Getting market-ready

I did have grand plans to do a little series on getting the house ready to put on the market, but time got away from me!  But I do have some pictures and ideas I want to share.  Then I can get back to posting about our days!

In no particular order, here are my ideas on how we are surviving having our house on the market:

1.  Keep paperwork organized.

2.  Clean up the outside.  Toss old toys, remove ugly piles, straighten furniture and clean what you can.

Jeff cleaning out the gutters

3.  Go through the house and clean up hot-spots of clutter.  Here is a quick example:

4.  Don't forget paperwork in the de-cluttering.  I had all this in a basement cabinet. Paperwork from 12+ years of marriage!  I piled the boxes up on the table and sorted (= mess!).  I was left with a few piles that I found space for in a drawer, plus the plastic filing box.

5.  Don't forget the big cleaning jobs.  I have never cleaned this oven. The last time I cleaned an oven I accidentally inhaled some of the fumes and I had to stick my head out of the window to catch my breath.  I used my Shaklee Scour Off and it not only cleaned great, but my faithful assistant was able to help!

Other cleaning jobs I did (or are still on the list!):  Light fixtures, windows, wipe down walls and doors, sweep cob webs and scrub floors.

6.  Keep the kid's stuff organized.  This is in their bedroom.  I put away some toys and left out the ones I know they play with regularly.  Things have gotten a little crazy since Christmas so I will have to revisit this one.  The idea is to have a place for everything so that clean-up for a showing is quick and painless.  Other ideas: go through the clothes and keep out just enough- pack away the rest; use a toy rotation system to keep all the toys from being pulled out at once; a good ol' purge with  the kids is always helpful.

7.  Make sure the kitchen gets some TLC.  We painted the cabinet doors and got new hardware to freshen it up.  

8.  Stage it using what you have.  I went room-by-room and tried to clear out any clutter and set it up as I would like it to be seen.  Keeping in mind that we live here (with 3 kids!), I tried to keep it manageable.  No magazine photo shoots here, but I think it works.

9.  Try to keep each space so that it can be picked up in a few minutes.  Even use baskets or containers to throw miscellaneous stuff in (for those last-minute calls of "Can I bring someone to see your house in 30 minutes?").

10.  Enjoy your home for whatever time you have left in it.  We did a lot of little projects that we needed to do since we moved in.  It is nice to appreciate it for a while.

Here are a few of the pictures from when we had it really clean for the agent to photograph:

This house is a blessing, no doubt!  I am thankful for the time we have had and continue to have living here.