When selling your house, you want to make sure that it appeals to buyers. The number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and floor plan isn’t enough to sell your home. It must have a shock value to it when a potential buyer walks in, and when I say, shock, I mean it in a good way.

The last thing you want people to think when they enter your home is how much of a mess it is. If the first thought a buyer has when entering your home is a negative one, it will dramatically decrease the chances someone will want to buy it. Instead, you want someone to walk in and think, “Wow, I would love to live in a home like this…”

How do you achieve that reaction? One of the best ways is to make your home into a model home. Have you ever seen a model home in a new neighborhood? Everything looks so perfect. It’s decorated just right and it just seems so inviting.

Don’t think you can make your home into a model home? Here are some tips on how to achieve it no matter what your house looks like right now.

• Unclutter

Take everything that you don’t use regularly and box it up. You’ll be moving anyway so this will give you a head start. Don’t leave boxes all over your house, though, instead rent a storage unit to put them in.

• Clean

The dog nose prints and the sticky jelly countertops may not bother you, but they will pop out to potential buyers. Take time to clean your house top to bottom. You’d be amazed at what people will notice.

• Pick up before showing

Before a showing, vacuum all carpets so they look like you just vacuumed. It’s also important to make your beds, pull shower curtains across and pick up things haphazardly thrown throughout the house. The idea here is to make it as perfect as a model home but at the same time, livable.

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremylevinedesign/3197502527/)