How to Prepare for an Open House: A Seller Checklist
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To prepare for an open house, agree on ground rules with your agent, put away valuables and personal information, then clear and clean each room. Before every showing, reset the surfaces, beds, bathrooms and floors.
What RECO tells sellers to do first
Start with the visitor plan, not the vacuum. The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), in its seller’s preparation checklist, says to speak with your agent before showings or an open house to set ground rules and ways to protect yourself and your property, remove all valuables, and securely store anything with personal information.
Use RECO’s open house preparation advice as your put-away checklist: remove small valuables from view; move fragile items on tables or ledges that could easily be knocked over; remove medications from every room, including the medicine cabinet; and keep bills, credit card receipts and bank statements out of view. RECO also recommends taking an inventory or pictures of your property and what you stored so you can identify anything missing, and considering removing personal photographs on display.
Work through that list room by room rather than gathering only what is on the kitchen counter. Check bedside tables, bathroom shelves, desks and entrance surfaces. Give the belongings you put away an assigned storage place, and keep your inventory separate from the items on display.
RECO also suggests asking your agent whether they will be present, whether visitors will be asked for identification and escorted through the home, and whether doors and windows will be checked before locking up. Write down those questions before your conversation so the plan covers arrival, movement through the rooms and closing the home afterwards.
Clear first, then clean
Clear counters, tabletops and floors before starting the detailed cleaning. Work across each room and sort belongings into things you still use, things to pack, and things you will not take to your next home.
- Counters and tables: Put away loose shopping, chargers and everyday objects. Lift the items you are keeping out so you can wipe beneath them.
- Floors and walkways: Gather shoes, bags, toys and baskets. Keep the route between doorways and furniture clear rather than moving everything into another room.
- Personal items: Pack belongings you can manage without while the home is listed. Label boxes by destination so you do not have to reopen them during a showing reset.
- Extra furniture: Pack away pieces you already intend to move and can do without. Clear the newly exposed floor and baseboards before returning to surface cleaning.
For donations, the City of Toronto’s donation and reuse guidance says to check what an organisation accepts and in what condition before donating; none want wet, mildewed or hazardous-waste-contaminated items, and donations should not be left outside drop-off locations or bins.
Keep donation items separate from packed belongings and arrange their handover before the open house. Otherwise, a cleared room can become a holding area for bags and boxes. Finish this clearing pass before washing glass or floors, so you are not cleaning around things you still need to carry out.
The clean, room by room
Use this open house checklist for sellers to work through every space visitors may see. Clean high surfaces before lower ones, and leave floors until the room’s dusting and wiping are finished.
Entrance and living areas
Start outside your own front door: wipe the door and handle, clean the mat, and sweep your walkway and steps. Then clear the inside entrance of shoes and loose belongings.
Dust reachable shelves, lamps and furniture from high to low. Wipe window sills and frames, clean window glass with a product and tool suited to the surface, then check for remaining streaks. Clean mirrors before working along baseboards and corners.
Lift small objects rather than dusting around them. Vacuum upholstered seating, including the spaces beneath removable cushions, and finish with the floors using a method suited to their material.
Kitchen
Clear the counters before wiping them, including the edges beside appliances and the backsplash. Clean the sink and faucet, then dry them so you can check the finish.
Wipe appliance fronts, cabinet fronts and handles. Degrease the range hood and the greasy areas around the cooking surface using products suited to those finishes. For a more detailed sequence, follow the steps for removing kitchen grease.
Clean accessible spaces under and behind appliances, not just the floor in front. Move only items you can readily handle, and make a separate plan for areas that need more access. Empty crumbs and food scraps from the places you have cleared before cleaning the floor.
Bathrooms
Clean the toilet, including its exterior and the floor around its base. Scrub the tub and tile, clean shower glass, and wipe the vanity, faucet and mirror. Check cabinet fronts, handles and the corners beside the vanity.
Put out fresh towels after the cleaning is finished. Return only the everyday items you need, with medications and personal papers already stored away.
Bedrooms and closets
Make beds and tidy bedside surfaces. Thin closets by packing clothes and belongings you will not need during the listing period, then dust shelves and vacuum the exposed floor. Avoid turning closets into storage for everything removed from the rest of the home.
Check under beds, behind open doors and along furniture edges. Clean those spaces before putting packed belongings anywhere nearby.
Address cooking smells, pet smells and visible stains as separate tasks: empty food waste, clean pet bedding according to its care instructions, and use a surface-appropriate method for carpet marks. In Business Insider’s red-flag advice, Lina DaSilva says stained carpets or unpleasant smells can be used to negotiate a lower purchase price.
Between showings: a short reset
Once the detailed clean is done, use the same short route before each showing. Keep the list somewhere you can consult it without leaving another item on display.
- Put dishes away and clear the sink.
- Wipe kitchen counters and the dining table.
- Make beds and return loose clothing to its place.
- Straighten bathroom towels and wipe fresh splashes from the vanity and mirror.
- Spot-vacuum visible crumbs, pet hair and tracked-in dirt.
- Take out garbage and recycling, then check the entrance again.
Keep valuables, medications and personal papers in their assigned storage between visits rather than bringing everything back out after each showing. Use the original put-away checklist as your final check before leaving.
Walk through the home in the order visitors will enter the rooms. Look for daily-use items left behind since the cleaning, such as a breakfast plate, a shopping bag or laundry on a bed. Then step out during the open house and let your agent show the home according to the plan you agreed on.
Planning access and cleaning in Toronto
The listing-photo preparation advice for homes in Harbourfront recommends a deep clean a few days before the photographer, followed by a regular visit before showings to maintain the kitchen, bathrooms, mirrors and floors. Treat the photo clean and the showing reset as separate jobs: the first prepares the detailed surfaces; the second handles what changes as you continue living there.
When to bring in help
Bring in Toronto Shine Cleaning when the detailed reset is more than you want to handle before photos. A deep clean covers baseboards, vents, door frames, reachable surfaces and floors; follow with regular visits before showings.
Booking-form base rates:
- Deep Cleaning: $259 before HST for Studio or 1 bedroom, 1 bath, under 600 sq ft.
- Deep Cleaning: $322 before HST for 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 600 to 1,199 sq ft.
- Deep Cleaning: $472.50 before HST for 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,200 to 1,999 sq ft.
- Deep Cleaning: $563.50 before HST for 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,000 to 2,499 sq ft.
Call (647) 424-0355.
Frequently asked questions
What cleaning supplies should I keep together while my home is listed?
Keep a portable cleaning kit with cloths, surface-appropriate cleaners, garbage bags and your vacuum attachments. Store it in an assigned cupboard rather than spreading supplies through the rooms, so you can put everything away together before leaving.
How can I keep working from home while preparing for showings?
Use a pack-away work setup: keep your laptop accessories and everyday desk items in a container you can close and store. Separate work documents from ordinary clutter so tidying your desk does not mean sorting confidential paperwork each time.
Should I book appliance interiors for the pre-showing clean?
Choose them as extras when you need them cleaned. Inside oven, inside fridge and inside cabinets are deep-cleaning add-ons. Make that choice around the appliances and storage you want prepared, rather than assuming an exterior wipe includes their interiors.
