10 Things to Do the Week Before Listing a Home for Sale

If your home is about to go live on the market, you’re probably feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement—and possibly a bit of stress about whether you will sell quickly. Selling your home is as much as a mental exercise as it is a real estate transaction, and it’s totally normal to be facing a bit of jitters. On the bright side, there is plenty that you can do in the week before listing a home for sale that can help ease your mind, and that may even help your home get under contract faster. As with most aspects of selling a house, taking active steps is usually going to get you better results than just sitting back and waiting for everything to fall in line on its own. So here are 10 things to do now, before your home goes live.

Start spreading the word

Toss out, recycle, or donate what you don’t need anymore

Start staging

Figure out a plan for kids and/or pets

Set expectations with your realtor

Boost your curb appeal

Find another place for personal items

Stow away valuables

Do some repair work

Deep clean

Selling a home is a major transition long before the moving truck arrives. Using the week before listing a home for sale to get your bearings and optimize your property for a quick sale is a smart idea for all sellers, and will definitely make the entire process easier on you and your family. If you ever have any questions about additional things that you should or should not be doing, ask your realtor about it. They’re there to make your own role easier as much as they are to facilitate the sale itself. So take a deep breath and then dive in—the more you get done now, the more simple the whole thing should go.