Making a decision to sell your house is one that should not be taken lightly. You are talking about major changes that will impact you and the people in your household. Your house has been lived in for many years. It is time that you and your family start disconnecting yourselves from the house and get ready for the next stage.
Look around your living environment. No doubt, you see rooms full of personal items and things that are all part of your everyday routines. Get your family together and talk about packing up some of those personal items that you do not use everyday. This can accomplish two things. It will jumpstart the packing for your big move. It will also remove a lot of clutter from your house that are unattractive to potential buyers.
Get a supply of moving boxes and start packing things in an orderly fashion. Categorize your belongings and clearly label each box on all four sides. Think about only leaving the basic essentials unpacked until after you have sold the house. Everything else should be packed at this stage.
When you have done as much packing and decluttering as possible, give your house a thorough cleaning, from top to bottom. It is important to notice anything that is broken which you should fix. Small fixes like broken lampshade or a cracked tile can be fixed with minimal investment.
If you have something big that will be expensive to fix, you should weigh the pros and cons about fixing it now. Will you be able to recoup the cost of repairs by including it in the sales price of your house? Let's say that your carpeting has some stains on it that cannot be removed. You would not want to change your flooring now because you won't be around long enough to enjoy it. And the future buyer may have his own ideas about flooring materials. So, it may be best to leave the flooring as is. Just clean it the best you can. If a fix is very costly, and it is not structural, you may want to leave it alone.
Small details like hand prints on the mirrors and windows with spots on them are noticed by buyers who are looking for the perfect house. Keep those shelves dusted. Wipe down your bathroom fixtures after you have used them to remove water spots. When your house is up on the market, agents who represent buyers can show your house at any time with prior permission from your selling agent. So, if you are at work most of the day, make sure that your house is immaculate before you close the door behind you.
Each room should only have the basic pieces of furnishings and some accessories to accent the room. The walls can have a few decorative hangings. This keeps each room simple and clean looking.
Envision how your house looks like when a buyer walks into the door. Just keep in mind that you want make a good impression as you are staging your house.