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Tips To Keep Your Home Show-Ready At All TimesOnce your home goes on the market, real estate agents may call to show you...
08/10/2026

Tips To Keep Your Home Show-Ready At All Times

Once your home goes on the market, real estate agents may call to show your home anytime, day or evening. Keeping your home "showtime" ready can be challenging, especially if you have children and pets.

What you need to stay organized is a handy checklist so you can be ready to show at any time. When you get the call that buyers are on their way, give everyone in the household a basket and assign them each to a room to pick up clutter quickly. Set a timer and tell everyone to grab up any toys on the floor, clear tabletops and countertops of junk, and quickly Swiffer-sweep the floors. Check for hazards like dog chews on the floor.

Turn on all the lights, and get ready to skedaddle. You have to let buyers have privacy so they can assess your home honestly. Take the kids for an outing. Put pets in daycare, sleep cages or take them with you:

Keep your home show-ready with these nine tips:

Eliminate clutter

Not only is clutter unattractive, it's time-consuming to sort through and expensive for you to move. If you have a lot of stuff, collections, and family mementoes, you would be better off renting a small storage unit for a few months.

Keep, donate, throw away

Go through your belongings and put them into one of these three baskets. You'll receive more in tax benefits for your donations than pennies on the dollar at a garage sale. It's faster, more efficient and you'll help more people.

Remove temptations

Take valuable jewelry and collectibles to a safety deposit box, a safe, or store them in a secure location.

Remove breakables

Figurines, china, crystal and other breakables should be packed and put away in the garage or storage.

Be hospitable

You want your home to look like a home. Stage it to show the possibilities, perhaps set the table, or put a throw on the chair by the fireplace with a bookmarked book on the table.

Have a family plan of action

Sometimes showings aren't convenient. You can always refuse a showing, but do you really want to? If you have a showing with little notice, get the family engaged. Everyone has a basket and picks up glasses, plates, newspapers, or anything left lying about.

Remove prescription medicines

Despite qualifying by the buyer's agent, some buyers have other intentions than buying your home. It's also a good idea to lock your personal papers such as checkbooks away. Do not leave mail out on your desk.

Get in the habit

Wash dishes immediately after meals. Clean off countertops. Make beds in the morning. Keep pet toys and beds washed and smelling fresh.

Clean out the garage and attic

Buyers want to see what kind of storage there is. Consider using plastic bins to store your items, or adding storage shelves to these locations to give potential buyers a true visual of how these spaces can be used.

Contact Scott Sutherland Content Marketing To Get Your Personalized Content. [email protected]

Down Payment Dilemma: How Do You Know How Much To Put Down On A Home?You'd be a homeowner right now if it weren't for on...
07/01/2026

Down Payment Dilemma: How Do You Know How Much To Put Down On A Home?

You'd be a homeowner right now if it weren't for one thing: the down payment. Right? Even for those who have decent credit and make good money, the down payment is often the great homeownership killer.

For many others, who do have enough money set aside to make a substantial down payment, the question is: how much? Conventional wisdom—not to mention most of the banks and a good portion of homebuying and financial experts—will tell you that 20 percent is the standard bearer when it comes to down payments. But is it really necessary to put 20 percent down?

The short answer is: no.

Now for the long answer.

"Raising a 20 percent down payment isn't an easy thing to do. Fortunately, you don't have to. "It's a myth that all homebuyers must have a 20 percent down payment to buy a home," says Nancy Herrera-Siples, a Riverside, Calif., branch manager at Primary Residential Mortgage on U.S. News. "So why do you constantly hear that you need to put 20 percent down? Because if you don't, it usually means you'll have to shell out money for either private mortgage insurance or government insurance, which is usually financed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)."

And there's another rub for those who are already struggling to come up with the minimum down payment: that extra couple of hundred dollars per month feels like a penalty. It's not, of course—"Mortgage insurance protects the lender in case you can't make your payments and the house is foreclosed on," said U.S. News—but that money can make a significant difference for those who are stretching to buy a home.

Still, when your only option to buy is a low down payment, which can mean an FHA loan, PMI might literally be a small price to pay. Especially if swelling rents are making homeownership look more and more promising. Remember that PMI does go away eventually when your loan balance is 80 percent or less of the home's value. If you're in an area where homes are rising in value, this could happen sooner than you think.

Still confused about the ins and outs of down payments? Here are a few reasons to go high…or low.

