Before broadcasting your home for sale, you want to ensure it looks its best, putting your best foot forward. But there are so many things to do when you are thinking about marketing your property. It can be tricky to know which tasks are important and which aren't. Here are a few ideas to ensure that your home is at its best and ready to sell, but don't overthink this so much that you delay marketing your property altogether.

-Declutter - One of the best things you can do to make your home look bigger and more welcoming. Particularly in photos online, where most of your interest will come from initially. The images will look untidy and cluttered if you have things stuffed under the bed or on the top of the kitchen units. If you have the detritus of family life on every surface, your home will seem smaller and cramped. Clear away as much as you possibly can. Not to the point of minimalism - this is still your family home, after all - but clear surfaces with just an eye-catching ornament, artwork or flowers can hit the mark.

- Ensure your home is as clean as possible before photos and viewing appointments.

- DIY - That door knob you've meant to fix for months. The scuffs on the walls that you've not got round to painting. Now is the time. Small DIY jobs give the impression of an uncared-for home and could lead the viewers to think that there is lots of work to do on your property. These are probably jobs that can all be tackled in a weekend. Make a list and get them sorted before viewings - it might increase your offers!

- Staging - once you are decluttered and cleaned up, it's time to stage your home. Look at the property objectively, as if you are the viewer, seeing it for the first time. Is the furniture positioned to make the most of the space available, or do the rooms look cramped and cluttered? Once you arrange everything, you can move on to flowers, ornaments, and perhaps artwork. Imagine your home is a showroom for a fantastic new-build site. Those sites employ interior designers to make the show homes inviting (to encourage more sales), so do the same for your home. You might decide to go one step further and set the scene too - lay the table for a huge family feast, or put a pot of coffee and a plate of cakes out on the worktop to entice those viewers.

Get in touch to find out more about getting your property ready for the market.