How to Keep Your House Clean When Selling

keep house clean selling

Trying to keep your house clean when selling can be a bit overwhelming. Often, it has to be “show-ready” with very little notice.

Home buyers are extremely judgmental (and really, shouldn’t they be? They’re evaluating whether to spend thousands and thousands of dollars, for Pete’s sake). Whether it’s a fair assessment or not, most buyers tend to perceive a neat, clean house as one that has been well-maintained and likely has fewer problems. A cluttered, dirty home triggers the exact opposite reaction.

Savvy sellers keep dirt and clutter at bay daily when selling a home. That way when a real estate agent calls and wants to show the home, it’s ready to go. Check out our tips to help you keep the house clean for showings without losing your marbles:

Daily Chores to Keep the House Tidy When Selling

Reduce and simplify.

Not once in all my years of staging homes and hundreds of consultations have I ever walked into a home that didn’t need to “simplify and reduce” on some level. Buyers will view your personal treasured possessions with a very impersonal eye, and the “stuff” that makes your house feel like home may distract a buyer from seeing the beautiful bones of the house.

Focus cleaning efforts on the main areas of the house.

This is typically the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and primary bedroom. Stand in the doorway of each space and figure out what jumps out at your eyes first — start there!

Clear kitchen and bath counters and wipe clean.

Hide away any appliance you don’t use every single day. In the bathroom, keep daily essential hygiene products in a storage container you easily slide under a cabinet or into a linen closet.

Do a daily “clutter sweep” of the house before heading to bed to put things in order.

Keep a few baskets or bins around the house to scoop up and hide things if you get a last-minute showing request from an agent.

Manage the paper clutter.

File or get rid of bills and junk mail, as soon as it comes in — don’t let it build up!

Share a bathroom.

If you’ve got more than one in your house, consider having everybody just use one when possible to keep the others nice and neat.

Reach out to a professional home staging company, like Three Bears Home Staging.

We have lots of tips and tricks we can teach you to keep your on-the-market home more manageable by working smarter, not harder.


To help you keep the house clean when selling, we’ve put together a FREE downloadable Cleaning Checklist for Home Showings to make sure your house will sparkle and shine for every visit from a potential buyer. Click below to subscribe to our Library of Freebies to access the checklist and lots of other free goodies!

Keeping your house spotlessly clean while selling can be incredibly stressful, but a little daily maintenance can go a long way toward making the process more bearable. What are your tricks for keeping the house show-ready when selling? Share them with us here!

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Take a look below at some of the ways we’re helping homeowners all over the country…

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About Vannessa Rhoades
About Vannessa Rhoades

Vannessa Rhoades is the author of Just Right! Easy DIY Home Staging and the founder of the award-winning firm, Three Bears Home Staging®. She specializes in providing positive and empowering consultations to help homeowners sell more quickly and for more money. Vannessa has staged and consulted on hundreds of properties, both in person throughout the Houston metro area and virtually across the country.


Published by Vannessa Rhoades, Three Bears Home Staging

Vannessa Rhoades is the author of "Just Right! Easy DIY Home Staging" and the founder of the award-winning firm, Three Bears Home Staging®. She specializes in providing positive and empowering consultations to help homeowners sell more quickly and for more money. Vannessa has staged and consulted on hundreds of properties, both in person throughout the Houston metro area and virtually across the country.

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