When your home is on the market, you want it to look great for every showing, but keeping up with the cleaning when you have other responsibilities, like work and family, can seem daunting. That’s why we’ve compiled 5 of our best tips for being ready for every showing.
1. Identify the areas of the home that get dirty the fastest. Consider high traffic areas, locations where belongings are dumped at the end of the day (near the door, on the dining room table, on your child’s floor, etc.), and furniture with electronics that attract a lot of dust. Before you leave for work or whenever you get a call for a showing, go down this list and make sure each area is clean and tidy. Your tasks should also include:
A. Emptying trash cans
B. Opening blinds/curtains to let in light
C. Closing toilet lids
D. Hampering dirty clothes so they’re out of sight
E. Washing and putting away dirty dishes
F. Storing away personal belongings, including bills, mail, and medicine
G. Scooping pet excrements in the back yard or litter box (if applicable)
2. Utilize bins and baskets to quickly hide clutter. Do you have soap and sponges you like to keep out on the kitchen counter? Put them in a basket, so you can quickly hide them under the sink. Have a child or dog, who like to play in the living room? Buy a couple large baskets to hide their toys inside. This approach helps to keep everything looking tidy with a limited schedule.
3. Keep a caddy of your go-to cleaning supplies. Wipes and Magic Erasers do wonders to make clean-up fast! Put them in a plastic caddy, along with other essentials like a toilet cleaner, and you can quickly go room-to-room as you work down the list you created in step 1. An electric sweeper can also do wonders if you have hardwood or tile flooring.
4. Assign tasks. There’s a good chance you’re not the only one creating the dirt and clutter in your home. So, assign part of your cleaning list to everyone who lives in the home and is old enough to partake. Even just picking up will ease the headache of maintaining the whole home.
5. If you’re in the home right before the showing, turn all the lights on and open the interior doors, so the buyers feel welcome to tour the home. Also, make sure the home is a comfortable temperature. This is especially important if you have a smart thermostat programmed to turn the heat down at certain times during the day.
Of course, you should also have a weekly cleaning schedule, which includes vacuuming, dusting, and wiping down surfaces in the low traffic areas. But, if you keep to the tips above, that shouldn’t take much time at all. Also, realize that if you work with your Wilmington area Realtor to choose a fair market price for your home, you shouldn’t be keeping up this schedule for very long.
Thinking of selling your Wilmington area home? Give us a call at (910) 202-2546! We’d love to tell you about the services we provide home sellers.
