess and dirt in the past, things are going to be different - and you expect everyone to do their part. Remind them that the cleaner they can keep things, the faster the house is likely to sell, and the sooner everyone can get back to their old habits.

Discuss as a family who is going to be responsible for what area - this will be very important when you get into the maintenance phase.

Step #2 - Paint, patch and repair. Once you have declutted, you will likely notice that some of you walls and woodwork may need a little 'face-lift'. Even if it seems minor to you - your viewers will notice that your house appears 'worn'. Patch walls, freshen paint, and do any minor repairs that are crying out for attention. You want people to see that your house is in 'move in condition'. That's one of the things that helps to generate solid offers and quick sales.

Step #3 - Clean everything. The people who come through your house are going to open cupboards and closets (although your dresser drawers are probably safe). They want to see if their stuff is going to fit - so make sure it's all clean. Arrange everything so that nothing looks over-crowded - this is VERY important. There are lots of household cleaning tips elsewhere in this site for cleaning specific rooms or tackling specific jobs.

Step #3 - As you are cleaning, you will likely discover yet more items that could be put into storage. Perhaps your little helpers decided that if they were going to be in charge of a particular area - there were a few more things that they could live without for a while. If so - get them out of the house.

Step #4 - Take everyone an a tour of your lovely new home. Show them where everything goes, and the standard of clean that you expect them to maintain for the next several weeks or months. Talk to them about the next phase of preparing your home for sale - maintenance.


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