Do everything you've mentioned, including making sure the oven is clean, fridge is clean, inside cupboards cleaned and neatened, drawers in the kitchens and bathrooms, put away prescription medicines in a safe place, flower beds freshly mulched.

If bedding and curtains are looking old, I admit to buying new bedding, but I'm pretty picky. I also buy fresh towels if it's been a few years since I've had new ones. Closets, I'll clean out and give a lot to Goodwill. If the closets still seem crowded, I'll fill a cardboard wardrove and put it up in the attic. I like to use fresh fruit in the kitchen, I'll bake cookies or brownies when I have the time and I also like fresh flowers, but usually only purchased them for the weekends because that is when the majority of showings were.

Good luck.

I painted every paintable surface- not only the exterior of the home and interior walls but also the interiors of closets and the garage floor. I staged every square inch of the place including under every sink and every closet and shelf in the place. I even staged the contents of the fridge and the kitchen cabinets. I weeded and mulched and staged the entire landscaping, too as that and curb appeal represented the best parts of the property- there wasn't as much as a dead leaf in a tree.

I put 90% of my wordly goods into a POD for off premesis storage and left only the very few things that showed off the home and let as much empty floor space show as possible. I cleaned every day and shuffled each pet in and out with me when I left for the showings.

My friends and family thought I was nuts to go to such lengths, but my feeling was that I did not want anyone to be able to find anything wrong, or poorly maintained, or ugly anywhere. If it was in my power to make it perfect I did.

I sold in 30 days in the terribly tough South Florida market.

Like Cearbhaill, I painted pretty much every surface I could. I did touch-ups in the garage but, based on comments we received - the only negatives we got btw, I would definitely paint the whole garage for any future sale.

We also installed new tile and carpet throughout - replacing the impractical white tile and carpeting left over from when DH had bought the house.

I cleaned all cabinets inside and out, and used Howard's Restor-A-Finish on all wood surfaces since the house still had its original oak cabinets.

Another good tip I picked up from here was to add frames to the plain, sheet-glass mirrors in the bathrooms.

We updated door handles, faucets and light fixtures from brass to brushed nickel, and even installed new, soft-closing, toilet seats, lol.

In addition, we cleaned all the drapes and pressure-washed the driveway.

We also installed new tile and carpet throughout - replacing the impractical white tile and carpeting left over from when DH had bought the house.

I finally persuaded DH to remove a palm tree that was in totally the wrong place, and planted additional trees elsewhere. We also put in new sod since our dogs had ruined the old lawn.

Yes, it seems like overkill but, in our market at anyrate, most buyers seem to expect an older house to show just like a brand new one. That said, we bought our new house for the land, knowing it needed a LOT of work, lol.

Good luck with your prep :-)

Get rid of any houseplants that are not in perfect condition. The fewer the better, while none at all is best.

Remove all family photos. Truely! If they are displayed, the viewers will concentrate on them and not your freshly painted rooms.

Remove bathroom fuzzies. Buyers do not want to see your toilet seat cover, bath mat or other rugs. They see them as oogy. Buy new towels that are only displayed when the house is shown. Hide the toothbrushes, shavers, combs and brushes, bath toys. Bathrooms must look perfect in order to not gross out the majority of lookers.

Clean your windows and open shades, blinds, curtains to all available natural light. Make sure all lightbulbs work!

Stand across the street. What do you see when you look at your house? Crooked storm windows? Missing screens? Wonky shutters? Clogged gutters? Christmas wreath on the door? Shrubs blocking windows or walkways? Dead plantings? Garbage in the ditch? Mailbox w/ peeling paint? Spiderwebs on the porch ceiling and around the lights? Do the # of kid toys make the place look like a day care center and not a home?

If a buyer doesn't like the outside... chances are they may not even want to look inside.

I think the advice everyone gave here is excellent. What I was told is to make your house look like a model home. I don't think we reached quite that level, but we tried. We got rid of several pieces of furniture, sent some plants off to be babysat by a friend and even bought a new desk that fit our guest bedroom/office a little better.

