Clean the home. It may seem obvious - the need to clean up your house before inviting in a Realtor or even buyers. However, many people leave their houses dirty. Here's a hint: those considering buying your house do not want to see how it normally looks - which might be in a messy state. They want to see the house clean, so that they can visualize themselves living there. The buyer wants to see what the house can become, and they can only see this if the house is clean.

Shampoo or professionally clean your carpets. If you have hardwood floors, you should polish them. However, if you have carpets or rugs, then these should be cleaned by a professional. Steam cleaners, such as those available for rent at your local grocery store, do a decent job of upkeep on your carpets. But if you want potential buyers to be interested in your house, you will need a deep cleaning system with a heavy duty stain removal solution. Your carpets and rugs should look new so that the new owners will not say that they need new carpets before closing on the purchase.

Walls should be painted. This step may not be required if you have just painted your house. But if you painted in bright colors or with unique patterns, you are going to have to paint again. The house paint should be a neutral color throughout most of the house. Kitchens should be a brighter color. Any work space, such as the office, should be a more neutral but professional color. If there are walls in your home that are painted with an accent color then you should think about painting over them. You may think they look great, but your buyers may not appreciate them. For example, if your home has a strong Asian motif, the dark red accent on the walls may turn off potential buyers. They see only the designs they do not like and decide they do not like the house. Thus they do not see the potential of the whole room or the rest of the house. You should try to make your house as "buyer friendly" as you are able.

Clutter should be gone. To make your home buyer friendly, make it easy and convenient for them to see the home that they would want to live in. This is done by putting your things away and having as open a feel as possible. Then it is a simple matter for visitors to imagine how they could live in that house. So get out the boxes and start putting things away. Put away and box up all toys, family photos, and heir looms. Remove or even throw away knick knacks. Shelves and book cases need to be clean and nearly empty, so that potential buyers see the potential home they want to buy. You should also remove a lot of books from bookcases. This will allow them to imagine the house filled with their things.

Set up the home. You should leave a few candles and some nice hand towels on the bathroom counter, a few collector's editions or nice looking books in the bookshelves, fresh flowers that match the kitchen decor on the dining room table, and few magazines in a fan pattern on the coffee table. Get rid of any furniture that takes away from the proposed value of the home or doesn't match the home. For example, an older trunk that has been passed down for generations doesn't always have to be in the family room. What you are trying to do is to make each room in the house look appealing and comfortable.

Baking cookies is a good way to do this. If you don't do much baking, simply buy some cookie dough and put it in to bake about 20 minutes before a showing. The cookies should have time to bake and cool, and you will have time to leave before the showing. What's the reason for baking cookies? To make your house feel like a welcoming and happy home, the smell of fresh baked cookies, along with the other things, will be perfect.