Are you planning to put your house on the market this spring? Now is the time to start getting your home ready for sale if you want it to move quickly.
There’s a lot that you can do to aid in the selling of your home—and it starts by cleaning and decluttering it. Forty percent of realtors say that home staging can make a huge difference in the buyer’s view of your home, and this definitely includes how clean your home is.
If you’re wondering how to get your house ready to sell, check out this ultimate guide to getting it ready for potential buyers.
Decluttering Your Home
One of the easiest ways to help the future buyer of your home see themselves living there is to remove all the clutter. Potential buyers who are truly interested in your house will want to see every inch of it, from the space in the cabinets to the shelves in each closet.
We all want the homes we choose to be well organized, with lots of storage space and a peaceful atmosphere. But if your closets are crammed with too many boxes of Christmas ornaments or there are way too many dishes packed into each cabinet in the kitchen, a potential buyer won’t feel like they will have enough space to properly organize and store their belongings.
When you’ve decluttered, however, closets and cabinets look bigger, kitchen countertops look larger; it makes your home feel like somewhere a future buyer would want to live.
While you should go over every item in your home and decide what to keep, pack, donate or store until after the sale, here are the starting points according to Apartment Therapy for where you should focus on removing clutter:
- Storage rooms and closets: These rooms will appear larger if there is more space and less “stuff” in the room.
- The entryway: How will your potential buyers feel the second they walk in your home? Clear away unused shoes, coats and clutter that lives near the door
- Hallways: Clutter on the walls can make a hallway feel cramped. While you cherish your pictures and framed art, a hallway will seem larger without items hanging on the wall.
- Living room: Your living room is an important space in the selling of your home. Remove stacks of magazines, pare down the things that live on your bookshelves and remove excess table accessories for a sleek, calming effect in the living room.
- Kitchen: We keep a lot of things in the kitchen. Make your countertops look more expansive by removing appliances and other items on the counters, and really spend some organizing and clearing the cabinets and the pantry. What is actually essential to keep in there? Don’t forget to clean out the fridge and the cabinet under the sink as well— these are prime spaces that can look cluttered if you aren’t careful.
- Closets: Box up off-season clothes, donate what you won’t wear anymore and declutter the clothes in your closet. If there is space in a closet for your clothes to “breathe,” it will seem more spacious and give the appearance of ample storage space.
- Bathroom clutter: Between the countertops, cabinets, drawers and medicine cabinet, there are a lot of spaces in the bathroom that collect clutter. Organize everything so that potential buyers can visualize what they would do with the space, and don’t forget to remove the clutter that can live in the shower or tub too—extra shampoo bottles, loofahs or children’s tub toys.
- The laundry room: Put all cleaning supplies away and keep the floor spotless. If you create a space in which it appears that household chores are a breeze, your home will seem like an effortless place to live.
When clearing out clutter, keep only what’s essential to live in your home for two months. You may even want to rent a storage unit. Pack things in storage or put them away so that you can show buyers how peaceful and clutter-free your home can be.
Do a Deep Clean
How clean is your house? If your house has dust bunnies or smudges on light switch plates, it won’t have the same effect as a home that is free of dirt and grime. A clean home has added value, seems brighter and fresher, and will seem like less of a “fixer-upper” if there’s no dust on the windowsill or along the baseboards. Selling a house can be much, much easier if it’s been thoroughly cleaned.
So where should you start if you’re doing a deep clean on your entire home? What needs to be done? You may want to hire a professional cleaning crew to help you with all the work that goes into a deep clean. Here’s where to start:
- Wash windows inside and out.
- Vacuums carpets, and spot clean or shampoo wherever necessary.
- Wipe down baseboards, moldings and cabinet fronts.
- Dust blinds, shutters and bookshelves.
- Dust wall art and decor.
- Clean the oven, stovetop and fridge (and replace drip pans if needed).
- Clean and dust ceiling fans and light fixtures.
- Refresh shower caulking and grout.
You also will want to do the following things each day to stay ready for any showings:
- Dust and polish furniture and upholstery.
- Vacuum carpets and rugs, and sweep and mop floors.
- Wipe down hard surfaces and mirrors in the bathrooms.
- Wipe down your stovetop, kitchen sink and backsplash.
Move-Out House Cleaning
Once you’ve sold your home and it’s time to move everything out, are you prepared to do the move-out cleaning as well? Chances are you are already excited about your new house and you’re thinking about all the ways you can make it feel like a home, not about wiping out the shelves in the fridge or cleaning your old shower floor.
If this is the case, you should consider hiring someone to take care of your move-out cleaning. Moving is a massive undertaking, which is why our team at S&G Cleaning Services is ready to help. Not only do we offer regularly scheduled and occasional residential cleaning services, but we are also happy to take care of the move-out cleaning for you too.
Let us help you get your home ready to sell and make the move-out process that much easier. There are so many items on your to-do list when you are preparing to move. Let us cross a few off. Here’s what you should expect. Request an estimate today.
