Preparing Your Home for Sale Like a Pro is Easy – Just Follow This Guide

Preparing Your Home for Sale Checklist

Getting organized to move and getting your residence ready for the real estate market share many important tasks. In both cases – starting from the top is essential:

• Create an extensive household inventory list and use the gizmo that will ease this process for you,
• Declutter carefully and clean meticulously one room at a time,
• Get ready for donating and selling some of the unwanted items that are still in good condition to obtain a tidy and visually pleasing space with ease,
• Pay attention to those areas inside and around your property that need some minor fixes, remodeling, or renewing,
• Never let the significance of a positive first impression slip from your mind – do everything to make your accommodation look spacious and neat.

The lack of punctuality and proper organization is one of the prime long-distance moving mistakes. And the same rule applies to preparing your house for sale.

Make a House Inventory List

Before you take any further action, you must know what you own. Sounds easy, right? Well, the moment you start to canvass the drawers and rarely used cabinets, you’ll see how wrong you were. And unfortunately, if you let these slips go untreated, your prospective purchaser might also fall under the wrong impression.

That is why making an inventory list is paramount. It helps you grasp what you want to keep, what to toss, shred, or recycle, and what to give away. That way, your relocation will be less complicated, you will reduce the costs, and whoever is interested in purchasing your residence will be pleasantly surprised.

This is what your plan should be like:

• Prioritize all the way and stick to your own agenda,
• Focus on the essentials first – keep them organized and easily accessible,
• Think of a tailored-made system that works well for you,
• Look over your to-do list whenever you need to – print it.

When you see what you’ll be dealing with when decluttering, cleaning, and packing, start gathering the boxes, papers, wrap, and everything else. Choose the best-sized boxes before you start getting packed and get all of the necessary packing materials and supplies on time to avoid additional tension and half-finished preparations.

Apps and Tricks for Taking Inventory Before House Showing and Relocating

Even those who must relocate last-minute should create extensive to-do lists and make sure to adjust the tasks to the tight schedule. And since time is of the essence, it would be best to rely on some tech tools. That way, they would speed up the process of tracking and cataloging the goods in their homes. Downloading an inventory app is often the easiest way to handle these assignments before acquiring cross-country moving services. And more importantly – before the interested party arrives to have a glance at your household.

Here is a useful video that could put you into perspective regarding one of the most popular applications for organization and their usage:

Declutter and Clean Room by Room

What is a rule of thumb when it comes to decluttering? You must start with the most jammed areas. Yes, we are talking about the improvised storage each household has. How to declutter before you open up your doors for the interested parties? Here’s what you must know:

• Give up to three days to purging your garage,
• Move on to the bedrooms and give it up to 5 days,
• Leave the extra two days for your kitchen and bathroom.

You must immediately dispose properly of anything expired or hazardous. Go through every drawer and cabinet to check up on your products. If you find any appliances or devices that have been out of service for more than you’d like to admit – eliminate them as well. Mismatched socks or coffee mugs – you know the drill.

Still, don’t forget that not all of those goods are ready to become garbage. The ones that can still be put to use can be sold or donated. And while you are at it – get the cleaning supplies to scrub and rinse everything when the unwanted items are dealt with. Not only will it help you move smoothly, but it will immediately show and help you impress potential buyers.

Boost the Impression by Donating or Selling all Unused Items

Donating online or in-person and selling unused and unwanted goods is an excellent way to gain more space, have a better insight into your belongings, pack for a move, and showcase your property to interested parties. However, these actions need careful preparation. You must strive to properly organize things for donation before you move out.

When you choose to sell some of your belongings online or on-site, you should learn how to estimate the value of household goods. Pay attention to the possessions that:

• Aren’t in good condition and should be recycled or disposed of,
• No longer serve a purpose or don’t match the style of your new home, but are in fairly good shape. Those can (and should) be donated,
• You don’t intend to keep it but can bring you an extra buck on a garage or yard sale.

Selling and donating household goods will help you save money on moving costs. You will have fewer boxes and containers to pack and load onto a long-distance moving truck. And lastly, it will help you depersonalize your living areas faster and provide a better experience for visitors.

Pro tip: Consider boxing up and saving for later some old linens of sofa covers. They will be handy when you decide to pack massive objects, pieces of furniture, or even some of the electronics.

Showcase Your Tidy Storage Areas – Garage, Basement, and Attic

When it comes to packing your garage, basement, or attic, things get tricky. Whether you are long-distance moving or not, these spaces require occasional touch-ups – to say the least. Especially when you plan to sell your property. It is not difficult to spot the loose outdated objects in these areas. Start to gather them and separate them into piles. What can you gain? A lot, starting with some extra space you will unquestionably use later.

