No Brainer Do’s & Don’ts When Selling Your Home

We generally take a pretty serious approach in everything we do, but we thought we’d have a little fun and cover some definite “Do’s & Don’ts” when it comes to selling your home. We’ve seen a lot, probably walked through more than 10,000 homes, and have many stories we could tell. Here are a handful of simple things to be mindful of when your home is on the market.


  1. DO take good pictures. Scratch that. DO take excellent pictures. Use a pro. The very first impression of your home to a potential buyer will likely be your home’s main photo in a thumbnail gallery on website. This photo needs to be an actual photo of your home, not a picture of the other home your agent listed the same day, or six years ago. And if it is your home, the entire home should be in it….not just the left side of the front stairs and part of a window to the side of the house.
  2. DO flush your toilets before showings. Close the lids as well. Double check them. This is important.
  3. DON’T have scented candles burning during showings. Sinus problems, instant headaches, bye-bye buyer.
  4. DON’T leave your dirty underbritches laying around the home. Hey, don’t leave the clean ones laying around either.
  5. DO leave the house during showings. We have showing apps, reminder texts, showing confirmation emails, etc. Many agents do. Some don’t. If you have trouble remembering when you have showings coming up, get a reminder app for your phone. It’s hard to hear the doorbell, or the family of buyers and their agent piling through the front door, when you’re in the shower.
  6. DON’T leave loud, heavy metal music playing for your potential buyer’s enjoyment. If you feel inclined, low volume classical or jazz playing throughout the home works well.
  7. DO make the beds, clean the counters, empty the sink, etc., etc. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but cleanliness goes a long way.
  8. DON’T leave Max at home. Max is a good dog, but your potential buyer had a bad experience with that exact breed years back. Plus, her son is allergic to him.
  9. Speaking of pets, DO leave a note on the door if your cat is an escape artist. A thoughtful owner left us a note once that read “Please don’t let my black cat out.” As we were leaving the house, we noticed a black cat outside. We chased that cat for nearly an hour before the owner got back home and informed us that her black cat was the one sitting up in the front window of the living room….not the one we were chasing.
  10. DON’T cook tacos the night before a showing. This particular smell lingers, gets sucked up into the air return vent, and permeates throughout the house for several days.
  11. DO take down the old country duck wallpaper.
  12. DON’T leave up the old country duck wallpaper.
  13. DO Google “Country Duck Wallpaper Images” to ensure nothing in your house resembles this type of wallpaper.
  14. DON’T shy away from leaving out freshly baked cookies and mini bottles of water for showings. Agents like cookies. Buyers like cookies. We like cookies. We highly recommend the large, chewy chocolate chip variety.
  15. DO remove any creepy, life sized dolls or clowns that you have out for “decoration.” We’ve seen some pretty crazy things, but kids find these scary. And let’s face it, many adults find life sized clowns just downright disturbing.


If you follow these simple steps, your potential buyers will likely have a good experience when viewing your home. Obviously this is not an all encompassing list. If you have questions, or just aren’t sure about some of these items, please don’t hesitate to give us a call anytime. We’re always here to help.

The Carnes-Hyatt Group at Keller Williams Realty Trussville. - Jason Carnes 205.612.2616 or Jonathan Hyatt 205.617.9957