Illness or an accident may strike a family member at any time. Or, they may require surgery or other care. And when they need in-home care during recovery, you may find yourself woefully unprepared.

Prepare your home

Caring for an invalid or person recovering from an illness reveals many areas in a house that do not work well with wheelchairs, walkers, or crutches. These include stairs, narrow doorways, and halls without rails. Turning radius requirements for wheelchairs notably, sadly are lacking in most homes.

Additionally, most baths and shower enclosures do not have grab bars, and something as simple as a faucet may be too complicated to manipulate if your family member's illness causes weakness or lack of feeling.

If your parents are aging and ill, or if you have a child or teen with ambulatory limitations, here are a few suggestions of things to do to make your home invalid-friendly and reduce some of the stress:

• Replace door and cabinet knobs with levers. A lever-style handle is operable with just one hand giving a gentle push.
• Add grab bars to any place where water might make it slippery, including inside and outside of bath and shower enclosures, and near the toilet.
• Switch out knob-style faucets for lever-style.
• Add railings to outdoor steps, and any interior steps, even if only one or two stairs.
• If possible, replace all interior room doors with 36-inch doors, the best width to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers.
• Add rails to long hallways.
• Make sure seating for meals is at wheelchair height if necessary.
• Keep clutter and extra furniture out of the way to remove hazards and barriers.

Prepare yourself

No matter how ill your family member is, you are of no help to them if you don't take care of yourself. Arrange for periodic relief. Sometimes you only need a breather, and other times you may need to get away for a couple of hours. Reach out to other family members or to friends or hire a care-giving service for those times you need to get away to refresh yourself. You can not give to your loved one if you have nothing to offer.

Prepare your family

Children in the home need preparation, information, and instructions regarding the ill family member. A child that used to run directly into grandma's arms might be confused about what to do when grandma uses a walker or wheelchair. Of, if Uncle Charles typically gets down on the floor to play with them, but has a broken leg and can't do that right now, your children may not understand. Preparing your children for what to expect in a gentle and non-fearful way helps them adjust to any temporary inconvenience your love one is subject to during recovery. 

If you expect to care for a loved one in the future, make plans to include ADA compliant options as part of your homebuyer checklist.

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Let's face it – clutter can be problematic, particularly for those who want to list a home in the near future. Lucky for you, we're here to help you cut down on clutter so you can add your residence to the real estate market as soon as possible.

Now, let's take a look at three tips that you can use to remove clutter before your list your residence.

1. Rent a Storage Unit

A storage unit offers a great way to protect your belongings while you sell your home. Then, once a homebuyer agrees to purchase your house, you can move your belongings from your storage unit into a new residence.

The price to rent a storage unit often varies based on the size and location of the unit. Therefore, you should shop around to find a storage unit rental that matches your budget.

Also, consider the items that you'll want to keep in a storage unit. If you find that the value of your belongings is less than the rental price of a storage unit, you may want to consider other options to declutter your residence.

2. Host a Yard Sale

A yard sale provides a wonderful opportunity to declutter your residence and earn extra cash at the same time.

Remember, one person's trash is another's treasure. Although you might no longer have a need for some belongings, these items could be valuable to the right buyer.

The best time to host a yard sale usually is a Saturday or Sunday morning. Before your yard sale, you should set up posters around your city or town to advertise your event. That way, you can stir up plenty of interest in your yard sale.

In addition, you may be able to sell items without leaving your couch. Listing some of your excess belongings online allows you to promote a broad array of items to a large audience.

3. Donate Items to Charity

If you're in a hurry to declutter, many charities may be willing to pick up household appliances, furniture and other items without delay. In some cases, you might be able to donate these items and receive a tax deduction as well.

Search for charities in your city or town and contact them directly to find out if they accept donations. Next, you can set up a date and time for a charity representative to pick up your items, or you may be able to drop off the items at a nearby location.

Decluttering your home may seem like an uphill climb, but a real estate agent may be able to provide additional assistance.

A real estate agent can evaluate your home and offer expert tips to help you declutter. As a result, you can revamp your house's interior and ensure your residence looks amazing before you add it to the housing market.

