Are you looking to sell your home? As competitive as the housing market is, taking initiative will serve you extremely well! A great way to get started is to go through your house with the notion that you’re someone else who is looking to buy a new home, who has never been here before. What might you be looking for? What could possibly distract you from appreciating the perks? Could this house feel like home?

There are definitely things you can and should do to impress prospective buyers. Breezing through this list of 16 tips should help tremendously when preparing to sell your home:

1. De-clutter.
Eliminate unnecessary knick-knacks that gets in the way and distracts from your home’s intrinsic features. Anything that doesn’t contribute to the coziness, charm or beauty of the house should be put away prior to showing.

2. Clean!
It’s a good idea to deep clean as much as you possibly can. Wash mirrors and windows, vacuum and dust absolutely everything, remove smudges from walls and appliances… This can be done by yourself of course, or it may be worth it to employ professional cleaners.

3. Depersonalize.
When preparing to sell your home, keep in mind that potential buyers are trying to imagine this space as their own home. Personal items such as family portraits can easily distract from that fantasy, which can therefore weaken your chances of selling.

4. Neutralize.
Consider the overall impressions you get when looking at your décor, walls and furniture. It’s a good idea to tone down hues, styles and patterns in order to keep things more “low key.” This will heighten your chances of pleasing a broader range of prospects. Slip-on covers can be very useful for furniture. It may even be worthwhile to repaint walls to achieve this.

5. Be mindful of smells.
Strong smells are another thing to avoid if you’re trying to sell your home! Do not cook fragrant meals in your home before a showing. Many aromatic foods like bacon, salmon or curry are indeed delicious, but filling your home with these scents will distract and turn off potential buyers. Instead, consider baking a dessert: something sweet and delicious such as cookies will evoke feelings of comfort and happiness. Of course, it’s best to then offer the cookies to people doing walk-throughs!

6. Lighten up.
Open curtains and shades to let natural light pour in, and turn on pretty lamps or light candles to show off the areas that need illuminating. When preparing to sell your home, it’s important to make sure people can adequately see its lovely features!

7. Include plants.
Bring oxygen and natural beauty into your space by placing healthy potted plants, succulents or even a beautiful bouquet of flowers inside!

8. Organize.
Neatly rearrange items in your closet space (and remove unnecessary stuff ). It’s in your best interest to show people how much room there is to store things. Showing any space that seems cramped will turn potential buyers off. Storage space is definitely a valued feature in real estate!

9. Fix ‘er up!
Prospective buyers will notice if things are leaking, seem loose or appear scuffed. It’s important to resolve these little issues when preparing to sell your home.

10. Freshen up outside.
When people come to view your house, they are first going to notice how things appear from the outside. First impressions are huge! Be sure to sweep around the entrance, rake leaves if needed, pull weeds, trim shrubs, and clean gutters. It may also be worthwhile to invest in a nice new welcome mat, clearer address numbers, and even fresh paint for the front door.

11. Renovate, if needed.
Prospective buyers will often be more interested in your home if you can rejuvenate your space by updating appliances. And as stated above, putting fresh slipcovers over old furniture can really go a long way!

12. Give every room intention.
Make sure your living room is arranged to inspire conversation and lounging, turn your spare bedroom into a peaceful office or reading room, make your bathroom into a personal spa, etc. Demonstrate how potential buyers can use your home in meaningful ways.

13. Close the toilets!
This may seem minuscule, but you want to positively manipulate the psychology of your prospective buyers. Try to keep their minds on charm and cleanliness, rather than bodily functions!

14. Move things to facilitate walk-throughs.
As stated above, practice walking through your home as though you’ve never been there. Is your space easy to navigate? You want buyers to be focused on the lovely features of your house – not tripping over poorly-placed furniture.

15. Strike the perfect balance between clean and “lived-in.”
Most of our list has dealt with keeping things clean, minimalist, neutral and in tiptop shape. It’s also important to keep your house feeling like a home. Hang cute and clean potholders in your kitchen, create a comfortable reading spot in the spare bedroom or on the loveseat, place a deck of playing cards on the coffee table, place a well-kept herb garden on the back porch, etc. Give everything a purpose, but remember that you’re showing your space to people looking for a new home!

16. Show off the selling points!
When preparing to sell your home, try to draw attention to its wonderful, unique attributes. Place a lovely painting above the mantel to show off the fireplace, set a pretty bouquet of flowers on the dining room table to highlight the ideal spot to have dinner with family, place a decorative bar of soap on the edge of the spa-worthy bathtub, light up the reading nook with an attractive lamp… yes, you’re looking to impress, but you can still be creative!

The real estate market is highly competitive. If you’re getting ready to sell your home, it’s definitely worth it to devote some quality time and effort to preparation. Going over key steps like the ones above can make so much difference – a difference that can likely be measured in dollars!