Selling your home entails a LOT of things to do. Some are musts, some are not. Here are three things that you MUST do before you list your home for sale.

First, your home must be show ready for that first day on the market

What does “show ready” mean? Let’s start with it means it’s CLEAN, and we mean clean enough to eat off the bathroom floor! Move furniture and appliances. Clean them inside and out. Deep clean floors, carpets, walls, air duct covers, air intake covers, woodwork, windows… basically every inch of your home should be clean. To get it clean that also means removing CLUTTER. Remove most of your things from the home, including oversized furniture. Big furniture and clutter make rooms look smaller. A few things are ok, minimal is better. Your home will look and smell better. Now that all the scrubbing is done, time to touch up paint, or repaint. You want the place to look neutral (color is ok, but don’t go overboard), light and roomy. It also needs to look as move in ready as possible.

Second, make sure to find out the fair market price for your home

Overpricing your home is a REALLY bad idea. Underpricing it as well. Getting to the fair market value takes some wrangling and is best left to an expert, like your Realtor. Rely on them to know the market’s well enough to get the right price the first time.

Third, have an exit plan

Know where you are going and have a backup for that first plan. So where are you going when you sell your home? Don’t know? Well you better or you’ll end up homeless! If you are buying, have your Realtor help you with timing, but also have a backup in case one of the home sales falls through. For instance, don’t sell your home, counting on the purchase of the next one to be worry free. The seller could flake out, not like your demands or reject your offer. What then?

Make sure these MUSTS are done, and you’ll have a few less worries.