These days, selling your home can be quite the challenge, especially if your competition is high and your home hasn’t been upgraded. But sellers shouldn’t panic just yet. Here is a breakdown of tips sellers should follow in order to get their house in ready-to-sell mode.

• Disconnect your emotions. Yes, you may harbor several memories in this house, especially if you’ve lived there for quite some time, but if you’ve already made the decision to move, now it’s time for another family to create new memories in your beloved home.
• Make your home “anonymous” by taking down personal photos, pictures, religious artifacts, collections, etc. You want the potential buyer to view this as their potential home, and your personal belongings and photos may cloud that vision.
• Remove clutter, reorganize furniture and open up areas that may be a bit close. Tie back curtains if they’re long and bulky or cover an oversized window. You want the potential buyer to see how “big” your house really is.
• Clean up the exterior. Having a messy yard filled with leaves, toys, debris, etc. shows that you don’t really care for your home. No potential buyer wants to purchase a home that hasn’t been cared for.
• Repair the basics, including burned out lightbulbs, marks on walls, stains in the carpet, loose hinges or doorknobs, screens with holes, and more. Seeing a lot of cosmetic issues may detour some potential buyers because they look at is just one more thing to do or fix when they move in. You want to make your home appear as move-in ready as possible.
• Make your guests feel welcome. The first thing people see when they walk in your house is the entryway, foyer and possibly a staircase. The objective is to make this “area” seem as open and inviting as possible.

Selling your home doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Following these steps may just help you move one step closer to receiving a potential buyer – and eventually selling your home.