Assessing your entrance

It may have been awhile since you took a close look at what you see when you walk through the front door of your own house. Run through the points in the following checklist to get your entryways and exits ready for prime-time viewing:

Replace worn or damaged flooring. If your house is priced like houses that have hardwood in the foyer but you have vinyl flooring, it’s proba-bly time to upgrade.

If you have to decide between replacing the carpet in one of the kid’s rooms and updating the tile in the foyer, spend your money on the foyer. The entryway is the buyer’s first impression of your house, and you want it to be a good one. Who knows? By the time they work their way back to the kid’s room, they may already be in love with the house.

• Add a mirror or artwork. A mirror or a piece of art near the entryway welcomes buyers.
• Clean and freshen up the woodwork, baseboards, and trim molding around the front door. Repair and repaint it if you need to.
• Polish the door hardware if it’s tarnished.
• If you have side windows or windows on the door, wash them inside and out.
• Wipe down the switch plates and outlet covers.
• Clean or paint the front door so it looks brand new.
• Depersonalize the space. Pack away and store all family photos and per-sonal items.
• Store all evidence of an animal in residence. Find tucked-away spots for toys, food bowls, leashes, and so on.
• Make sure that the weather stripping is in good repair.
• Remove the throw rugs or plastic runners. A rug at the front door is fine, but you don’t need rugs or runners trailing all the way through the front hallway. In a foyer, you’re selling space and a beautiful floor, so let the buyers see the floor. If the entryway is hardwood, don’t cover a square inch of it with a rug — hardwood is a selling feature.