CLEANLINESS: Your home, once listed, is a “product”.  Just as you are more inclined to reach for the crisply folded sweater or the best looking apple in the bunch, bypassing the ones that present as if they have been over handled and past their prime, so are most buyers in today’s real estate market.  The home must present in both photographs and in person as Q-Tip clean or “pass a white glove inspection”, in addition to being odor free.  Walls, doors, windows and trim should be free of scuff marks or any obvious signs of wear and tear.  Hinges should not squeak and all outlets should work.  You get the picture.  Why put makeup on a dirty face or detail a car that has been stripped?  Since over 80% of “initial showings” take place through your property’s online photos, it’s imperative that a perspective buyer be lured in by how beautifully their potential new investment photographs.  Simply stated Messy/Disorderly/Chaotic = Dirty/Unkempt/Poorly Maintained!

BEFORE: This office may be so clean that you can eat off the floors.  However, I doubt it very much. That said, if this was the initial photo I viewed of this property, it would also have been my last.

 

AFTER:
With some sorting, organization, and basic cleaning supplies, this room has been through a major and inexpensive overhaul!  Before you saw chaos, now it’s just calm and charm!