Two weeks ago I wrote about getting the exterior of your home ready to place on the market. This weeks article deals with getting your home in good interior shape prior to placing it on the market.

My first advice is to get ride of a lot of clutter and try and de-personalize your house. If you have lots of items strewn about the home, put these things into boxes and store them in the garage or basement. People looking at your home are not interested in your personal collections. Prospective buyers are mainly interested in how their furniture will eventually look when they take possession of the property they are looking to buy.

As a professional home inspector I have been a member of CAHPI (AB) for 14 years and have inspected thousands of homes and consequently having a home based on minimal clutter makes my job easier.

Aside from getting rid of excessive clutter there are other important items you should do in regard to home safety. Have all interior stairs in good working order and all stairs in the house must be provided with suitable handrails for personal safety. All guard rails should be solidly fixed and all spindles repaired where necessary. Naturally, all the stairs in your home should have an equal rise. This is tough especially if you have raised your basement floor with a sub floor for an added comfort level. Most stairs to a basement have at least 10 steps. Adding layers of plywood on each step and decreasing the thickness on each rise as you go up the steps is a method of repair.

Make sure all the lights and fans in your home function. In the same regard all exhaust fans in your bathrooms and kitchen should be cleaned and in working order. If you have a re-circulating range hood, review the condition of the charcoal filter. Replace if missing or in poor condition. Charcoal filters on a re-circulating range hood should be changed at least on an annual basis.

No extension cords should create trip areas or be located under carpet. All electrical cover plates should be in place. Access to the main electrical panel is required to have a three foot area of free space surrounding the main panel for easy access by service personnel. While reviewing the main electrical panel, ensure the main panel cover is in place, that there are no openings to the panel, and all the circuits are marked for what they control.

Be sure to test your smoke detector. Some older detectors require batteries, so replace where necessary. Generally all smoke detectors older than 10 years should be replaced.

All hardware on doors and windows should be in good working order. If insect screens are torn or missing consider replacement. Repair all broken windows and if necessary call firms that repair or replace broken seals in double glazed windows.

Clean behind your washer and dryer to eliminate build up of lint and to find the lost spare socks. Review the condition of the outside exhaust and remove any lint at the dryer vent. Also test the vent and replace any broken parts.

Clean your cats litter box. There is nothing worse than having a smelly, overflowing litter box in your home. Also clean up after your pets, especially if they have used the basement floor as a washroom.

If you have had any major repairs completed recently on your home, place the receipts in a folder and leave them in a place where a purchaser can see what major improvements you have completed over the years. It would also be a great idea if you had the records for the utilities, such as the cost of natural gas, the electrical and water bills, and an idea of how much the annual taxes are. Additional items might relate to the cost of satellite or Internet and of course the monthly cost of the security system and what is included in the security contract.

Plumbing fixtures should be free from any dripping units such as running toilets and leaks at the bathroom and kitchen faucets. Other plumbing areas should be reviewed to see no leaks are happening under your bathroom vanities and at the sinks in your home. If you have a humidifier, make sure it is in working order. Filters are required on most of the different styles of humidifiers.

Make sure your furnace ducts are clean, the furnace filter is in good working order and the humidifier actually works. While in the furnace room, make sure no flammables are located next to the gas-fired appliances.

Gas fired fireplaces should be clean under the access door located underneath the glass screen. Clean the interior of both items. If you never have cleaned the glass, all glass can be taken apart and cleaned with an approved glass cleaner.

I recently did an inspection on a home where the vendor did not follow any of the ideas I have written about concerning getting your home ready for sale. Unfortunately, the vendor did not get the best price for their home.

—The opinions and ideas expressed are solely those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Calgary Real Estate News. Paul Tobolski is the owner of Ability Home Inspections and can be reached at 519-6038 or 286-4663