Living in your home while it is for sale is like the movie Groundhog Day. Each day your home is on the market, you have to believe that it is the first day on the market and that it will be show to potential buyers while you are out. Often the call will come when you have gone to work for the day. “I’d like to show your home in a couple of hours.” Now what? Let ’em show because the odds are tomorrow isn’t going to work for the showing agent or the buyer.

Really, the best way to get your house show is to trash it and head out for the day. Seems like an agent will call every time. I recently showed a house and knew that it was being shown later in the day. The seller said it was messy and she wasn’t kidding. Breakfast plates on the table complete eggshells, unmade beds throughout and underwear on the bathroom floor. That may be everyday life but it can’t be that way while your house is listed. The distraction can be a killer.

Take a few minutes and think how you want people to see your home. It can be tough if the house sits on the market for any amount of time but you’re only hurting yourself more if the house isn’t in showroom condition.