OK... One more time....

We've talked about it before.  I keep seeing so many houses that look like one big unmade bed.... YA HAVE TO MAKE IT SHINE!

There are too many houses out there to choose from for you, as a seller, to think you don't need to get your home up to showing state!

Clear the shelves and counters.  Really? a half liter of Mountain Dew?

Empty the trash. Don't leave a full waste basket!

Pick up the living room.

Make the beds.

Shoes? strewn all over? Nice. NOT!

And the bathrooms! Clean the mirrors. Toilet seats down. Towels at a minimum... not hanging over the shower rod.  Pick up around the sink and make it look like you have lots of room there to shave and brush your teeth! I think you know about an open tube of toothpaste too, right?

Get rid of out of season clothes. ( take 'em to your mom's house if you need to!)

Mow the lawn.

Clean windows.

Smudges around door knobs and cabinet handles?  Scrub them!

Porch full of shoes 'n stuff?  Nope... clean entryway.

Same goes for stairwells.  That is NOT where you put everything!

Pets?  Take em for a walk.  And I love pets... but a lot of buyers don't. Especially the way they might smell!

Kids? Don't tell them to sit in front of the TV in the family room and be quiet!  Take them out for ice cream!

Don't leave your mail out!  Even if it's neatly stacked!

Extension cords should be nowhere to be seen!

Don't stuff everything in the closets either!  Did you think they wouldn't look????

Loose door handles are a sure sign you don't take care of other stuff as well.

Look up. At the vent in the bathroom.  Fuzzy looking?  Clean it!

Pictures and magnets all over the fridge?  Not good.  Get rid of em!

Here's an idea... set the dining room table like you're getting ready to entertain the Queen of England... a fresh vase of flowers might help too.

Come on folks... I hear that some agenst feel like you should invest 1% of your asking price into making the house look better.

Sorry don't mean to nag, but I've got buyers that are questioning whether or not you're serious about selling.  And when they go into one of those houses that has been set up properly, they say, "Wow, Steve... nice place here!"...

Just because it's sold doesn't mean you can let your guard down...

You know, we go through a lot of effort making our homes ready to show don't we?  The reason is obvious.  We're gonna have company.  Total strangers coming through our house! In fact, strangers that need to be impressed, because they just might be the buyers.

So, as any good agent would do, we tell our clients to "unclutter", "paint", "throw out", "simplify", "stage"... all that stuff.  Terry Watson, renown advice giver said at a recent seminar I was at, "If I can smell it, I can't sell it!"

So depending on your circumstances, you had to endure a period of time where you felt like you were living in Buckingham Palace.  Can't put your feet up... no underwear on the floor... make the bed!... toilet seat down... get that stuff off the counter.

But, now your house is sold. Finally!  We can relax!

WAIT!

We've got two more hurdles.  There is probably going to be home inspection (sometimes called a structural inspection)... then there's probably going to be an appraisal.  Both of these events are very very VERY critical.  So do yourself a huge favor.  Set up your home as if it was a first time showing to a potential buyer!  Yup! that's right.  Because the person who comes in to do the home inspection and the person doing the appraisal is just as impressionable as any buyer.

So make it shine.  Everytime someone related to the outcome comes in... then, you can relax!  For more reasons than one!

There you have it!  Hope this helps you.  Like me on Facebook if you get a chance and if you want to make a comment on this or any of my blogs... have at it!  Rock on friends!