Spring Cleaning, Listing Edition: How to Prepare Your Home for Sale

Spring is when most of us work on getting our homes looking and feeling refreshed as we put a wrap on winter. But if you plan on listing your house this season, this is also the best time to prepare it for sale!

The following are five things you can do while spring cleaning to get your home ready to hit the market:

1. Clear the Clutter

Anyone touring your home will have a much more favorable opinion if it’s neat and tidy. Naturally, the easiest way to do this is to clear out the clutter.

If you’re a certified packrat, there’s no reason to worry just yet—getting rid of clutter doesn’t necessarily mean you have to throw out everything you’ve collected. In fact, some types of clutter can just as easily be put away, stored, or donated.

With that said, the clutter around your home will likely fall into three different categories:

Things You Can Store

These are items you have probably used somewhat recently, but haven’t gotten around to putting back away—think pens, books, and seasonal decorations around the home. To ensure things stay tidy, implement a storage system that will give these types of loose ends a permanent home. A filing cabinet, drawers, bins, or a spare closet will all work.

Things You Can Trash

As you might expect, items that fall into this category are no longer needed. Grab the garbage bin and be on the lookout for the following:

• The last thing you want potential homebuyers to notice is a strange smell coming out of your kitchen, so start by clearing out any expired food from your refrigerator and pantry.
• You’ll also want to get rid of old junk mail and outdated newspapers or magazines. A shredder is a good investment and will help you efficiently (and safely) get rid of old documents you no longer need, like previously-paid bills or pay stubs.
• If you have any broken items, now is the time to ditch them. Unless you plan on having them repaired anytime soon, they’re not worth keeping.

Things You Can Donate

If you bought or were gifted something that hasn’t been used within the past year, it’s probably safe to donate it to Goodwill or another reputable nonprofit organization.

You’ll be surprised how much more spacious your home appears after removing the clutter. Potential buyers will be sure to notice, too!

2. Have Your Home Deep Cleaned

Since you’re spring cleaning, you’re probably already elbow-deep in cleaning supplies as you take on each room of your home. However, it’s also worth hiring a cleaning service to take care of the crevices and corners we often forget about, including baseboards, bathroom vents, and the areas underneath the couch and refrigerator.

Get Things Smelling Like Spring

When you live in a home long enough, it’s easy to become accustomed to the scents it collects. However, that same smell may not be appealing to everyone—including potential buyers.

So open up the windows and let the fresh air in. Air fresheners with neutral scents also work throughout the home, but make sure they’re not too strongly scented; a powerful smell—even a good one—can turn away buyers just as quickly as bad ones!

3. Pack Up Personal Belongings

You want to give prospective buyers the ability to envision their life in your home; if they can see themselves living here, they will likely make an offer. Of course, this is harder to imagine if all they see are pictures of you and your family in every room of the house.

Because of this, you’ll want to remove any of your personal belongings or mementos from view. Clear off any counters and make sure clothes are put away neatly (buyers will likely be opening up your closets to assess the space available, so keep this in mind).

You can also take this time to pack up or store any items that will be moving with you to your new home (i.e., bookshelves, etc.). This way, buyers have a realistic idea of what comes with the purchase of the home.

An added benefit: Packing these items up early will make the moving process much more manageable once your home sells!

4. Rearrange Furniture

Now is the best time to move around your furniture to prepare for staging later. This way, you can clean under or behind any moved items with ease.

However, the ultimate goal of rearranging your furniture is to give buyers the appearance of a highly spacious home. You also want them to be able to move around easily when they walk through your house.

With that said, you may find you have to keep some furniture pieces in storage if they take up too much space or block entryways.

5. Curb Appeal is Real!

First impressions matter—and the outside of your house is the first thing prospective buyers will see—so you’ll need to clean up the home’s exterior and yard too. Pay attention to these areas:

• Front Door – Add some subtle decor around your front door to make the home look more inviting, like a welcome mat or plants. Give the door a paint job if the current coat has faded or has chips.
• Front and Backyard – Hire a landscaper to clean up, mow the yard, and treat the grass so it looks bright and healthy.
• Driveway and Walkways – If you have concrete driveways and walkways, patch up any apparent cracks. Use a pressure washer to clean off any debris from the surface as well as your porch. If your driveway is gravel, make sure it’s spread evenly.

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The spring cleaning season is the perfect time to tackle tasks and prepare your home for sale. By following the above tips, you can help your residence look its best—not just for you, but for the next homeowner too.

Not sure if you’ve checked off everything on this list? You’re in luck! The Ussery Group partners with professionals including home stagers, experienced photographers, and even drone pilots to ensure your home appeals to buyers and is shown to its best advantage when it’s time to put it on the market.

Are you ready to list your home? Contact our team to learn more about how we can help you get the best price for your property, while also enjoying a seamless transaction process.

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