It's time to sell your house, and you know you need to stage it for sale, but you're not sure how. This step-by-step guide will help you successfully prepare your house for the market, from fixing necessary repairs to cleaning hidden messes.

It's Sad To Say Goodbye, But It's Time To Modify Your Home

Staging a house is all about one thing: making your home inviting to potential buyers. Buyers want to feel like they could live in your home. You don't want anything to throw them off such a path, like seeing too many of your own things, damage to walls and furnishings, or general untidiness.

Start With A Purge

Clutter makes a home uninviting, so open your space by removing as many of the extras from your house as possible. Start with the junk that can be tossed in the dumpster, recycled, or donated. Get it out of the house so you can focus your attention on more important jobs. Organize your rooms and closets; then consider taking anything else you don't need to a storage unit.

Don't Forget the Small Repairs

After getting your clutter out of the way, it's time to take care of all the little repairs that have gone unchecked. Years of living can lead to undesirable grime, dust, and deferred maintenance.

Do a thorough investigation of your house. You'll need to fix holes in the wall, no matter the size. Check for broken glass, mirrors, and lightbulbs, then replace as necessary. Look at sinks, bathtubs, showers, and toilets for any leaks, stains, or cracks, which will need to be cleaned and sealed. When it's all clear, splash your walls with a fresh coat of neutral paint.

It's Time For A Deep Clean

The next step is to clean your house from top to bottom. Get out the disinfectant sprays, wash rags, and purifiers to sanitize the house. You want your home to be presentable to buyers in all facets, so leave no stone unturned.

Perfect Presentation

Now that you've gotten all the potential defects out of the way, it's time to show off what you have to offer. Success is all in the details. A well-staged house will leave plenty of welcoming space, excellent lighting, and limited furnishings. Most homes won't sell in a day, so it's important to keep things fresh as you go. Stay on top of new messes and necessary repairs.

Curb Appeal

You will want to make a great first impression with a nicely curated lawn, a fresh coat of outer paint, and a lovely garden if possible. Finally, you will need to power wash the driveway, walkway, and windows. Taking care of the outside of your home will give your house a great first impression on potential buyers.

Preparing your house for potential home buyers is more than just sticking a price tag on a sign and calling it a day. People looking for a new home will want to know that it not only worked for you but that it will work for them as well. Following these tips will get you on the path to success.

For the vast majority of home buyers, obtaining a mortgage will be a vital part of the purchasing process. Of course, in order to be approved for that mortgage, you will need to ensure that your credit score is in good shape. Luckily, there are a few steps that you can take to boost your score before starting your application, such as:

Fix Reporting Errors

When compiling your credit report, it is not at all unusual for the credit bureaus to accidentally place an incorrect or inaccurate note in your file. For example, if an individual who shares your name has fallen behind on their car loan it can occasionally appear on your credit report. As such, before you apply for a mortgage, it is a good idea to check your report for any mistakes such as these. If you spot any mistakes, report them to the agencies and they should be able to remove the errors in a relatively timely manner. Once the negative mark has disappeared, your credit score will quickly move upwards.

Reduce Your Balances

Your outstanding credit balances are an important factor in determining your credit score. As such, if your balances are currently quite high, it would be a prudent move to try to reduce them as much as you can. By reducing these balances, you are both improving your credit score and improving your debt to income ratio, making it just a little bit easier to be approved for your mortgage.

Avoid Opening New Credit

Each time you apply for new credit, it causes a small ding in your credit score. With this in mind, you should try to avoid opening up new credit cards or taking out new loans for around a year before you plan on purchasing your house. That year will allow time for the effects of previous credit applications to drop off of your report, and you will eventually end up with an impressively high score.

Pay Your Bills On Time

The most obvious way to boost your credit score is also the best way to do so. During the year that you are waiting for your score to recover from any previous credit applications, you should make a concerted effort to pay all of your bills on time. By establishing a pattern of on-time payments, your score will soon show you to be a reliable and trustworthy borrower.

Obtaining a mortgage is an essential part of the home buying process. By following the advice contained in this article, you will be able to boost your credit score and increase your chances of being approved for that mortgage.