Often before homeowners sell their house, they will spend some time doing work inside to make sure it looks the best it can to increase interest and attract buyers. It can be difficult to stay ahead and check every last spot of your property, so We Buy Any House have put together some top tips to getting clean and ready to sell!

You never get a second chance to make a first impression

Whether you do it all by yourself or you get some help is entirely up to you, but it’s definitely worth the investment. After all, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, so you want to make the best of what you’ve got to work with.

Now, we know that many property owners struggle with this, so, we asked one of our good friends who runs a professional cleaning company, FastKlean, to lend us a hand. Together, we’ve prepared a short and sweet property cleaning checklist, along with some quick tips and tricks to make the entire process go by faster.

How to stay on track

Now let’s be honest here – cleaning isn’t exactly most people’s idea of a good time. Sometimes, however, you have to put this behind you and get to work with the job at hand knowing that the results will make it all worth it. For those wondering if you have to clean before you sell, check out our article can you sell messy house? For more information.

“I need to sell my house fast!” – Get a cash offer for your house today!

There are a couple of (tried and tested) ways to keep yourself on track -and, as an added bonus, you can also add these tricks to your standard cleaning routine at home.

• Prepare a checklist – First, of course, comes the checklist. A written breakdown of everything that needs doing allows you to focus on the tasks at hand, while still ensuring that you don’t miss anything.
• Prepare your tools ahead of time – Check up on your cleaning supplies and make a quick trip to the store if you have to. The fewer interruptions, the better.
• Get some music going – Music can help get your mind off the repetitiveness of cleaning. As an added bonus, you can use your playlist as a way to keep track of the time you’ve spent cleaning your property.

Having to clean out your property can often lead to a mass of waste that needs to be disposed of. This can be time-consuming and may require you to hire a skip. Fletchers Waste Management offer skip hire in Sheffield and offer advice on the best way to dispose of your domestic waste

Property Cleaning Tips

Before we dive into the specifics, here are the top three rules that you always want to follow when cleaning a property:

• Clean room-by-room. This allows you to easily track your progress and segment your cleaning sessions if you need to.
• Clean top-to-bottom. This prevents you from accidentally getting dust and dirt on already cleaned surfaces and avoid creating yourself more work.
• Pick a direction and stick to it. Whether you go left to right or right to left is entirely up to you. This will avoid any streaks and help you make sure you don’t miss anything.

The Property Cleaning Checklist

Your basic process should look something like this:

You pick a room, start from the ceiling, and work your way down to the floor. You pay extra attention to the high-traffic areas, you carefully dust everything, and you make sure that you get all the difficult-to-reach corners. It’s also worth replacing any fixtures and fittings that are damaged or look unsightly, as well as paying extra attention to any glass – especially windows.

Organising room-by-room will also help when you come to stage your property for your viewings. Staging is a great way to make your house look the best it can when you have potential buyers come in to see it, and you can learn more in our article how can I stage my house for viewings?

The kitchen

Kitchens can be harder work because of all the cupboards and appliances. And, if it’s been a while since your last thorough cleaning session, you might be in for a ride. The things that you want to focus on here are the fridge, oven, and dishwasher. If you take the time to remove all traces of spills and odours, you’ll already be one step ahead of the crowd. Remember – you might be used to the smell of your kitchen (and you probably don’t even notice it), but the potential buyers aren’t. You will want to pay extra attention to the sink, cupboards and counters as these are usually the first things that someone new looks at when they walk into a kitchen.

Kitchens are also a very common room to become cluttered, and if you find that you’re struggling to cut back, you can have a look at our tips on decluttering for more information and help.

The Bedroom

Put away all clothes and thoroughly dust everything. Remember to empty out the wardrobe and clean up any other surfaces as well. These furniture pieces have an almost uncanny ability to attract dust and dirt, and even if you don’t notice it, the potential buyers surely will. Deep clean the mattress and air it out to get rid of any odours. Of course, you also want to wash the linens, sort out the bedding and make the beds neatly – and don’t forget to empty the bin.

The Bathroom

Even the most well-maintained of bathrooms can be plagued by limestone, grime, and run-of-the-mill dirt build-ups. The tub, sink, toilet, and shower all require a careful touch. Take your time, read the instructions on your cleaning solutions, and remember to pay extra attention to the cupboards, difficult-to-reach corners, pipes, and fixtures. Before your viewings, bleach the toilet and consider adding an automatic air freshener to ensure freshness every time.

The Living room

The main things to focus on here are the electronics (TVs, audio systems and consoles) and the upholstery. Make sure before you start that you know the right products and techniques to use – some furniture materials can be very specific in their upkeep and you don’t want to cause any damage.

‘Can We Buy Any House help me sell my house?’ – Learn how we can help you today!

Cleaning your house will often put you on better grounds when you go to sell your house, but it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to sell. For some homeowners, they don’t have the time or the desire to do this cleaning and are looking to sell in a simpler way – that’s where we can help. We Buy Any House can provide you with a free cash offer for your property and will buy houses in any condition – get in touch today for yours!

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