Before you place the For Sale sign up front and schedule open houses, check to make sure you house is ready to be shown.

1. Give kitchen cabinets a facelift. Replacing all the cabinets is expensive, but a makeover might be necessary. Use wood stain to change the color or simply make them bolder.
2. Curb appeal will help get people to stop and see. Brighten up your curb with flower arrangements, and ensure all bricks / stones are clean and neat. An attractive front yard will catch a buyer’s eyes in no times.
3. Neutralize your master bedroom. Females and males should appreciate the bedroom, so try to remove anything that might be gender-specific. Use neutral paint colors, neutral bedding and items that don’t clash with the color scheme.
4. Mold on walls can scare people away, fast! Take a look at your walls, especially in the bathrooms. If you have any surface mold, there’s a very easy way to get rid of it. Designed to Sell designer Lisa LaPorta suggests you mix one part bleach and one part water in a spray bottle. Then just spray on the walls and the mold disappears!
5. Spot check for stains on walls, windows and floors. Every stain you have grown to ignore needs to go before a showing, and it should be taken care of quickly. It’ll appeal more to potential buyers and result in less questions being asked about the origins of unknown markings.
6. Lights, lights and more lights! We’ve mentioned before how important natural lighting can be to a house showing, and it makes this list again for a reason. Buyers love to see open spaces that are light and airy, so pull back those shades and turn on some well-placed lamps.
7. You might be desensitized to your home’s odors, but guests are not. Often, we get so used to pet, cooking and other odors that we forget to air out once in a while. Get rid of any old carpets and rugs that have collected offensive smells and leave the windows open for a bit. If you’re still unsure, invite a friend over and get their honest opinion on some smells you might have missed.
8. Temporarily hide personal items. A potential buyer’s goal is to walk into a home and visualize themselves living in it. Limit or completely remove family photos and de-personalize as much as possible. If it doesn’t belong in a model home, you should probably hide it.
9. Bring life back into old objects. You can now paint everything from a candle holder to a bookend with some spray paint, usually for only a few dollars. If you see some rust or color fading, give it a quick coat of paint to revitalize the object and make the room more polished.
10. Clean out the closets. During a viewing, potential buyers will be opening closet doors and looking inside! Tidy up in every storage space and make sure things are organized neatly. You might also want to consider removing some items from them to make them feel bigger.

Have any tips to share? Let us know in the comments below!