7 Steps to Not Kill Your Listing’s Chances at Success

I want to share with you our top seven daily home staging tips or reminders for showing your home while trying to sell it. These are some of the things that we recommend folks do every day prior to leaving the home, whether it be for work or if they actually have a showing that they know is coming. 

There is actually a larger list that I would be happy to send to you. All you have to do is ask for it. We have got the top 20 categories for staging recommendations. There are 20 different places in the home where we can give just general guidance as to what you should be doing to make it ready to show for a buyer so that you can sell for top dollar. If you want that list, send me your contact information using the contact form at the end of this article or shoot me a text at 571-393-1082. Whatever works best for you and we can get you that list over. 

For now, we got the things you should be doing every day, when you leave the house.

1. Make your beds.This one seems like a simple one but you would be surprised how many times we go show a house and the beds look like a disaster. This gets back to the idea that we are showing the house in a condition of where the house is ready to sell and not in a condition where we would actually live in the house. I would be the first to tell you that I don't make my bed every day, but when it comes time to show my house to sell, you better believe that bed is made on a daily basis. This includes the kids' beds. You got to get them on board, too. 
2. Lighting. Make sure when you leave, the house lights are on. All the window blinds are open. Natural light sells guys. So get those blinds open, turn on all the lights. Make that house as bright as possible. Light, and particularly natural light, sells houses. 
3. Toilet lids, close them. Nobody wants to see the inside of your toilet. So, close your toilet lids to just give it a nice, clean appearance in the bathrooms. 
4. Hide the trash cans in the house. Nobody wants to see your old Q-tips in the garbage can in the bathroom. Take those trash cans and stick them underneath the sink and the vanity. Put the kitchen garbage can out of sight. This seems like trivial stuff but it really makes a difference in terms of the overall appeal of the home. 
5. Windex the mirrors. Make sure you are Windexing the mirrors. If you have got little kids running around, no doubt, you are going to have fingerprints all over the place or you get a little bit of toothpaste splatter or something on the bathroom mirror. Just make sure you are Windexing that off guys. Again, make it look super pristine crisp. 
6. Hide the pet items. If you have got pets, hide the pet items such as dog beds, kitty scratch posts, pet toys, kitty litter, etc. Ensure that those are out of sight as much as possible. If you have a basement, like an unfinished part of the basement, it is a great place to put those things. 
7. Take the pets outside the house. For the safety of your pets, if at all possible, take them out of the house. I have had clients that even go so far as to just take the dogs or cats to pet daycare for the day so that there is no risk of inadvertently putting them in danger. If you have kids that are leaving the house from a showing and you have a cat that darts out the door or something like that, nobody wants that. Certainly, you guys least of all. So if you can, take the pets out of the house. 

Those are the tips, sort of every day, how to keep that house ready to show. If you want the full list, all 20 different categories, of tips and tricks (sort of insider tips if you will) on how to prepare a home and stage it, I am happy to send it to you. All you have to do is ask. Reach out to me at 571-393-1082, email [email protected] or fill out the contact information below. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much.