Preparing a house to list

A listing photograph is a record. It keeps the stain, the crack, and the clutter that reads as damage, and it also keeps a clean room you left alone.

These notes sit with London Sellers Realtor. Preparation starts when you decide which of those records you are willing to publish.

Walk the outside, then the rooms a camera will enter

Walk the outside first. A loose board, a leaning rail, peeling paint on the door, or a downspout that has come away from the wall will show before anyone opens the interior shots. Then walk the rooms a photographer will enter: the kitchen, the bathrooms, the main living room, and the bedroom that gets the wide shot.

You are not building a fiction. Do not paint over an active leak to improve a frame. If you cannot fix the cause before the camera comes, leave the stain visible and say what it is. Concealment is not preparation.

Fix what shows, and name what you will leave

Make two lists before you book anyone. One list is work you will finish before photographs. The other is work you will leave, and disclose if a buyer or an inspector asks. A vague intention to tidy is not a list.

The first list is for defects a lens exaggerates. Ceiling marks in the room that gets the wide shot. Cracked glass beside the front door. A door that will not latch. Caulking that has failed around a tub or a sink. Missing hardware, so a hole shows in the middle of a door. A deck board that moves underfoot. Yellowed paint in a room that faces south. A light that does not work in a room you expect people to photograph.

The second list is for flaws that do not change the picture and that you have decided not to chase. A dated tile that is clean. A carpet you will not replace. Write them down so you do not later claim the house is freshly finished. The question is what the camera will keep.

Gather what you have, and admit what you do not

Paperwork is part of preparation because a sale generates questions you would rather answer from a folder than from a guess.

A survey, if you have one. If it is in a drawer, or with the lawyer who handled the purchase, get a copy into the listing file. If you do not have one, say so. A missing survey is a fact. A promised survey that never appears is a problem you created.

A current mortgage statement, so you know what has to be paid out on closing. The balance stays in your file, and with the lawyer who will need a payout figure from the lender. Have the current statement, not one from a year ago. Utility averages belong beside it: gas, electricity, water, and any other regular bill, across a year if you can, so a single mild month is not doing the talking.

Renovation invoices, for work you intend to mention. A roof, a furnace, windows, waterproofing, a kitchen that was actually replaced. The invoice should show a date and a scope. If you mention work and cannot support it, leave it out. An unsupported claim is a promise.

What not to promise

Preparation does not include a guarantee. You do not guarantee that an inspector will be satisfied, that a buyer will waive a condition, or that a closing date will hold. If you cannot stand behind the sentence later, do not say it now.

You also do not promise features the house does not have. If the water heater is rented, say so before an offer includes it as yours to sell. If a shed is going with you, say so before a photograph makes it look included. If a renovation was partial, say partial. When you are tempted to smooth a sentence, read it back as a line you might have to sign.

Price and offers are the next jobs. See pricing a listing and offers and conditions.