Let’s say you’ve decided to sell your Home Sweet Home and you’ve got seven days to get it ready for an open house. What to do? Put in for a week of vacation. You’re going to need it. Set the alarm. You can’t sleep in.
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What follows is a day-by-day guide to readying your house for the big day, based in part on advice from Realtors who have learned the hard way. Chin up:
Day 1: It’s big-picture day. Grab paper and pencil and a cup of coffee and eye the outside of the house. Make a list. You live in this place, but what if you were seeing it for the first time? Would the front landscaping entice you to walk inside or put you off?
Time to take inventory. What plants are dead or dying and need to be replaced or merely removed? Does the lawn need new sod to patch holes? Do some drip irrigation lines need replacement? Is it time to fix that broken sprinkler pipe? Can you make do with a neighbor’s edger or weed eater? Repeat this exercise in the backyard.
Does the house need to be painted? You hope not. If it does, expect to spend time getting estimates. You’ll be too tired to paint it yourself. But you’ll be lucky to find a painter with such short notice.
Ditto a new roof. If it leaks, you’ve disclosed that on the listing. But who knows, you might sell it to a roofing contractor.
Tired already? You deserve a change of scenery. Grab your coffee and get ready for another round of self-inflicted pain. You’re going inside the house.
Look past the newspapers on the floor and kids’ toys in the hallway (you’ll deal with those later). Consider, instead, the furnishings. Too many? Maybe. Realtors say less is better when making those 12-by-14-foot rooms appear larger.
Make a note about what pieces can go into storage (garage is OK). Don’t be afraid to put your television set into hiding, unless it’s built into the wall. It’s probably your least-attractive furnishing .
What about the windows? A rule of thumb here: Anything that obscures your view is bad. Spotless is best. Do the drapes need cleaning? Washing? Repair?
Check out the tile in the kitchen and bathroom. If pieces are seriously broken, make a note to get estimates for repair.
Ditto for the bathroom inventory. Damaged linoleum? It shouldn’t cost a fortune to repair but usually requires an expert. Peeled flooring? You might tackle this one yourself. Does the inside of your house need painting. Will touch-up paint suffice? How about a good wall-washing? Does the bathroom mirror need replacing? Towel racks rehung?
Don’t dally. Put your telephone finger to work and call contractors for estimates for exterior painting, replacing broken tiles or other repairs.
You spend much of the rest of the day cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Melanie Conover of MacBride Realty Co. suggests having the house “cleaned and ready for company.”
Day 2: There’s more to clean, so keep your rubber gloves handy. On the cleaning list are all those matters you left undone yesterday. You know what they are.
But today also requires a new approach. Think of it as early packing for your eventual move. That is, pack everything in boxes that you throw or store on surfaces or countertops.
In the kitchen, remove all appliances, unless you absolutely MUST have them in sight. Examine the kitchen cupboards. Wash, rather than paint, because time is short.
Pack your “decorator items” from countertops and tabletops-the hat you never wear, the broken clock, the books you won’t get around to reading. Leave the lamps and one or two truly decorator items.
If your bookcases are overflowing, pack away about a third of the books and fill the open space with a house plant or two.
Day 3: The exterior painters arrive (if you’re lucky). By now you have an estimate in writing, so let them go to work. While they are painting, you get into the mood for indoor touch-up. The house is beginning to take shape. It’s clean. It’s uncluttered.
Day 4: Take the day to play catch-up. Finish cleaning, finish the repairs. Drag yourself up the ladder to wash the eaves. Borrow artwork, if you must, to dress up the walls. Take your indoor plants outside and hose them down.
Day 5: You deserve a vacation. This is your vacation. You’ve worked so hard, you can take the day off. Unless, of course, you didn’t get around to washing those window sills.
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Day 6: It’s Saturday. Time for finishing touches and final clean up. Mop the floors, scour the sinks. Polish the fixtures. You have time to make the house spotless, again.
You mow the lawn. Borrow an edger. You stand smartly in front of the house watering by hand. You gloat just a little, surveying your success.
Day 7: It’s nearly time for the open house. You toss ingredients for a stew into the slow-cooker and the aroma fills the home. Open the drapes. Turn on the lights. Dog is headed to the park. Boa constrictor to the home of a good friend. The house looks great.
You walk out the door, telling yourself maybe you won’t sell after all.