Selling your home can be an exciting and daunting task to undertake. This list will tell you how to get your house ready for the market, and what to expect once it’s there.

1. Get a Home Inspection.

Very few sellers do this nowadays, but its still imperative to know the true condition of your property and to correct any hidden or serious defects in the home. Buyers are strongly recommended to get home inspections each and every time they purchase a piece of real property, so they will discover these problems for themselves if you don’t correct them early in the process. Also, it gives buyers peace of mind knowing that you are invested in selling them a home that is free of serious problems and that you’re committed to their well-being in the house.

2. Curb appeal can make or break a deal.

It’s the truth! Buyers curb appraise houses, and if they don’t like the way the exterior looks they won’t even bother making an appointment to see the interior. Here are some ideas of how to spruce up the outside of a home:

- Keep the grass mowed, the bushes trimmed and the flower beds free of weeds.

- Put seasonal flowers out on the front porch or stoop in large pots. Bringing a splash of color and warmth to your entry way invites buyers in, and welcomes them home.

- If you have vinyl siding, go ahead and get it pressure washed so that it looks shiny and new.

- If you have wood siding, get a fresh coat of paint up so that buyers feel that the necessary maintenance has been done.

- Paint your front door! A really popular color right now is red, but if you don’t think red would look very good, another coat of your current color works just a well. You wouldn’t believe how marred and dirty your front door gets, and what a difference a coat of paint makes.

- Get your windows washed.

- Get your gutters and chimney cleaned.

- Repair any breaks in the fencing, and don’t forget that the garage is part of the house! If your garage door needs a coat of paint, make sure it matches the front door of the house.

3. Hiring an Agent.

In today’s Buyer’s Market, it is more imperative than ever that Sellers secure the services of a licensed Realtor. Realtors have the experience and know-how to get your house on every Buyer’s must-see list. The latest statistics from Realtor.com show that approximately 73% of home buyers are conducting their home searches with an agent. If a buyer has an agent, that buyer is relying on his or her agent to generate lists of houses for him or her to see. If your house isn’t in the MLS, it won’t be on that list!

4. Touch up the interior.

When your agent tours your home for the first time, he or she will make notes either physical or mental as to what needs to be repaired or touched up in order to have your home appeal to the broadest group of home buyers possible. Take these suggestions to heart and get those things done quickly so that your Realtor can take dynamic photos of your home for the MLS. Here are some things that often come up in a Realtor’s first tour of a home:

Clutter. While your collections are wonderful, when buyers come into your home we want them to be looking at the property and not at your great things. Go ahead and pack those things up for display in your new home!

Family Portraits. Unfortunately, we can’t know the quality of every buyer’s character. The truth of the matter is that until we’ve met them for ourselves, they are strangers! Put away the beautiful photographs of your children or other family members. Also, we want the Buyer to feel at home in the house, and able to envision his or her own family living there.

Bright or dark wall colors. Go ahead and paint the interior of the house in neutral colors that will appeal to a large variety of people. It is amazing to us, but buyers are constantly turning down houses simply because of interior color choices. Surprising, but true!

Stained carpeting. Because flooring is relatively inexpensive, we suggest that if you have a stain in the carpet that just will not come out, you should go ahead and have the carpet replaced in that room. The room will show better and we can advertise the new carpet!

Scratched hardwood floors. We know it’s a pain, but if you have a lot of scrapes and scuffs in your hardwood, have it refinished. Refinished hardwood floors are a great selling point and go a long way toward making a house “move-in ready”.

Leaky bathroom/kitchen sink hardware. Replace leaky faucets with modern, fully functioning versions and rusty drain covers with sparkly new ones!

Dirty bathtub caulk. Old caulking around tubs, showers and sinks makes people think that those fixtures are old and may need to be replaced soon. Its cheap and doesn’t take very long to recaulk those areas to maximize your bathroom’s showing potential.

Mold. Absolutely, positively eliminate any possible shadow of mold in your home. Mold is the buzz word of the industry right now and more buyers are asking about mold concerns than nearly any other common question. You can have your house inspected and treated for mold if you have a serious problem, and there are many tricks and tips you can find online to help remedy any minor occurrences.

It is unusual, but the sense of smell is the sense most directly tied to memory. Remove and keep at bay any funky smells in your house, because if your living room smells like wet dog just one time you will forever be “the wet dog house” to those buyers.