Once you’ve made the decision to sell your home, one of the most important next steps is to prepare your home for the market. With the high inventory available in communities like Naperville, homebuyers can afford to be selective. They also want to move quickly. Our current Market Insight Reports show that in Hinsdale, Naperville, Oswego, and Aurora, homes sell on average in about 80 days.

We are often asked what home sellers can do to get their properties in the best possible shape before listing. Here are 12 ways to prep your home to sell. Your “Live and Love Local” john greene agent can give you specific recommendations targeted to your house and neighborhood.

1. Improve the Landscaping

Curb appeal is a powerful factor in both online images and in real life when home buyers drive by your property. Landscaping is a big part of that all-important first impression. A healthy lawn, pruned shrubs, and weed-free gardens speak volumes. Be sure to give the trees on your lot some care, too. You’ll want to get rid of dead branches or heavy limbs that overhang a roof. Buyers don’t want to see dead or dying trees on a property. Good landscaping can make your home attractive from every angle.

2. Clean Your Home’s Exterior

Savvy home sellers go beyond landscaping to present an attractive exterior. Power wash your home’s siding and roof to remove dirt and mold. Clean the gutters and all steps, decks, porches, and patios. Every part of your home’s exterior should look clean and fresh. Did power washing remove some paint? Be sure to repaint exteriors as needed.

3. Make Repairs Inside and Out

Tour the inside and outside of your home from a buyer’s perspective. You might not have a problem with door hinges that squeak or a mailbox that tilts. In today’s competitive market, however, these flaws can take your house out of the running. Make a list of all needed repairs and get them done DIY-style, by hiring professionals, or a combination of both.

4. Spruce Up All Entryways

Home sellers commonly improve the front door with a new coat of paint, new hardware, and a new welcome mat. That’s a great idea, but don’t stop there. An improved front door will make all your other entryways look worn out. Give them all some love to make them uniformly fresh and appealing.

5. Clean Out Garage, Attic, and Storage Areas

Homebuyers want to see how much space is available in the garage, attic, and any other storage areas. They don’t want to see your stuff. Help them visualize their stuff in these high-value areas. Clean out the garage and attic and any other storage areas so all buyers see is glorious, unfilled space.

6. Purge and Organize Closets and Cabinets

Make closets and built-in cabinets look roomy by purging and organizing their contents. Pare down clothing, kitchenware, bathroom items, coats, and anything in your house that’s stored in a closet or cabinet. Overstuffed closets send a message that your house doesn’t have sufficient storage space.

7. Depersonalize Your House Inside and Out

Homebuyers want to visualize living in your home with their own possessions. You can help them by removing objects that make your home YOU. The goal is to present a clean, impersonal space.

Family photographs, collectibles, sports paraphernalia, and hobby equipment add clutter and get in the way of the clean, spacious look you want. Pack up these items in advance of listing your home. Move the boxes off the premises in a separate location, such as a rented storage space. Don’t put them in the attic or basement. When moving day comes, you’ll already have these items packed.

Don’t neglect to depersonalize the exterior of your home. Remove distractions like garden sculptures, wind chimes, bird feeders, decorative flags, and the like. Gather and stow stray garden equipment, sports gear, and toys. And before a showing, walk through the yard to make sure these items are gone. Your goal is to present an uncluttered, clean yard.

8. Declutter the House

Household possessions sometimes fade into the background, especially if you’ve lived in your home for years. You may no longer notice the tabletop objects or the items on the mantlepiece.

Conversely, you may treasure that collection of vases—or guitars—or refrigerator magnets—or movie posters. To a home seller, however, those items create clutter and steal focus on what home buyers want to see. What home buyers want to see is space for their own belongings.

So pack up that collection of vintage clocks and take down the Mardi Gras masks. Tour the house and collect items you no longer use or don’t want to keep. Donate them or sell them.

Give special attention to decluttering the kitchen. Any kitchen will look bigger with cleared-off counters. Remove piles of mail and magazines. Put away kitchen gear. Better yet, get rid of kitchenware you no longer use.

9. Clean, Clean, Clean

Decluttering makes it easier to clean. And a decluttered house is easier to keep clean. When your house is for sale, every room and every surface must be immaculately clean. This includes windows, bathroom fixtures, floors, walls, and woodwork. Don’t forget kitchen appliances. Prospective buyers may replace that stove or dishwasher. But when they view your home, your kitchen appliances should sparkle and shine.

10. Do Selective Repainting

The standard advice when selling a home is to have interiors walls with neutral colors. If your home already has those, make sure the paint is in good shape. Rooms with faded, neutral shades can distract buyers just as much as bold colors.

If your walls are in good shape, you might give the woodwork a fresh coat of paint. Or you might have one or two rooms with outdated or overly dramatic color. Paint is inexpensive and goes a long way toward improving a home’s interior.

11. Brighten and Enlighten

Before every viewing, open shades and curtains to bring in as much natural light as possible into every room. Turn on overhead lights and lamps. Are rooms too dim? Add a strategically placed floor lamp or change the bulbs for brighter ones.

12. Make Small Renovations

Small changes can make your home more attractive to buyers—without a big investment on your part. Consider replacing outdated faucets or lighting fixtures, for example. You also might consider refinishing hardwood floors or replacing outdated flooring in a bathroom or kitchen.