Once your home has been spruced up, both inside and outside, you're ready to let buyers begin looking through it. However, since you also have to live in your home during the listing period, it means that you'll have to get the home ready for showings by agents, sometimes on short notice. Here are a few secrets you use to make your home look its best when you know agents are bringing clients by for a tour.

First, keep your kitchen countertops clear, and keep dishes out of the sink. Both of those situations make a negative impression on potential buyers because they make the kitchen look cluttered and less-than-clean, even if the rest of the kitchen may be spotless.

Next, go through the house and open all the curtains, shades, and blinds. You want your home to look spacious, warm, and bright, so you want to get as much light into each room as possible. If it's a nighttime showing, turn on the lights in each room, to make them look inviting and homey. Of course, if you discover that a light bulb has burned out, replace it before the buyers arrive.

If it's cold outside and you have a fireplace, put a log on to give a cheery, warm feeling to the room. If it's summertime, the fireplace should be clean. Either way, it shows off the fireplace to its best advantage.

If you have pets in cages, take them to a neighbor during the showing. Some people are turned off by small pets like rats or hamsters, so don't let those bad feelings taint a buyer's impression of your home.

It's also best if YOU can be gone during the showing, if at all possible. That allows buyers to feel free to make comments without having to worry about hurting your feelings. Being able to speak freely is an important part of the home touring process, so don't stifle it by being home.

If you absolutely must be home for some reason, find one room in the house, preferably a family room, den, basement, or out-of-the-way room, and stay there. The buyers will want to look closely at the kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, and master suite, so you'll want to allow them free access to those rooms.

Try to keep the house picked up and vacuumed as much as possible, to avoid last minute cleaning frenzies when you get a call from an agent wanting to show your home. It will make your life a lot less hectic, and will allow your home to make as good an impression as possible at all times.

Copyright ? 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher