Selling Your Home Soon? Tidy UP!

Guest Post by Clean Conscience

Selling Your Home Soon? Tidy Up!

Have you been planning to sell your home? You’ve probably already contacted a real estate agent to take care of business for you and determine your property’s pre-listing value, right? Whether or not you have, you may want to give your home a quick walkthrough to gauge its rating on the overall cleanliness scale.
In case you’re asking, here’s why: Real estate professionals say that cleanliness is one of the biggest factors that help in determining your home’s pre-listing value AND one of the most inexpensive ways to increase it in a short span of time. Sound impossible? Barely. Even if potential buyers put a premium on other variables such as the size of the home, location, and type of neighborhood, they will ALSO be looking for a place that’s been well-maintained.
Want to go and check how clean the important nooks and crannies of your house are? Here is a helpful infographic from Clean Conscience which pinpoints seven key areas in your home and what to take in consideration when getting them all tidied up. Take a look:

​Three out of the seven areas discussed in the infographic above are considered priority areas, and these are the entryway/living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Here are some additional tips on keeping these spots as tidy as possible for when your next buyer arrives to visit.
ENTRYWAY/LIVING ROOM

• Children’s/pets toys may become very tricky to keep away, especially if time is scarce. Keep an empty box or basket nearby so you can quickly put the unnecessary clutter away when needed. Make sure you’d also be able to keep this box/basket away neatly, like under a table or inside a closet.
• Maintaining a carpeted floor? Be mindful of the stains it might have accumulated over the years and get rid of them as best you can. Floors with a wooden finish tend to discolor as well, so you may want to polish them to achieve a nice , clean look.

KITCHEN

• Don’t keep leftover food in the kitchen for very long, especially the ones which spoil easily. These tend to leave a scent that can sometimes stick to surfaces. When disinfecting counters, sinks and drains, consider using disinfectants which don’t have overpowering smells as some people find very strong scents offensive to their senses.

BATHROOM

• When it comes to bathrooms, molds, mildew, and stains are your enemies. They quickly accumulate on the tiles as well as the tub (if you have one), so keep in mind to scrub them off as well as you can. Remember: No one wants to take a bath in a moldy shower.
• As much as possible, keep your personal materials out of sight during a buyer visit. This means your toothbrushes, shavers, and other personal hygiene paraphernalia. Keep them somewhere else for the meantime.

When in doubt about the general cleanliness of your home, consider this: Would you, upon seeing the physical state of your property, be willing to buy it if you were in your buyer’s shoes? If the answer is yes, then great job! No doubt you’ll be able to find someone who would be willing to shell out a decent amount of money for your home. But if the answer is no, don’t despair. There’s a reason why this guide was made, after all. Use it to help you tidy up and raise the pre-listing value of your home. Good luck!