Get your home Show-house ready

Made the decision to sell your home? Now, it’s time to get it show-house ready.

It takes a lot to get your home show-ready and keep it that way until it’s sold, especially with kids in the house. But many families do it every year, and you can too!

Use this checklist to prepare your home for sale…

Before Listing Your Home

Homes that look better, sell better. By cleaning and staging your home before listing, you ensure a great first impression for buyers viewing your home in person or online.

• Declutter: Empty bookshelves, cabinets, cupboards, garages, and playrooms of everything you can live without. Decluttering makes your home look spacious and makes it easier to keep neat while your home is for sale.
• Organise: Organise what’s left so your home looks neat and is easy to clean. Pay special attention to kids’ areas, which are usually messy. You may want to buy storage bins or baskets where you can quickly hide toys so you spend less time worrying the mess.
• Deep clean: Use a professional cleaning company, like QClean, to do a once-off deep clean This will make your life so much easier in the long run and ensure your house is spotless.
• Repair: Make minor repairs around the house, like filling holes in walls and tightening loose door knobs, doors and taps.  Talk to your agent before investing in major repairs like a new roof.
• Stage: Rearrange furniture and get rid of furniture that’s old, tattered, or taking up too much space. If your home looks bare, use pillows, framed prints, and other inexpensive decorations to add interest.

Maintenance

Once the major projects are complete, you’re ready to list! However, your work isn’t done. In order to make a positive first impression on each and every buyer, you need to perform cleaning maintenance

• Kitchens, living areas and bathrooms: Keep everything neat and tidy on a daily basis so you don’t have to scramble when buyers are on their way. Wash plates and put them away; wipe down the bathroom and shower after use; put toys and electronics away.
• Bedrooms: Make beds and clean clutter off dressers and bedside tables daily. Keep clothing off the floor or buy a second basket for clean clothes waiting to be put away.

What to Clean Before Showings

If you’ve done everything right, cleaning up before a last-minute showing is easy. When your agent calls saying a buyer wants to see your home in 30 minutes, there are only a few things left to do.

• Tidy up: Wipe down tables and countertops, store countertop appliances in cupboards, and shut toilet lids and closet doors. Do a last-minute check for toys and clutter and toss anything you find into storage bins.
• Get rid of smells: Empty dirtbins and litter boxes, then do a quick sweep for other smells. Use a subtle air freshener or open windows to clear out lingering smells.
• Brighten: Open curtains or blinds and turn on the lights throughout the home, including exterior lights. If you have a bowl of fresh fruit or a vase of flowers to put out, do that now.

Once everything is done, all that’s left to do is pack up the family and head out. You can confidently leave your showing in the hands of your agent knowing that you’ve done everything possible to make a great impression on buyers.

Hopefully, all your hard work will pay off and your showing will end in an offer to buy!

Finally, you also need to ensure that your home follows all protocols when it comes to Covid-19 protection, so ensure you have hand sanitiser available for viewers and agents and if you do have an open house, request the agent to keep traffic minimal and ask that viewers touch as few surfaces as possible.

Give QClean a call on 086 11 22 55 7, or email info@q-clean.co.za for a free, no-obligation quote to do a once-off deep hygiene clean.