Listing season, also known as spring and summer, are upon us. Are you thinking of selling? Have you being wondering how to prep your home for a listing? Here are a few tips to keep in mind before putting your home on the market.

When a potential buyer walks into a house, they usually try to imagine themselves in your home. By decluttering and depersonalizing, this allows them to see the home with their items inside without distraction. Whether it is removing knick knacks or repainting a bright wall, this tip is beneficial for several reasons. Not only does it clear the space for a potential buyer, but it allows you to get an early prep on packing as well as storing away valuables before your home is consistently toured by strangers.

Make sure your home is clean and sanitary. Most likely, you do surface cleaning throughout the week with a weekly deep clean. However, pay attention to the details. Have the blinds been cleaned? When was the last time the high up spaces have been dusted? These are some details that get left behind after all the visual surfaces and floors have been taken care of. Go around your home with a critical eye and gauge what can be taken a step further. Remove spider webs; clean the cupboards and the fridge. These are all very easy and quick, but can get pushed to the back burner with today’s busy lifestyle.

After you have accomplished the inside, take a look at the outside. If you can’t afford to do a new paint job or spring for new landscaping, take the time to do little things like clean up the yard, straighten the mail box, plant some new flowers or plants and remove any dead ones. Are all the house numbers in tact? If not, you can leave the hardware store with a new set for roughly $10. If you have a bigger budget for exterior repairs, consider having the driveway repaved if needed, or new shutters if the current ones are starting to look a bit shabby. Keep in mind that a fresh set of eyes will be inspecting details that you may have become immune to.

Take the time to gather all your paperwork and manuals related to the house. This could be appliance and HVAC manuals or even paint chips of the current wall colors. If there are custom items, such as cabinets or counters, leave the details like what color, style and company it came from. If a cupboard door needs to be replaced or the new buyer plans to add on later, this will all come in very handy.

Call a maintenance person to come out and take a look at the water heater, furnace, roof, etc.  Find out if it needs to be replaced, and if so, ask what an estimate of the replacement cost is. Fixing it beforehand can be a bargaining tool, as well as a heads up of something that could come back on the home inspection report.

As always, be sure to ask your realtor of any ideas or suggestions during the pre-listing conversation. Most realtors have been in the business a while and have toured a lot of homes and heard a lot of feedback from clients. Their main goal is to help you get your home listed and sold for the highest amount of money in the shortest amount of time possible.