Take the guesswork out of decluttering your residence. Use the aforementioned tips, and you should have no trouble eliminating clutter from your home.

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A hot housing market features residences that buyers want to purchase as quickly as possible. As a home seller, you should do everything possible to stir up interest in your residence, even in a hot housing market. Because if dozens of buyers compete for your house, you may be able generate significant profits from your home sale.

Ultimately, there are several fast, effective ways to ensure you can maximize your home sale earnings in a hot housing market, and these include:

1. Conduct a Home Inspection

A home inspection allows you to identify your house's strengths and weaknesses. Then, you can take the necessary steps to transform various home weaknesses into strengths.

It won't take long to conduct a home inspection, either. Typically, a home inspector can visit your residence, perform the evaluation and provide an inspection report in a single day. This means you can quickly gain the home insights that you need to help you upgrade your residence prior to adding it to a hot housing market.

2. See How Your House Stacks Up Against the Competition

Take a look at the prices of available houses in your city or town that are similar to your own. This housing market data can help you establish a competitive initial asking price for your residence.

Furthermore, analyze the prices of recently sold residences in your area. With this housing market information, you can see just how quickly houses are selling and map out your home selling journey accordingly.

3. Consult with a Real Estate Agent

If you're unsure about how to proceed in a hot housing market, there is no need to stress. In fact, if you collaborate with a real estate agent, you can get the help you need to optimize your home sale earnings, regardless of the current housing market's conditions.

A real estate agent is a housing market expert who understands how to navigate the home selling journey. First, he or she will meet with you to discuss your home selling goals. A real estate agent then will develop a personalized home selling strategy. Finally, this housing market professional will list your home, set up home showings and open houses and help you get the best price for your residence.

Of course, a real estate agent is happy to assist you once you receive offers on your house too. If you get a home offer and don't know whether to accept, reject or counter it, a real estate agent can help you explore the pros and cons of all of the options at your disposal. Plus, a real estate agent can offer a recommendation about how to proceed with an offer, along with plenty of insights to help you make an informed decision.

When it comes to selling a house in a hot market, there's a lot that sellers can do to achieve the best-possible results. Use the aforementioned tips, and you can boost the likelihood of maximizing your home sale profits after you add your residence to a hot housing market.

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If your house is currently on the market or you're preparing to put it up for sale, the secret of success lies in the lyrics of an old popular song called "Accentuate The Positive." Although it was originally published in 1944, the song has been resurfacing for years on television, in movies, and music recordings.

"Accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative" may seem like basic, old-fashioned advice, but when homeowners follow it, they increase their chances of selling their home faster and for the highest possible price.

Although your real estate agent will provide a ton of helpful advice on how to present your house in its best light, there are dozens of things you can start doing now to improve its marketability, curb appeal, and the positive response you get from real estate agents and buyers.

• Avoid or minimize any aspect of your home and property that gives the impression of neglect. That could include anything from peeling paint and cracked windows to overgrown bushes and weedy yards. Weeds growing out of cracks in walkways, driveways, and concrete flooring often looks the worst -- but weeds, in general, always detract from the appearance of a home for sale.
• Reduce or eliminate anything that might create a feeling of "unpleasantness" in the minds of prospects. In other words, if there's anything about your home that might cause buyers to cringe, frown, gasp, crinkle their nose (in displeasure) or shake their heads, then you probably need to take corrective action -- and fast! A prime example would be pet odors, stains, and loose fur, which can be major turnoffs for many people -- especially if they have allergies!
• If little or no interior painting has been done over the past five or ten years, there's a strong chance that your walls are faded, marred, and looking worse for the wear. A couple coats of neutral-colored paint can often infuse a more vibrant, updated appearance to those tired-looking rooms. Subtle, light colors -- although, not necessarily stark white -- are often advisable. The objective is to appeal to as many people as possible, without taking any decorating risks that might alienate anyone.
• Speaking of "harsh versus eye-pleasing," your home's lighting is another important thing to scrutinize when looking for cost-effective ways to increase the attractiveness, appeal, and marketability of your home.

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