Articles Tagged "Cleaning"

Raleigh homes for sale are carefully staged for one important reason: to make them look like something a potential buyer could picture themselves living in. For most buyers, a dirty carpet is a turnoff, so you'll want to clean yours before staging and showing it to ensure your house gives a good first impression. Here are a few tips from our real estate agents for getting your carpets into shape before your next showing.

• Move the Furniture
  It may be tempting to clean around the furniture, but the result could be eyesore patches of dirty carpet if you later move the furniture for staging or if a potential buyer peeks under the furniture or rug to see what is being covered up. Before your home joins the ranks of Durham homes for sale, make sure you do what professional carpet cleaners do and move all the furniture before getting started.
  
  
• Clean the Baseboards and Fixtures
  Before you start with the carpet, be aware of what could drop dirt onto your freshly cleaned carpets. Most people don't frequently clean their baseboards or their light fixtures, so chances are there is a buildup of dirt and dust that will fall to the carpet below if you bump the fixture or brush up against the baseboards. Clean that now, while the furniture is out of the way, and before you start on the carpet.
  
  
• Vacuum Slowly
  This is actually good advice for anyone, at any time, vacuuming their carpets: Take it slow. A quick pass with the vacuum leaves a lot of dirt behind. Slow it down and take your time vacuuming over every square inch of carpet. Be sure to take a second (slow) pass over high traffic areas. Your goal is to pick up as much dirt out of the carpet as possible before running the steam cleaner, to minimize the amount of muddy water you produce, and let the cleaner focus on removing the soil that couldn't have been removed with a vacuum.
  
  
• Pretreat any Stains
  Even if your carpet is clean, stains can be a real eyesore, and a steam cleaner alone may not be powerful enough to remove them. Remember, stains are just soaked-in soil. To improve your steam cleaner's chances at removing any stains, pretreat them first to loosen and dissolve the soil, making it easier for the steam cleaner to pull them up. You may need to repeat the process on that area if the stain doesn't come out with the first cycle of pretreating and steam cleaning.
  
  
• Air it out
  Part of the advantage of steam cleaning your carpets is that it'll make your entire house smell fresher, too. Dirty carpet tends to hold odors, but a thorough cleaning will remove those, and the smell of freshly shampooed carpets will make your house smell even better. Getting a fan going afterward will help your carpets dry, but open up your windows for a little bit, too, if possible. Getting fresh air moving through your home will help to eradicate any unpleasant odors and make it smell more appealing to potential buyers.

Making good first impressions is important when selling your home, so anything you can do to spruce it up will help its chances. For more easy project ideas that can help your home sell faster and higher, contact us today.

Not everyone loves cleaning, but everyone will agree a clean home shows the best! One of the best ways to keep your house clean is to create a cleaning schedule. This is especially important if you'll be selling your house soon, as Raleigh homes for sale need to be showing-ready at all times. Here are a few tips for creating a cleaning schedule you can stick to.

• Make a List
  First things first: Making a list is a great way to get organized. Whether it's a deep cleaning that's long overdue or just regular cleaning tasks, put it all on your list, and be sure to note how often it needs to be done. For instance, basic cleanup in the kitchen usually needs to happen nightly, but other things like laundry and cleaning the bathrooms may not need to happen more often than once a week. Whether it's once a day, once a week, or once a month, putting it all on your list will help you get an idea of how much work cleaning your house is going to require.
  
  
• Do a Little Each Day
  Are you the sort of person who prefers to clean a little each day so that you don't have to spend your time deep cleaning? If so, make a list of tasks to do each day, and then when you're done with those, you can do other things that need doing. For instance, you might clean up the kitchen and wipe down the counters every night after dinner, and when time permits, add in less frequent cleaning tasks, such as cleaning the oven. Our real estate agents recommend the daily clean approach if you're selling your home, as you can easily wrangle it back into show-ready shape even with a short notice.
  
  
• Pick a Cleaning Day
  If you don't have the time or the energy to clean every day, you might prefer to pick a day when you can devote a large chunk of time to cleaning. This might be on the weekends or even every other week if you do a little maintenance between cleaning days. Devoting one or two big days to cleaning is perfect for catching up on your deep cleaning or even getting your home ready to sell. This is also when your list comes in handy: You can keep tabs on everything you have to do and make sure you're moving quickly from one task to the next.
  
  
• Prioritize
  Whether you clean a little every day or hit it hard on one big long cleaning day, it's important to make sure you've prioritized your list. Note first the tasks that need doing the most, either because it's something that needs to be cleaned frequently or because it's just really bad. After you get those done, you can move on to less frequent or less pressing tasks, and so on down your list.

Keeping your house clean might not be much fun (at least not for most of us), but with these tips, it can at least become a little easier. If you're getting ready to sell your home and are interested in learning more about cleaning and staging a house for sale, contact us today.

With forecasted temperatures below freezing in the days ahead, it will be the perfect time to stay inside and knock out some easy-to-execute home projects. Consider these cold days your chance to get ahead of your spring sale staging plans and get to work on overlooked tasks around the house.

Battle the baseboards

Have your baseboards been collecting dust and dirt? It's time to tackle them. Use your vacuum to suck away loose dust and dirt in the baseboard grooves. Then bring out a sponge and soapy water to wipe away the remaining residue. A bit of elbow grease followed by a clean water rinse should leave your baseboards gleaming once more.

Raid the refrigerator and pantry

It's time to toss out expired condiments, too-old leftovers and stale foods that are taking up space in your fridge and pantry. Go shelf-by-shelf and drawer-by-drawer to toss out outdated items that are taking up space. Wipe down shelves with soapy water to remove sticky or smelly spills.

Clean the oven and microwave

Chances are your holiday cooking left your oven and microwave in need of a deep clean. Use your oven's self-cleaning option (remember to remove your baking racks) if your kitchen is well ventilated or make a paste out of baking soda and water that you can scrub on, leave for up to an hour, and then rinse off. While you wait for your oven to clean or the baking soda paste to set, you can work on your microwave.

Change air filters

When was the last time you replaced your air filters? It's time. Clean air filters will help your HVAC system run more efficiently and ensure that dust, pollen, and other contaminants don't recirculate back into your home.

Dust light fixtures and fans

Turn your attention to your light fixtures and fans. Are they donned in unwanted cobwebs and dust? Get out your extendable duster or vacuum arm extension and get to work. A microfiber cloth or fuzzy duster head will capture and contain the dirt and dust that has collected on fan blades, fixture arms and wiring.

Say goodbye to spider webs

Grab a clean broom, long-armed duster, or vacuum arm extension and go room-to-room checking corners, window crevices, and ceilings for cobwebs. If you have a textured ceiling that collects spider webs or dust bunnies, a feather duster is an ideal tool to use to avoid scraping off any speckles as you clean.

Sanitize switch plates and doorknobs

Has your family been fighting the cold-weather crud? Get out the Lysol or your preferred antibacterial cleaning spray and start sanitizing switch plates and doorknobs. Germs and grime won't stand a chance in your newly disinfected home.