What a surprise to find that the house you loved and worked so hard with a designer to make special is not to the liking of a realtor when you are putting your home up for sale. He or she is only pleased if you follow the format.  Did you know that there are ways to present your home to a prospective buyer and if you want to sell, you better learn what to do to make it saleable?

First, remove all personal photographs.  Poor Grandma’s photos are relegated to a box stored in the basement.

Second, no sign that an animal has lived in the house.  Therefore, get rid of those chew toys, the soft and plush bed that Freddie loves to sleep in and don’t forget his special placemat that holds his water and food dish.  Not only is that a trauma for Freddie but be prepared to remove Freddie from the house when a perspective buyer comes through.

Third, definitely no clutter allowed.  That means, pick up Dad’s newspapers and

magazines.  A book or two lying around is okay, shows you do read sometimes. My favorite of all is making sure the house smells good.  So what’s wrong with the nice smell of spaghetti sauce cooking?  Forget it.  Instead go out and spend sixty dollars on La-Tee-Da room fresheners. These are lovely ceramic urns that have a wick insert you light after filling the urn with fragrant oils.  Just took me an hour to choose a scent I enjoyed, not to mention spending an additional twenty four dollars for the oils.

In today’s difficult home selling market, we need to do everything we can to sell our home. So I made up my mind that I would follow the “realty rules”.  Just hope she brings someone through who enjoys the scent I picked out to make the house smell special.