Getting ready to sell your house is not only an emotional undertaking, but ends up taking a lot of work. Once you’ve found a realtor and have secured a plan for how to sell your home, it’s time to get it ready for potential buyers. As impressive as your house is to your friends, buying a home is a huge commitment that goes beyond personal decorating taste. By taking steps to stage your house and book a house washing before and buyers come through for an open house, you’ll only make the home look better and ideally interest more potential buyers.

Impress with curb appeal

A first impression sets the tone for the rest of the home visit. Everyone looks for a clean, well-maintained home, and when the outside doesn’t look inviting, it’ll be a surprise if they even make it inside the home. Make sure your yard is cleaned up, with grass mowed and flowers pruned. Easily-read house numbers send the message that the house is friendly welcome to guests. A clean paint job or a fresh power washing will make sure the house itself is looking its best. Might be worth power washing any walkways or patios, as it’ll make even more of an impression as any buyers walk up to the house.

Clear away clutter and personal knick-knacks

As important as it is for the house’s exterior to be clean, it’s even more necessary that the inside of the house is clean. Clutter and excessive trinkets can inhibit potential buyers from seeing themselves in the space, so put away and clean up where you can. Any decoration or furniture pieces that are too unique or specific to your style have the potential to turn people off. Storage space is not often showcased at open houses, but as something that’s important to anyone considering a new home, needs to be shown. Clean out and organize your closets to emphasize storage potential.

Set a table

To add both decoration to an otherwise empty table and to show people what it’d look like set up for a dinner party or a holiday, style your table. A nice set up of your nicest dishes and china will make the entire room appear more put together. If that’s not going to happen, try fresh flowers on the kitchen counter or table. The little touches will make the difference to show the potential buyers you put in extra thought to go the extra mile.

Consider rearranging furniture

Just because your furniture set-up is how it’s been forever doesn’t mean it’s how it should be. Reevaluate the room’s proportions and your furniture, making sure the room isn’t too crowded or too sparsely decorated, and use this as a reason to experiment with moving furniture around. Group chairs around a coffee table for a more social element, and pull furniture away from the walls toward the center of the room to help the room look and feel bigger. Furniture set up in symmetry often works best for many rooms.

Turn the lights on

Lastly, a reminder that doesn’t take much work at all: light the house. Regardless if the open house or showing is during the day, turn the lights on and open the windows. People are happier in the light and the natural light will brighten up the house. So throw open the blinds or curtains before you welcome your first guest, and watch as the house immediately appears that much more inviting and welcoming.

These simple tips won’t break the bank, nor will they take a lot of time or effort. With these simple tricks, make the most of your home’s showing by putting your home’s best foot forward and win over potential buyers for a quick sell.