How to Keep Your Home Organized While Selling

One of the hardest things to do once your home is listed is to keep it 'ready' for those last minute showings.  Typically you will have removed a lot of excess items in preparation for the home hitting the market.  Use this to your advantage and have your family help you to keep it as organized as possible.  


Appointments (or people interested in viewing your home) do not always come at convenient times.  Your children have pulled out a thousand toys, the cats left food on the floor, the dishes weren't washed before you started another project, your son had an accident in the bathroom, your significant other threw laundry on the floor.....the list goes on.  

The showing is happening in 30 minutes and what do you do?  

Items to have on hand:  

3-4 Bathroom Totes with Handles
Clorox Wipes
Trash Bags
Swifter
Vacuum

I recommend cleaning off your bathroom counters and keeping everything in the tote that you would need like toothpaste, mouthwash, towels etc.  Keep the nice "show" towels hanging and use the towel in the tote.  Keep a pack of clorox wipes in the tote as well.  Appointment?  A quick wipe down is all you need, without running room to room.  When little Johnny gets out of the bath in the evenings, take a wipe and quickly wipe around the trouble spots in the tub.  Rinse.  A moment of time, but worth it if they look in the tub.  

The kitchen benefits just as much from the tote and the wipes.  Keep all of your sink items such as soap, scrubbers, sponges, and wipes in the tote.  Don't have time for a deep clean?  Just wipe up the messes and counters with the Clorox Wipes and dispose.  Easy as pie.  Dishes can easily be put into the dishwasher.  One tip is to always empty the dishwasher before you go to bed, and quickly reload before walking out the door in the morning.  This way you are never caught with those breakfast dishes in the sink.  

The swifter can quickly be used on your hard surfaces.  I recommend always replacing your swifter sheet the moment you are done sweeping.  This way, you don't even need to take two minutes to replace it.  

Keep your vacuum ready in a location easy to get to.  Always quickly go through the main pathways, this only takes a few minutes.  

Johnny made an unbelievable mess in the playroom?  I would scoop it all up into a trash bag and place in garage rather than stress about making the room perfect.  Clutter looks unkempt......a trash bag in the garage does not.  

What ideas or tips do you have?