We cleaned inside cupboards and closets and packed away a lot of things we didn't think we'd need to make things appear roomier. Cleaned the kitchen appliances inside and out. People don't want to look at someone else's dirt, so having a clean house, in particular the kitchen and bath, is very important. I'm not sure that each party you show the house to is going to look everywhere, but they might, and you want a positive impression.

One of the side benefits to all the packing and decluttering is you're then that much closer to being able to pack up and move out when you do sell!

We've done several of the things listed. Last time we sold, I painted the garage the white color straight from the paint store shelf so the garage would look clean and bigger. We had the whole house, inside and outside, repainted.

We've known our houses aren't our forever home. We plant the rose bushes, trees, etc., (curb appeal) that we would like to have within the first couple of years so that they are a nicer size when it's time to sell. I had one of those very fragrant, ever-flowering type rosebushes at the front door. You were forced to smell it as you unlocked the door. IMO, it along with the curb appeal made a very nice first impression.

In addition to much of what has already be mentioned.
Open the window coverings and in some cases remove them so all the light that you can get shines in.

I've been known to replace the mail box if it showed any signs of age which might detract from the house AND I always make sure the box has new numbers large enough so any idot could find the place.

Hide away all valuables and prescriptions. Close the tv cabinet up so it doesn't show. hide away DVD's and CD's.
Make sure the computer is off and can only be opened with a password.
Lock up the laptop.
Make sure you check your kids rooms that there's no personal info or valuables laying about like gameboys, piggy banks or loose change.
Put your mail away and out of sight preferably in a locked drawer. Leave nothing out that might hint at another offer, about your move or your job.
Take all spare keys with you. leave none including those for your cars hanging in the house, infact if you have a key holder remove it.
Remove valuable antiques from the house. Put in storage where they are safer from prying eyes and clumsy people.

I don't think this was mentioned - check your caulk. Gouged, dirty or peeling caulk can make the cleanest, neatest baths look tired.

My DH and I sold two houses last year:

1. We painted rooms that really needed a fresh coat of paint or to make the walls neutral.
2. We de-cluttered big time, including hauling two tons of junk from one house (leftovers from an ex-wife). We hauled stuff to the landfill, Goodwill, and into storage.
3. We had one house "staged" by a friend just getting into the business. Biggest thing I learned from her: Make sure every room has a purpose and that purpose is clear to the buyer.
4. We replaced caulking around one tub.
5. We removed all personal photos.
6. We kept the lawns mowed and weeded and free of debris, bushes trimmed, and put down a bunch of mulching.
7. We cleaned everything, including pressure-washing the houses and garages.
8. We bought new bedding, towels, etc.
9. We dropped our prices twice each.

Both houses took 3-4 months to sell. We thought that was slow. We didn't know anything! Houses in our area are now on the market 6 months to a year or more.

Good luck!

Had 2 shots at it.

First was from Zillow when someone called about our Make Me Move price. Then another one inquired, so we decided to go for it. Before showing, we completely filled a 5x10 storage to the roof with our clutter. CLEANED EVERYTHING (you MUST do the windows inside and out) and had the place looking great (space your clothes evenly in closets). Kids and dogs were gone, toilets were gleeming. One Zillow couple bought before we were ready to show, but the other came and offered that day...

Inspection comes and we broke the golden rule - ALWAYS MAKE YOUR HOUSE LOOK BETTER AT INSPECTION. We were cocky - we had the kids playing, boxes stacked, clutter about, dogs yappin'. Our buyers backed out. Buyers notice the good when they offer, but alway see the bad at inspection. It must be Karma as we had backed out of at least 3 offers after inspection over the last few years (usually from just a 'bad vibe')...

So we moved out, painted neutral, cleaned carpets, fixed every cosmetic fault, and listed flat fee. Of course we had updated a bit over the past few years, but we also priced very well (I had watched the neighborhood MLS DAILY for the past 2 years, and knew better than any agent what was selling). I truly believe houses show better vacant; we listed as "go" and never had to deal with the quick clean nightmare. We had 3 offers in 2 days. Sold over asking. Very nice since we avoided having to make a double mortgage payment by few days...