When to make a substantial down payment

• When you're looking to keep your monthly payment as low as possible and have cash to spare.

• When you just can't fathom paying PMI.

• When your goal is to buy a forever home and own it free and clear.

• When you are approaching retirement age and can envision a reverse mortgage sometime down the line.

• When you want to buy your house and pay it off as quickly as possible.

• When the rate is lower with a higher down payment. "The more you put down, the better position you are in for negotiating a lower interest rate with your lender," said Credit.com. Plus, a "low down payment might affect other loan features, such as…the points, which are upfront interest charges," said Banking My Way.

• If you're worried about being under water. If the market should drop in your area, you run the risk of owing more than your home is worth.

When to go low

• When you don't have the funds for a higher down payment and can't earn or borrow them quickly enough.

• When the rate on your FHA or Fannie or Freddie loan is comparable to that you'd get with a higher down payment.

• When you need to escape a high-rent situation and the monthly payment on a house is lower than what you're currently paying, even with the PMI factored in.

• When you're confident your home will appreciate quickly, allowing you to refinance and get rid of PMI quickly.

• When your investments can't be touched without a penalty or are returning better than the interest rate you'll get on your home.

• If you have something better to do with the money. "If you bought a $400,000 home, 5% down would be $20,000, while 20% down would be $80,000—a whopping difference. An immediate need such as a college tuition payment would make the smaller down payment more appealing," said Banking My Way.

• When you feel more secure setting money aside for emergencies instead of tying it all up in your house.

Expert Tips to Sell A Home with PetsYour pets are a member of your family, and you love them as such, but when it’s time...
04/29/2026

Expert Tips to Sell A Home with Pets

Your pets are a member of your family, and you love them as such, but when it’s time to sell your home, they can create a bit of a challenge in a few key ways.

You’re not alone if you’re trying to sell a home and you have pets. Around 60% of sellers have them, with 49% being dogs and 33% being cats. However, buyers either want to visualize their own pets in the home or, depending on their preferences, no pets at all.

Pets can also create messes and odors that can turn buyers off.

With that in mind, the following are some things to make sure you do before you try to sell a home where pets live.

Deep Clean

It’s important when your house is on the market that you keep it incredibly clean, and especially if you have pets. You want to make sure you get to the root cause of any odors as well.

For example, if you have rugs or carpets, you might need to have them professionally cleaned or even replaced to eliminate pet odors.

When you shampoo your carpets and rugs, it will draw odors out. You may need to do the same for your furniture.

Vacuum your home every day to further get rid of odors as well as fur and dander.

If there are any lingering odors after you deep clean, don’t just try to mask them. Instead, work to truly get rid of them. There are pet enzyme cleaners that work well. You might also want to put an air purifier in your home with a HEPA filter.

You have to be conscious of not just odors and cleanliness when you have pets, but there may be people who come into your home with pet allergies. You really want to focus on getting into every corner when you clean to erase any and all evidence of your animals.

Repair Damage

Pets can be destructive, and you may overlook some of this damage because you’re used to it, but possible buyers aren’t. Go through your home with fresh eyes and look for any pet damage that needs to be repaired, like scratched or torn furniture or flooring, chew marks on baseboard or window sills, or ripped curtains.

You need to do the same outside of your house too. Clean up pet waste, and cover any signs of digging in your lawn. Repair damaged fences and window screens too.

Put Away Signs of a Pet

Just like it’s a good idea to de-clutter and de-personalize your entire house when you’re preparing to sell it, you similarly want to de-pet your home. This means that you take out any cages, kennels, or play items. You should pack them up when your home is going to be shown. Put toys away, as well as food and water bowls.

Not everyone loves pets as much as you do, so if you can erase the evidence that they live there, that’s a good thing.

What About Showings?
If at all possible, put your pets elsewhere during showings and open houses. Maybe you put them at your neighbor’s house, for example, or you might even want to professionally board them. It’s really distracting to have your pets trying to escape their kennels when someone is looking at your house.

If your pets do have to stay at home, come up with a solution with your real estate agent. Don’t have them be surprised by your pets.

For example, maybe you can put them in the basement and leave a few notes if necessary.

Tell people in your note they shouldn’t try to pet your dog or cat, even if they’re friendly, because you never know how your animals will react to unfamiliar people, especially if you’re not around.

Finally, talk to your real estate agent about giving you plenty of notice before a showing so you can arrange care for your animals whenever possible.

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