A home buyer should impressed by the cleanliness of your home from the moment they step over the threshold. PERIOD!
While the first step in home staging is decluttering, the second is to be cleaning. Not just “surface clean” either. A seller must DEEP clean the home! Potential home buyers will be assessing your property to determine if it is THEIR dream home. Whose dream includes a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich on the kitchen counter and a dirty cat box in the utility room? Sadly, there are places sellers will overlook when too eager to get their home on the market. Here a few spots to have clean and shining so your listing will be known as where Mr & Mrs Clean reside:
Refrigerators—Clean inside and out! Yes buyers will look INSIDE the refrigerator. Throw out half-eaten food or store in sealed storage containers. Get rid of that moldy bag of cheese that is lodged back behind the drawer. Remove all drawers and shelves and clean until all grime is removed. Take down all notes, photos and drawings from the front door if you have been using as a magnetic bulletin board. If they a If your white refrigerator has discolored, try car wax works to remove the yellowing. Open the doors and check along the inside edge—especially note the rubber molding around the edge where dirt can collect and cause mold.
re not essential, don’t put them back on.
Range/Ovens—Clean your stove from top to bottom, inside and out. Use non-abrasive cleaners to remove all of the stuck on food from the range top. If it is stained and/or damaged, consider replacing the appliance. Clean the microwave and oven. Just like with the fridge, potential buyers will look inside. Don’t use your ovens as extra storage. Buyers will think the oven/microwave doesn’t work!
Bathrooms—Take an honest look at your shower and the flooring around it. If it looks grimy and covered with mildew, it will literally gross out a potential buyer. Remove discolored, cracking caulk and put replace with new, matching silicone. Open the toilet lid and make sure that it is clean inside. Clean out every cabinet and drawer….make sure there is no “DNA” with leftover hair, nail clippings etc. at the bottom.
Walls—Wipe down walls by often used light fixtures--Especially if you have little ones. Also, move that trash bin in the kitchen and towel in the bathroom and check behind. It may require some scrubbing. If the stains cannot be removed, consider repainting.
Basements and Garages—These just cannot be a dumping area for all of the things you don’t know what to do with! Clean them out so that potential buyers can open the doors, walk around and see all the way to the corners. If you have to store some items in your garage or basement, they need to be boxed and stacked neatly with plenty of room for a buyer to see what the foundation looks like.
Litter Boxes and Kennels—Pet areas must be cleaned every day and before every showing. Beautiful homes are not considered if it appears that the pets have destroyed the home. If there is an odor, potential buyers assume that the smells have permeated the floors and walls. If possible, let your pet stay with a trusted friend during the duration of the sale of your home.
Light fixtures and Vents—Look up! Sellers will spend hours on their hands and knees scrubbing the corners and sweeping the floors but forget to look up toward the ceilings. Dirty ceiling fans and light fixtures are commonly overlooked in the frenzy of preparing a home for sale. But home buyers often turn on a fan and several months’ worth of dust bunnies are suddenly airborne. Remove the glass from every light fixture and clean off the grime. Wipe down every blade on every ceiling fan. Vacuum the top of every curtain and drape. Check every corner for cobwebs. Remove every vent whether bathroom or air return and wash in mild soapy water to remove the dust.
So before you have your first showing, take another look around your home from a buyer’s point of view and clean it until it shines!
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