Putting your house on the market can be a stressful time, and trying to prepare for moving home alongside working with estate agents and navigating house viewings can be a lot to juggle. With a lot of house viewings taking place at short notice, it can be extra stressful ensuring that your home is looking in tip top condition – especially when daily life gets in the way. However, there are plenty of things you can do, even if you’re short on time, to make sure your home is looking its best for any potential buyers taking a look around.
You don’t need to show off the most spotless home, but making sure your home looks neat and tidy and showing off the best features can make the world of difference when it comes to impressing potential buyers. If you’re struggling with where to start when it comes to cleaning your own home, TikTok or ‘CleanTok’ – the cleaning hashtag on the app with almost 57 billion views, is full of quick how-to’s and cleaning hacks. Self-proclaimed cleaning lover and ‘clean-Toker’ Zoe, also known as CaptainMumCleans, who has over 65,000 followers on the social media app, shares how the little cleaning jobs really can make a big difference.
GetAgent spoke with Zoe (CaptainMumCleans on TikTok) to find out more:
“I’m a stay at home mum to five young children, and my husband regularly travels for work so I know what it’s like to be short on time with a million things to do. I wanted a clean and tidy home but strict schedules and long lists of cleaning chores which I couldn’t complete, left me feeling like a failure. I wasn’t lazy – I just couldn’t do it!
What worked for me was doing smaller jobs, and doing them regularly. Completing a small task gave me a win, which motivated me to do another small task and now I go by the motto ‘little and often’ – because small tasks can add up to big results. When it comes to getting your home ready for visitors, including potential buyers, there’s plenty you can do to make it look more inviting when you’re against the clock.”
Zoe shares her tips on how to clean your home if you’re short on time and you’ve got a last minute viewing:
- Open some windows around the house – fresh air is the best way to instantly revive a home and the scent of your home can be one of the first things viewers notice when they first walk through the door.
- Similarly if you have time, use your nicest scented cleaning spray on the front door or radiator of your hallway – or even spray some nicely scented carpet spray on your entry mat so that the first whiff of your home will be pleasant.
- Clear the sides around the home. From the kitchen counters, to the hallway side table, scoop up those junk piles from your kitchen hotspots (we all have them), and hide them! Shut the cupboard doors, drawers and a room can instantly look miles better.
- Clean the sink. Everyone loves a shiny sink and if it’s full of dishes or looking dirty, it can put viewers off. If you’re lucky enough to have a dishwasher, quickly fill it! If you really don’t have time to do any washing up, then fill the sink with a splash of washing up liquid to make it look as if you’re ‘working on it’.
- In the bathroom, grab your toilet cleaner and get some round the rim of your toilet bowl and use a cleaning wipe to get those taps and sink shining in seconds! Cleaning wipes are great because they’re already damp and smell fresh, and wipes are also brilliant at getting taps shiny in seconds.
- My best hack for quickly tidying the home is this – grab a laundry basket (I use Ikea bags because they fold up so small and hold so much), run around and just put everything in there. You can sort it out after the house viewing – but for now all the visible clutter is hidden.
- To make your living room look nice and tidy, plump the cushions and fold the blankets – it’ll make the world of difference.
- If you can, vacuum to get those lovely vacuum lines on the rug and carpet or even on your sofa.
Zoe continues with some additional tips: “If you have a bit more time to dedicate to cleaning, like an hour, use a timer and clean up what you can in each room of the house in 10 minute slots. Or even clean up to one song in each room – you’ll be amazed what you can do in a short amount of time with some tunes on!”
“When it comes to cheap cleaning hacks and making the most of some cupboard essentials, bicarbonate of soda is a great odour neutraliser. You can lightly sprinkle it on your carpets and vacuum up to remove bad odours, which is great for making your home smell more inviting when you’re short on time. However be careful, as a common cleaning error is to use bicarbonate of soda with vinegar (not knowing that they cancel each other out) – so use one or the other because they’re both good natural cleaners when used on their own. Vinegar is great for limescale removal, cleaning mirrors and glass, and bicarbonate can be used to remove bad odours from carpets, rugs, shoes, fridges, microwaves and sinks (rinse it down the sink with boiling water).”
Colby Short, CEO and Co-Founder of GetAgent comments:
“Whilst agents will always try to plan in viewings in advance, sometimes last minute viewings from really keen buyers do happen. We know that these last minute viewings can cause a bit of a panic when it comes to how your home looks, especially if you have children or pets running around – it’s hard to keep your home spotless when you’re still living in it. Zoe’s tips are great and show you don’t need a lot of time to get things in order – the little things like making your home look clutter free and smelling fresh can make a really big impact when it comes to impressing buyers.
It’s important to remember that a lot of buyers are not expecting to view a show home, so they will expect the house to look as if it’s lived in. But anything you can do to help show off the best features of the home, such as a sparkling kitchen or cosy living room will help leave a lasting impression on buyers.”
