Preparing a property for viewings is no easy task as anyone who’s ever tried to sell a home can tell you. Keeping your house in order once you’ve prepped everything is even harder, especially if you have children. Everyday life doesn’t stop just because you want to put your house on the market. These three tips can help you make the preparation part of selling your home a little easier.

Make Sure Everything Works

It’s time to think like a buyer, even if you’ve just gotten used to the idea of being a seller. There’s no one person who knows the good and bad of your home better than you. With that in mind, take a walk-through of your home with the mindset of a potential buyer. What buttons would you push to test things out? What oddities would make you cringe?

Develop a list of items that need to be fixed, changed, painted, or updated, as well as any accessibility modifications that are required and get to work. Ideally, you should begin making repairs before you decide to put your house on the market. However, if you do contact a realtor beforehand, they will be able to assist you with potential problem areas.

Stage It

There’s a certain art to staging a home in preparation for sale. Professional stagers get paid a pretty penny to help potential buyers see themselves living in your space, which is the entire point of the staging exercise. If you don’t want to pay that pretty penny, you’ll need to think like a stager and DIY.

One of the first things stagers look for in a home is the amount of furnishings. In many cases, they will remove half or more of the family’s furniture. This may seem drastic, but it opens up the house and makes it look larger, which is half the battle when prepping a home for sale.

Keep it Tidy

The other half of the battle is keeping the house tidy until it sells. Begin by controlling clutter. Organize closets, desks, counters, and tables, and make sure your family knows where to put things. Get help with vacuuming, dusting, and bathroom cleaning chores. All members of your family will benefit from the sale of your home, so everybody should pitch in. Above all, trust in your realtor and keep the lines of communication open. It won’t be long before potential buyers come pouring in.