TOM’S TIPS • Episode 2
10 practical tips from Tom Shearer and Michelle Kyle to help your Edmonton home make the right impression from the moment buyers walk in.
A clean home sells faster. It’s that simple. Buyers can tell within moments of walking through the door whether a home has been cared for — and that feeling follows them all the way to their offer.
In this edition of Tom’s Tips, Royal LePage Noralta broker-owner Tom Shearer teams up with Michelle Kyle, a realtor from our Sherwood Park office who also runs her own cleaning company, to walk through a real home and get it show-ready. Together they cover the cleaning details that sellers most commonly miss, and the habits that keep a home in top shape while it’s on the market.
Here are 10 things that make a real difference. Most of them take under an hour.
Start With the Surfaces Buyers Look At Closely
The areas buyers inspect most carefully are the ones that reveal whether a home has actually been maintained. These aren’t cosmetic touches — they’re signals.
1. Clean Windows the Right Way
Don’t clean windows in direct sunlight. The product dries and streaks before you get a chance to wipe it off. Work with windows that are shaded, then move around the house.
Michelle’s technique: apply a good amount of spray, start on the outside edge all the way around the frame, then move to the middle and work your way down in a side-to-side motion. Change your rag every four or five windows. It sounds like a small thing, but streak-free windows make a home feel dramatically cleaner and brighter.
2. Wipe the Inside of Cabinets and the Fridge
Buyers open everything. Cabinets, the fridge, closet doors — all of it. Wipe down the inside of every cabinet and clear out any crumbs or spills. For the fridge, clean up any sticky spots and organize the contents neatly. A clean, tidy interior tells buyers the whole home has been looked after.
3. Polish the Taps
Use window cleaner on your taps — the same product you used on the glass. It cuts through water spots and buildup quickly and leaves the metal gleaming. It takes about two minutes per bathroom or kitchen sink and makes the fixtures look almost new.
4. Use Bleach in the Sink
For the inside of the sink basin, bleach is the right tool. It removes brown staining from tea and coffee, and it eliminates odours at the same time. Skip the Comet, bleach handles both problems in one step.
The Details That Signal a Well-Maintained Home
Buyers may not consciously notice these details, but they feel them. Small touches create a sense of quality that adds up across the whole showing.
5. Clean the Tops of Lights and Chandeliers
Most people clean at eye level and stop there. The tops of light fixtures and chandeliers collect dust — and in the kitchen especially, a layer of grease builds up over time from cooking. Running a cloth along the top of a kitchen chandelier takes thirty seconds and makes a visible difference. Buyers look up.
6. Wipe Down Light Switches
Light switches are touched dozens of times a day and tend to collect grime around the edges and corners. A quick wipe of the switch itself, the plate, and the surrounding area takes about ten seconds per switch. It’s easy to walk past, but buyers notice it up close.
7. Scrub the Toilet Thoroughly
Buyers look at toilets. Get the edges, the sides, the base, and anywhere else that tends to collect buildup. Make it sparkle. There’s no shortcut — it just needs to be done properly.
8. Clear the Entryway
A pile of shoes at the front door is a tripping hazard and immediately makes the entry feel cluttered. Move them into the closet, organized neatly. The effect on the feel of the space is immediate and costs nothing.
9. Clean Railings and Spindles
The stair railing is one of the most-touched surfaces in any home and one of the most overlooked at showing time. Spray it down with disinfectant cleaner, then cup your rag around the railing and pull it in one smooth motion along the full length to get proper contact.
Don’t forget the spindles. Michelle points out that kids grab onto them constantly, and they tend to build up grime, jam, peanut butter, general handprints. A thorough wipe-down here goes a long way.
10. Touch Up Walls and Moldings
There’s a common misconception that staging a home costs a lot of money. It doesn’t have to. Keeping the home organized, decluttered, and clean does most of the work. Beyond that, if there are scuffed walls or dinged moldings, a small amount of touch-up paint makes the home look noticeably fresher. A few dollars of paint is one of the best returns in real estate.
Bonus: Staying Show-Ready While You’re Still Living There
Getting your home clean before listing is step one. Keeping it that way while you’re living in it is the part most sellers underestimate.
Before You Leave the House Each Day
You never know when a showing request will come in. Before leaving each morning, make sure there are no dirty dishes in the sink or on the counters, shoes are put away, no clothes or laundry are left out, and the beds are made. None of this takes more than ten minutes, and it means you’re never scrambling for a same-day showing.
A Weekly Routine That Keeps Things Under Control
For sellers who’ve been on the market for a week or two and are starting to let things slip, Michelle recommends building simple weekly habits: make beds every day, keep laundry in hampers, wipe up hair and water in the bathroom after use, put accessories away, and make sure dishes are always put away. Once these become routine, the home essentially maintains itself.
Clean the Shower Drain Weekly
This one surprises people. Michelle cleans her shower drain every week, and there’s a real reason for it. When buyers notice a slow-draining tub, they often assume there’s a plumbing issue. In reality, it’s almost always just hair caught in the drain. A small drain snake (a few dollars at any hardware store) pulls it out in seconds. It’s routine maintenance, but skipping it can raise an unnecessary red flag during a showing.
A Clean Home Is a Confident Listing
Most sellers put in a big effort before listing and then let things slip over time. The ones who stay intentional about the details — the light switches, the railing, the shower drain — are the ones whose homes hold their impression across every showing, not just the first one.
As Tom summed it up after working through the house with Michelle: with a little bit of work, buyers get a great first impression. And that first impression is everything.
If you’re thinking about selling your home in Edmonton or the surrounding communities, we’d love to help you get it ready.
About Tom’s Tips
Tom Shearer is the broker/owner of Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate, one of Edmonton’s most established brokerages. Tom’s Tips is a video and blog series where Tom shares practical, no-nonsense advice for homeowners, buyers, and sellers across Edmonton and the surrounding communities.
New tips published regularly. Follow Royal LePage Noralta on social media to catch every episode.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not necessarily. A professional clean is never a bad idea, but many sellers get excellent results doing it themselves with the right approach. The key is knowing what buyers actually look at — and being thorough about those specific areas.
Ideally, give yourself at least a full weekend. Start with the deep clean, then tackle touch-ups and decluttering. Leaving yourself enough time means you’re not rushing and you can catch details you might otherwise miss.
The kitchen and bathrooms carry the most weight with buyers. These are the rooms that get the closest inspection. If you only have limited time, start there and work outward.
Build a short daily routine before you leave the house: dishes away, shoes put away, beds made, no laundry out. Add a weekly bathroom and kitchen reset. Once it’s a habit, it stops feeling like extra work.
