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Dirty Secrets for Avoiding the "Ick"

Last week, I took a couple through a house. The floor plan was good; the location was right. The kitchen was dated, but they’re willing to put in a little work. Still, we spent less than 5 minutes in there before they were ready to leave.

On our way out, one of them laughed “I need a bath!”

The house wasn’t filthy, but here’s what we saw:
  • Dirty/dusty windows on the approach to the house
  • An old bird’s nest on the light above the door
  • Un-vacuumed living room carpet 
  • Scuff marks across the kitchen floor
  • Crumbs on the kitchen counter
  • Burnt food and grease inside the oven 
  • Dried-up food spills inside the fridge
  • Stained carpet throughout the house 
  • Dust on window ledges and under lamps
You get the idea. Any one of these things might've been overlooked on its own. But all of these things together? They made my buyers go "ick". And believe me--it's hard to come back from the "ick".

Ok. So, I can hear you now. “Is this guy seriously telling me to clean my house?”

And basically, yeah. Except the message is more like: Seriously clean your house.

Ken's Dirty Secrets 

I don't like to encourage folks to spend money unnecessarily. You can hire a cleaning service, which might take a lot of stress off of you. If you do that, I'd upgrade to a deep-cleaning service. Those will typically include appliance and interior window cleaning.  (Window exteriors are a separate service.)

But there's a ton you can do yourself to get your home ready to sell, cleaning-wise, without spending a lot of money. Some tips:

Kitchen and Master Bedroom/Bathroom
Concentrate especially on these areas. It's not that the rest of the house doesn't matter; but these matter the most, because it's where potential buyers will focus most of their attention.

Carpet
For stains, Spot Shot is my go-to cleaning juice. In my experience, if Spot Shot doesn’t get it out, it ain’t comin’ out.

Toilet stains
For hard water/rust stains, try a pumice stone. Not just for pampered feet anymore, they come specially made for toilet cleaning!

Dust
Obviously, right?! But really tap into your inner Type-A this time.
  • If you have stairs in the house, go up and down, looking around as you go. Can you spot dust on any ledges or other super-small-surfaces-you-never-ever-think-about? (Buyers actually do notice dirt and dust on door and window ledges, even the ones where you're like "Oh, come on!")
  • Dust your lights and ceiling fan blades.

Bad Patches of Grout and Caulk
This skates the line between cleaning and repair work. But the point is that these bad patches make a place feel some combination of run-down and dirty.

Grout and caulk work is surprisingly easy to do. You can find videos online that’ll show you how. They even have grout patch kits that make it extra easy.

Windows
Everyone hates this one. But man, does this make a difference...interior and exterior! Not only does it remove dust and grime, but it brightens up a room so much you'll be like "Why wasn't I doing this all along--it looks amazing!"

Nature
Rule of thumb: No nature in your home, unless it's potted or vased. I'm talking dirt, of course; but also bugs. I know more than one person who could overlook muddy footprints, but couldn't see past a spider cricket.

Things I'd Consider Springing for

If it's in your budget, I'd hire out these jobs:
  • Exterior window cleaning above ground level
    Unless you're used to getting up on ladders, it's just safer to leave this one to the pros. Obviously, you don’t want to do this months in advance. Shoot for as close to the day it goes on the market as possible.
  • Carpet steam cleaning
    This makes a huge difference. But unless you have a steam cleaner, you'll save a lot of hassle by paying someone to do this one-time service.
Deep cleaning your home when you go to sell is one of those thankless tasks in life. No one will notice you did it. But, oh how they'll notice if you don't!

Ready to Buy or Sell Your Home in NoVa?

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