How To Prepare Your House For Sale
Elizabeth Weintraub - Your Guide to Home Buying / Selling

Prepping and staging a house. Every seller wants her home to sell fast and bring top dollar. Does that sound good to you? Well, it's not luck that makes that happen. It's careful planning and knowing how to professionally spruce up your home that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks. Here is how to prep a house and turn it into an irresistible and marketable home.

Difficulty: Average / Time Required: Seven to 10 Days

1. Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.
* Say to yourself, "This is not my home; it is a house -- a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.
* Make the mental decision to "let go" of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.
* Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owners!
* Say goodbye to every room.
* Don't look backwards -- look toward the future.

2. De-Personalize. Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers can't see past personal artifacts, and you don't want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can't do that if yours are there! You don't want to make any buyer ask, "I wonder what kind of people live in this home?" You want buyers to say, "I can see myself living here."

3. De-Clutter! People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Consider this: if you haven't used it in over a year, you probably don't need it. If you don't need it, why not donate it or throw it away?
* Remove all books from bookcases.
* Pack up those knickknacks.
* Clean off everything on kitchen counters.
* Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.
* Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.

4. Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets. Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well.
* Alphabetize spice jars.
* Neatly stack dishes.
* Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.
* Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.
* Line up shoes.