If you are looking to achieve the optimum value for your home, then here is an easily printed checklist for you to use. If you can complete everything on the list then you know you have done your best.

• Visit open houses in a similar price range, you will soon get a feel for how the market is working in your area. Take note of what is appealing to you, and what you believe are the selling points that put that particular property in your price range.
• Go through your home with a buyer’s eye. Make a list of things that can be changed for the better.
• Focus on ‘neat, tidy, well-maintained’ when preparing for inspections. You want your buyer to go away thinking how easy the house would be to maintain.
• You are going to be moving, so get the garbage bags out and the packing boxes ready and remove all the unnecessary items and store them away. Leave only what you know you can live with for about six months.
• Research. Look through home interior magazines and read the local real estate guides, to see what features are being promoted and focus your attention on those.

• Run your critical buyer’s eye over your yard, fence, sheds and around the perimeter of the house. If necessary, get aggressive with the removal of cobwebs, excess greenery, broken or discarded pieces of building materials.
• Just before you are ready for calling in the agents for an assessment, clean all the windows and freshen the window furnishings. Use your buyer’s eye: do the heavy drapes make the front room (the first one they see) seem dark or dull? Invest in some sheer curtains or even blinds that can be pulled up to let in the light.
• Should you paint? It is debatable as each person has colour preferences but if your home has that unfinished look, ie bare skirting boards or peeling doors. Then keep the colour scheme as neutral as possible.
• Take another look at your home. Does it flow? If it is an old home, are the fittings in keeping with it. If you have modernised only one room, then find some decorative pieces that will tie the rooms together. Be inspired by décor magazines.
• A worthwhile investment, if necessary, is to hire a landscape gardener to spruce up the lawn and garden beds. By the time your house is on the market, the lawn should be lush and the gardens blooming.

If you have ticked all the boxes, then bring in the agents! Settle on your agent, price and your marketing strategy. This shouldn’t be too difficult, as you would have been checking out different agencies while making your house presentable for selling. When settling on a price, listen to the agent’s recommendations. They have clients who also know how the market is priced and know value when they see it and will negotiate within a reason.