Putting your home up for sale can be a daunting task. The preparations going into selling are usually stressful, troublesome, and typically require a lot of hard work. This is especially the case if you're like most sellers and get your home ready for sale the weekend before putting it on the market.

Prepare well in advance
Attempting to do everything at once immediately prior to placing the house up for sale is an invitation for disaster (or at least a lot of unnecessary hassles and expense). Make a comprehensive list of projects that need to be fixed now, and get to them a weekend at a time quarterly instead of all at once. By setting aside small amounts of time here and there to do a few tasks over the several months before putting your house on the market, you will be saving yourself a lot of unnecessary stress when it comes time to actually sell the home. Not only will you not be as anxious, but you won't be as hasty in your handiwork, and you'll do a far better job. (If you hire a handyman, you'll also save some money by hiring them during less busy times rather than in the middle of the summer when most contractors will be booked, or have higher rates.)

A picture is worth a thousand words
The picture is the single most important thing you can have in the marketing of your home. Most buyers "skim" all homes available, and you have only about a second to grab their attention. One of the best things you can do to get your home ready for sale is to keep a camera handy for taking pictures when your home will be at its best, on a nice day, with bushes and grass trimmed and no cars parked in front or in the driveway. You don't want it to look all washed out and colorless because the picture was taken under the broiling noonday sun. It never fails -- if you wait until the last minute to schedule taking a picture for the listing of your home, it will be raining every day your agent shows up to take the picture.

Whether you're planning on selling soon or not, next time after it rains, see if you can take a picture of a rainbow that "just happens" to end right behind your home. Come springtime, make sure to get an late evening shot with the amber sun glowing on your prize-winning tulip bed. It's those little touches that make a big impression.

If you don't need it -- store it!
Take an inventory of your home and get rid of all unnecessary stuff possible. If it's not something you want to sell, but it's taking up space in your home, rent a storage locker and put it there until you move. If you don't use that bread maker taking up room on the kitchen countertop daily, put it away or store it. Even if you do use it regularly, if it could be easily stored in your cabinets -- store it! The less "stuff" is cluttering up your countertops, the more attractive your kitchen (and house) will appear. If your kids don't play with the toys that are sitting around the family room, have a yard sale or donate them to Goodwill! The less stuff you have around in your home, the bigger it feels!

By following some of the above steps, and with some simple planning, you can greatly enhance the effectiveness of preparing to sell your home.

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