1. Don’t Take It Personally – Look around your home and limit the things that are sentimental, but don’t serve a purpose. For example, move the art gallery from the refrigerator into a box and save to use in a scrap book on a rainy day.
   
2. Ticky Tacky – You may love your china cabinet bulging with your eclectic tea cup collection, but others will just see clutter.
   
3. Go Minimalist – Make rooms appear as large as possible by only keeping enough furniture in them to show the room’s purpose. Take extra leaves out of your dining room table.
   
4. Store excess furniture (bookshelves; if your child is not being rocked to sleep anymore, store the glider; maybe even that tea cup cabinet can take a break!).
   
5. Take all clutter off your kitchen counters (stow toasters, coffee makers, and blenders neatly in a cabinet).
   
6. No Hide N’ Go Seek – People love to snoop; and they are entitled to see what kind of cabinet and closet space they will get if they purchase your house. Make sure that those areas are kept well organized, instead of bursting with a shapeless mound of everything you didn’t feel like placing properly.
   
7. Line up spices in order .
   
8. Put loose items in neatly stacked bins.
   
9. Line up shoes.
   
10. Match up your food storage containers; put the lids together in a bin; throw out mismatched containers and lids.
    
11. Clean out the refrigerator – you don’t want your wafting leftovers to play a role in whether your house sells.
    
12. In the bathroom – make sure all toothbrushes are put away and soap dishes are free of bar soap build-up. And, remove any reading materials from the toilet area.
    
13. You CAN take it with you – But if you don’t want there to be any confusion or attempts by buyers to negotiate things like window treatments and chandeliers, take them down and replace them (if you can).
    
14. A side note: now might be a good time to move irreplaceable items (heirlooms, jewelry, antiques) to a safe or have a trusted friend or family member keep them for you. ALL Real Estate Agents use the utmost diligence in bringing only quality people through your home, but every once in a while something may happen and things may go missing. If there is nothing of value to take, nothing of value will be taken.

Overall:

1. Make those minor repairs so that the faucet doesn’t leak, the doors don’t creak, drawers do close all the way, and every lamp lights.
   
2. One of the easiest ways to refresh a house is by putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls! Especially if you have very specific taste – make your home more universally appealing.
   
3. Ditch the moth balls – or anything else that produces a questionable odor.
   
4. Make the house shiny and clean .
   
5. Bleach grout in between tiles if it needs it.
   
6. Clean all windows.
   
7. Scrub the tiles and was the floors.
   
8. Vacuum.
   
9. Dust the fan blades and, yes, even on top of tall furniture – a potential buyer could be 6’4” and looking down on your dirt.
10. Tried and true – try to make sure the house smells yummy, like you’re cooking something special (you can actually bake some cookies or buy a great scented candle).
    
11. Strategically place a nice arrangement – in the kitchen, as a center piece in the dining room, or a little bouquet in a vase in the bathroom .
    
12. You can buy decorative hand towels for the bathroom, or just neatly arrange some that look nice.
    
    
13. Make sure the beds are tidy.

Outside

1. Clear leaves and debris from the front lawn and any shrubbery.
   
2. Trim back overgrown shrubs and bushes.
   
3. If the season permits, plant some easy to maintain, colorful flowers (such as impatiens or marigolds).
   
4. Put a fresh coat of paint on the trim if it needs it.
   
5. If at all possible, power wash the outside of the house.
   
6. Clean the windows from the outside (including the second story ones).
   
7. Make sure the house number is clearly marked on the house or mailbox.
   
8. Make sure your mailbox and/or post are in good shape.
   
9. Keep sidewalk and driveway tidy.
   
10. In the backyard, make sure all loose toys are rounded up and put either in the garage or in a large outdoor storage bin.