If you have ever sold a home before, then you know that it takes some work behind the scenes to get it ready for the market.  While sometimes you know far in advance that a move is in the future, other times you are not given quite so much time.  To ease some of the stress, try using this checklist to help organize and manage the time you spend preparing your home in Locust Grove for sale.  While you will have to dedicate a lot of time to getting these tasks completed, it will help your home be ready to be listed in thirty days.

Week One

Once you decide it is time to move, the first seven days should be spent laying the groundwork for staging your home.

  • Hire a Realtor®  Interview some local Locust Grove Realtors ® (I happen to know a great one) and select a Realtor® that is best for you.   Here are some interview questions to use.  Share your timeline with the real estate agent.
  • Finalize Your Plans  Talk with your Realtor® about your specific plans for transitioning to your next home.  Are you planning on moving out of your current home before it goes on the market?  Will you stay until it sells? 
  • Get recommendations Ask your Realtor ® to make any recommendations for staging or home improvements that can increase the appeal of your home to buyers.  The recommendations may be removing some furniture from a room or repainting a particular area.  Take note of these recommendations and plan when you will complete them.
  • Contact movers  If you have a definite move out date, then find and schedule movers (or notify all your friends who are going to be paid in pizza).  Remember, the closing day of your home cannot be move out day.
  • Send out an SOS for boxes  When you are moving, there are never too many boxes.  Ask your friends and family if they have any.  Check your local Facebook pages too; I often see people offer up free boxes and packing material.  You can also head to the store to purchase some.
  • Dig out paperwork  If you have recently had any major systems replaced at your home in Locust Grove like the roof, hot water heater, or a.c., then gather all that paperwork and keep it in an easy to access place.  As buyers tour your home, they may ask questions about when the changes were made and if there are any warranties.  Also add in any other documentation like property surveys or septic inspections.
  • Get a spare key   Get a spare key that can be placed in the lockbox so Realtors® can access your home and show it to their clients.
  • Create a space or plan for packed boxes  Over the next few weeks you are going to start packing your belongings.  Find a space in your home in Locust Grove like a garage or basement where these boxes can be neatly stacked.  Consider renting a storage unit to temporarily store the boxes if you do not have a spot in your home.
  • Tackle the bathrooms  I feel a good place to start your move out is the bathroom.  The process of decluttering here will be the same as other spaces in your home.  First take everything out of the cabinets and sort into these categories:  keep in home, keep in storage, donate, trash.  Go through all your items and determine what category it fits into.  Minimize what will return to the cabinets.  Keep only what you will need for the duration of your stay in the home.  For example, can you leave out two sets of towels and pack the rest away?  Give the bathrooms a thorough cleaning.  Replace the shower curtain and bath mats if needed.

Week Two  Declutter, Clean, and Pack

During week two you want to spend a majority of your time decluttering your home to help maximize the space.  Buyers are better able to imagine their own possessions in a home that is neat and organized.  Plan on doing a deep clean of rooms this week and during the following you will just have to do some weekly maintenance.  

  • Kitchen Follow the same system for the bathroom.  Pull everything out of your kitchen cabinets and pantry and pack away things that you aren’t using like small appliances, holiday dishes, or extra dishes.  Start planning meals to use up what you already have in your pantry and refrigerator.  Give the kitchen a deep clean.
  • Dining Room  Examine the space of your dining room (or area) in relation to the size of the table you have.  Remove excessive pieces of furniture that may make it harder to walk around the room.  If you have a hutch, then minimize the amount of items inside and use it as a display for a few dishes rather than storage.  Of course, deep clean the room.
  • Address Your Foyer or Entrance  One of the first impressions of the interior of your home will be at the entrance.  Pick up piles of shoes and coats.  Pack away any off season items.  You can consider adding a couple hooks to the wall to help organize your jackets and put down a shoe mat for showings.  If you have a coat closet, minimize the items inside.
  • Guest Rooms  Add in a room this week that is simpler to declutter.  This might be a spare bedroom or laundry area.  Deep clean this space and declutter.
  • Address Known Repairs  Do you have a dripping kitchen faucet.  Know that the light bulb in the basement is burnt out.  Start addressing these repairs because if you notice it then buyers will too.
  • Make a Donation Run  By now you probably have accumulated a pile of items for donation.  Make a run to your donation center to clear the items out of your home.

Week Three:  Continue to Declutter and Prep for Photos

By week three, you will need to continue to declutter your home in preparation for photography that should happen sometime this week or at the beginning or week four.

  • Update your progress  Confirm with your Realtor® when a photographer is coming to take photographs of your home.  Plan to prioritize decluttering the remaining areas of your home that will be photographed.
  • Bedrooms  It is time to tackle the bedrooms.  In the primary bedroom, you should focus on making the room feel inviting.  Stage the room with just a bed, bedside tables, and a dresser.  Don’t forget to clean out the closet and pack away out of season clothing.  Here are some more tips for staging a primary closet. In a child’s bedroom work on minimizing the amount of toys by using baskets to easily pick up and store items.  Here are some more tips for staging a child’s bedroom.  
  • Home Office/Basement  Spend time decluttering the remaining spaces in your home. Make sure to remove any sensitive information that you might have out in an office. Whether you have a finished or unfinished basement at your home in Locust Grove, make sure to give it some attention too.  
  • Painting  If you need to do any paint touch ups like around doors or need to give a room a refresh, tackle it this week.
  • Staging Recommendations  Remember those staging recommendations your Realtor® gave you?  Do a walk through of your home and make sure that you have made any suggested changes.
  • Follow up with Known Repairs  Complete any repairs on your list this week.
  • Lighting  Having great lighting is important for creating awesome photographs.  Replace any burned out bulbs or switch to a brighter bulb in rooms that are naturally darker.
  • Go outside  Don’t forget about the outside of your home in Locust Grove.  For photographs, make sure that any stray toys are picked up and put away.  Clean up any yard debris.  Add some appeal to the front door with some potted plants or a wreath.

Week Four: the finish line

It has been a lot of work, but your home is almost ready to be listed.  

  • Finish declutter:  Did one room take longer than expected?  Use this week to declutter any room or space that you have not gotten to address.  Prioritize spaces that will be seen in photographs because you can also go back to the others afterwards.
  • Garage spruce:  Work through your garage just like the rest of your home. While buyers may not expect the garage to be spotless, having lots of things on the floor makes them question whether their car will fit inside.
  • Clean floors and carpets  Use a carpet cleaner to freshen up your floors.  Ban children from walking into certain rooms if necessary 🙃
  • Create a showing plan  Since your home is about to be listed, it is important to think about what you are going to do with the family pets during showings.  Make a plan for where your animals will go and also come up with one for the tiny humans too.  Here are some suggestions for getting out of your home for showings.
  • Clean again!  Right before pictures, give your home one final dust and vacuum.  Gather anything that has accumulated on surfaces (ex: books on a coffee table, toys on the floor, papers on the kitchen counter) in a laundry basket and put it away.

With some effort and hard work, you can have your home ready to be listed in thirty days.  During this month, make sure to communicate to your Realtor® any questions or concerns that you may have.  Even though your home is up for sale yet, your Realtor® is already working for you.