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Room by Room Interior Preparation
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Entry
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Must be especially inviting for your guests (your potential buyers). Make
certain it is well lit, clean and has nothing laying around either inside or outside. Paint the front door if it
even remotely needs it. |
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If you normally use a back or side entrance to your house, pay particular
attention to the front entry. You rarely see it but this is where the buyers will enter! |
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Living Room or Great Room
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If possible, keep furniture at a bare minimum so that traffic flow is easier
and the room does not appear smaller than it actually is. |
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If bookshelves, curio cabinets, and the like are overflowing with books
and knick-knacks, remove some of them. |
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Family Room or Den
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If this is the room you live in the most, make it look inviting but not
overly lived in. |
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Keep furniture at a minimum but make the room look like a comfortable place
to spend time. |
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Kitchen
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Clean the exterior of all appliances. Clean the oven interior. |
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Clean or replace the stove hood filter. This is often overlooked, usually
dirty and greasy, and looked at by a lot of buyers. |
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Clean cabinet faces. Make them shine! |
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Remove all clutter and unnecessary items from countertops and clean all
countertops and backsplashes thoroughly. |
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Clean vinyl or ceramic floor. |
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If you have ceramic tile elsewhere in the kitchen, pay particular attention
to the grout. |
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Bedrooms
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Remove all clutter. If you don't need it, store it or pitch it! |
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Arrange or remove furniture to maintain good traffic flow through rooms.
Remember, there may be three or four people in each group that walk through your house. |
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Bathrooms
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Make sure all bulbs are working and have the highest wattage available and
safe for each fixture. Brighter is better! |
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Clean all ceramic tile. Check the grout for cleanliness and deterioration. |
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If faucets drip, fix them. |
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Thoroughly clean sinks and tubs. If rust spots are on the porcelain, attempt
to remove them. |
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Remove any evidence of mildew from the shower and bathtub. Products are
available that spray on and quickly kill the mildew. |
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Basements
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If the basement is damp or musty, consider a dehumidifier. |
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Give prospective buyers room to move around. Clutter...well, you know the
drill! |
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Garages
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Remove all junk: broken tools, old car parts, toys from the 1960's, etc. |
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If floor has oil marks, clean it (cleaning solutions are available at most
home improvement stores and work with a normal garden hose). |
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Miscellaneous
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Replace the furnace filter. |