It’s the simplest way to preserve your boxes and containers, besides using a storage unit provided by a cross-country moving company.
And surely – keeping the storage areas clean and tidy will come in handy when the moment comes to finally move your garage and basement stuff.

Take Extra Care of the Kitchen and Bathroom Before the Buyer Arrives

Before your potential buyers arrive, you must leave at least two days to arrange these chambers. These two rooms are usually the most significant ones – whether we like to admit it or not. Most people actually commence their days by paying a visit to the bathroom. As for the kitchen, it is known that 36% of Americans prepare homemade meals daily. And these are the main reasons to deep clean, polish, and brush up these spaces. Thorough cleaning and occasional sorting shouldn’t only accompany the plans for selling your property. You must always keep the kitchen and bathroom neat.

Kitchen counters and cabinets are usually filled with fragile items that need careful handling. Packing your kitchen items requires planning and meticulous organization. Use some proven packing and moving hacks to prepare your kitchen and bathroom for agents and other visitors.

Other Essential Things to Keep in Mind Before the House Showing Day

When people get ready for the house showing day, they frequently slip these tasks from their minds. Here is a reminder for you:

• Keep an eye on the most commonly forgotten things and important documents,
• Collect the bills and warranties for the household appliances,
• Look carefully at your driveway and the area near your front door and take your time to remove any dirt or obstacles,
• Clean your roof.

When all of these assignments are successfully fulfilled, you can google your address. Take a peek at how your residence looks online and put yourself into your potential purchasers’ perspective. Ultimately, you will have to remove any decorations and objects that feel far too personal and can distract your buyer.

Depersonalize Inside and Outside – Keep Your Family Belongings Away

Do you like to collect memorabilia? Does every corner of your space scream about your interests? As stylish and unique as it might be, it’s never a good idea to leave your household that way when the real estate agent presents a potential buyer with your property.

Depersonalization implies packaging and storing a lot of things. It starts with packing books and any artwork that feels unconventional. Take another glance at the interior and see if there’s anything else that might be considered as a deal-breaker. Now, let’s see about those garden issues.

When going through your backyard clutter, you will most likely encounter some unused tools and gardening equipment. In addition to it, you will run into an item or two that actually belongs there. However, they might ruin the impression. Avoid it easily:

• Pack your grill and remove everything that accompanies it,
• Remove your garden gnomes and similar ornaments,
• Get rid of the toys, balls, and other objects,
• Remove any sign of pets,
• Remove bird feeders.

Pay attention to the blankets and pillows that often lie around your bedroom and living room.
Put away your Christmas ornaments and all decorations. Although they have their charms and make your space more vivid and cheerful, they might distract your buyers. Having great taste doesn’t necessarily mean you will attract the right crowd and collect positive feedback. Keep your goals in order.

Lights and Smells – Pay Attention to the Impression

Once you have mastered decluttering and the easy ways to pack, you should add the final touches to your good work and smitten any buyer. Be well aware of the two seemingly minor aspects everyone will somehow catch up on – the lights and the smells. You should open up curtains and blinds to let the daylight enter your residence. It will seem brighter, cleaner, newer, and larger. Nearly all buyers will be under a positive impression.

Now, what about the smell? There are many things that can put off a successful sale, but this one takes the cake. Those who move with pets might not mind the smells left behind by your furry buddies. Still, you shouldn’t let them get used to the slightly unpleasant senses. Here’s how to eliminate odors:

• Keep the windows open 30 minutes minimum before the party arrives,
• Remove your pets from the areas they will visit,
• Box up your shoewear, gym bags, and equipment, as well as the rest of the goods with an odor,
• Don’t prepare any meals on that day,
• Get some scented candles for the place.

These simplistic actions will help you produce a fantastic impression right from the start.

Put These Preparing Your Home for Sale Tips to Use

Regardless of one’s reasons to move, if they’re looking into contacting a real estate agent and buying a property, they won’t settle for just about anything. They will aim to get a new home that matches their budget and seems safe, clean, and pleasant. You must follow these steps to grant them that experience. In a competitive real estate market like today’s, you must stay on top of the situation. And if all this sorting, eliminating clutter, and packaging seems a bit overwhelming, you can always seek professional long-distance moving and packing services. That way, you’ll be all set for your relocation day, and you’ll save yourself a substantial amount of time.