REALTORS sell their houses too!

I'm a Realtor. I've been in the business of marketing and selling homes for over 30 years. As a real estate professional, I know what it takes to get a home ready for buyers and advise Sellers accordingly. But when I'm the Seller, suddenly, the task of preparing the home for sale is daunting. Oh, sure, I'm all about leaving my house ready for a showing before heading off to work. But it goes deeper than that.

As a seller, here are some of the things to do to get my house in super competitive shape.

I started at the front of my driveway and walked it. Pressure cleaning needed. The mailbox needs to be wiped down and shine. Landscaping? Trimming for sure, mulch, the grass needs fertilizer and edging, some flowers will add a little charm. I walked to the front door and stood at the entry way. I have potted plants on the front porch so I make sure the dead leaves are removed, the porch is swept and the spider webs are cleared away. Look up to make sure there's not a gazillion dead bugs around the light. Well, bugs happen. My thought is if the entry way looks clean and inviting, it builds up the anticipation of the buyer as the Realtor opens the door.

Ok, the obvious is obvious - the house is clean, vacuumed, smells nice, wastebaskets emptied and furniture dusted. But wait! They are going to open the closets! Not that a buyer can't judge the size of a closet without opening it, but it's human nature - they will open it. I organized my clothes closet to type and color and put those jackets and sweaters that I only wear twice a year in one of those space saver bags. It looks good! All the towels in the linen closet are aligned and orderly. I placed a small air freshener in the closet and threw out the stuff that's been sitting there for years.

I know a nice size pantry is a feature buyers look for. So I make it look like I'm one of the most organized persons on the planet. When I did this, I recycled cereal and cracker boxes, threw out expired items, organized my shelves like it was a grocery store and frankly, I'm proud to say, "Go ahead, Open my Pantry!" I also wiped down all my cabinets, cleaned the oven and moved the toaster oven off the counter to enhance the plentiful work space. Reminds me, I have to organize the spice cabinet. Must declutter, must declutter is my new mantra.

We had a home inspection conducted on our home before we put it on the market so we knew in advance what would be discovered by the buyer's home inspector. It was worth every penny! Instead of assuming everything is running perfectly, we know things are running perfectly or at least will be by the time we have the contract.

Last weekend we painted, put new hardware on the back door, cleared the garage, replaced a light bulb upstairs and planted flowers. The A/C guy gave us the thumbs up and the water heater was replaced. Mulch is going down today with more work ahead for the weekend. And the car that has driven by and slowed down in front of our house two days in a row just drove by again. Hmmmmm, my REALTOR instincts tell me a showing appointment is on it's way!