What Should I Do in the Week Before My Home Goes Live?

Finish, do not start. The big work, the sorting, the repairs, the deep clean and the staging, should already be done by the week before launch. That last week is for walking the house with fresh eyes, reviewing the photos and the listing with your REALTOR®, putting away valuables, medications and private papers, planning where your pets and you will go during showings, and building a quick daily reset so the house stays ready without wearing you out. Then let the launch do its work. A calm last week is a sign the earlier steps were done right.

I'm Courtney Foster, a REALTOR® in Bozeman, Montana, helping longtime homeowners decide what their equity is for and move into a home that fits their life now. I do not just list a home. I launch it, and the week before launch is when the plan turns into a date on the calendar. Here is what that week should look like for you.

Because the first days on the market are the most important days your home will have.

Buyers who are seriously looking have their searches saved and their alerts set. When your home appears, they notice it right away, and that first look is when interest runs highest. If the house is not ready for those buyers, or if showings are hard to schedule, you spend your best week catching up. A home does not get a second first week.

The week before launch is your chance to make sure nothing gets in the way. It is not a week for big projects. Starting a paint job or a garage clean-out five days before launch is how sellers end up exhausted, the house ends up half done, and the photos end up showing it.

This is the bridge between Step 3 of the Simple Selling Method™, Home Preparation, and Step 4, the Lightning Listing Launch.

Walk the house like a buyer would

Early in the week, go out the front door and come back in as if you have never seen the place. Look at the front step, the entry, the first room you see. Open the closets and the kitchen cupboards, because buyers will. Check the corners that are easy to stop noticing when you live with them every day: a burned-out bulb, a sticky door, a drip under the sink, a pile that crept back onto the counter. Make a short list and finish it in the next couple of days. Small things are what buyers remember from a showing.

Review the photos, video and listing with me

By now the professional photography and video are done, and the listing description is drafted. Look through all of it with me. Does every room look the way it does in real life? Is anything in the photos that has since changed? Is there something special about the house, a view you love at sunset, a garden that blooms in June, a workshop you built, that a buyer would want to know? You know the house better than anyone. That is the week to tell me.

Confirm the price and the plan

The price was set in Step 1, Clarity and Plan, from real numbers, not hope. The week before launch is a good time to look at it once more together, especially if anything nearby has come on the market or sold since. It is also the week to go over the launch itself: what goes out, when, and what you will hear from me afterward.

Finish your seller disclosure

If your disclosure is not finished yet, finish it now. I go through it with every seller line by line, and it is much calmer done the week before launch than squeezed in after the first showing request. Here is what Montana's seller disclosure asks you to tell buyers.

Put away valuables, medications and private papers

Plenty of people will walk through your home in the first week. Most are serious buyers with their agents. Still, this is the week to put jewelry, cash, small electronics, prescription medications and personal papers somewhere locked, or out of the house entirely. Think about the mail on the counter, the bills on the desk and the checkbook in the kitchen drawer. Buyers open drawers. Nothing private should be in them.

Pack what you will not need in the coming weeks

You have to pack anyway, so why not start now? Anything you will not use before you move can go into labeled boxes, out of the rooms buyers will see. Every box that leaves a closet makes that closet look bigger. Keep out what you use every day, in tidy and limited places.

Make a plan for your pets

Not every buyer is comfortable around animals, and a wonderful buyer may be nervous around a friendly dog. Decide now where your pets will go during showings: with you, to a neighbor, to a sitter or to day care. Put away food bowls, litter boxes and pet beds before each showing if you can. Deciding this the week before is far easier than scrambling when the first request comes in.

Decide where you will go during showings

You will not be home during showings. Buyers need to feel free to open the cupboards, talk openly with their agent and picture their own life in the rooms. Even sitting quietly at your desk makes that awkward. So plan your places now: a coffee shop, a friend's house, a walk, a drive, the library. Having a go-to spot ready makes leaving for a showing feel like a routine instead of an interruption.

Build a quick daily reset

You are still living in the house, so the goal is not perfection every minute. It is a routine you can do quickly when a showing comes in. Put away anything that came out. Wipe the kitchen counters and the bathroom sinks. Fold the towels. Empty the trash. Turn on every light, open the blinds and sweep the front step. A small basket or bin for the things that are always out, the mail, the reading glasses, the remote, lets you clear a room in seconds and find everything again later. Practice it once or twice before launch so you know how long it takes.

Get some rest

This sounds small. It is not. Launch week can bring a lot of showing requests in a short time. Get the last of the work done early in the week and leave the final days quieter. You want to walk into launch week ready, not worn out.

Your home goes live midweek, typically on a Wednesday. Before that, buyers have already been hearing about it, so there is interest waiting on day one. Then the full marketing plan goes out together: the listing with its photos, video and tour, targeted digital campaigns that reach buyers who match your home, emails to the agents most likely to have a buyer for it, and fliers to your neighbors. You can read what a Lightning Listing Launch is and why the first days matter.

Your part is mostly two things: keep the house ready, and stay reachable. When your home is shown, I contact the buyer's agent within twenty-four hours for feedback, and you hear what they said from me. You will also get copies of the marketing so you can share it with friends and family if you like.

No. Be pleasant, say hello and make yourself scarce. If you come home and a buyer and their agent are still there, do not get drawn into conversation about why you are moving, how soon you need to go or how much interest there has been. Even friendly small talk can hand a buyer's agent information that weakens your position when an offer comes in. Every question about the house can come to me.

• Starting a big project in the last week. New paint, a garage clean-out or a kitchen update belongs in Step 3, not five days before launch.
• Skipping the photo review. You know the house best. If something in the photos is out of date or missing, say so before buyers see it.
• Leaving valuables and medications out. Put them away before the first showing, not after.
• Having no plan for the pets. The first showing request is not the moment to figure out where the dog goes.
• Staying home during showings. Buyers relax and look longer when the owner is not there.
• Trying to keep the house perfect every minute. A practiced quick reset beats living in a museum.
• Wearing yourself out before launch day. Finish early in the week and give yourself a calm few days at the end.

Do I need to move out before my home goes live?

No. Most people live in the house through the sale. The house needs to look open and cared for, not empty. A good daily reset is what makes living there and showing it work together.

How much notice will I get before a showing?

It varies by buyer and by agent. Some will ask a day ahead, and some will want to see a home the same day. Having your reset routine and your pet plan ready is what makes short notice manageable.

What if something breaks the week before launch?

Call me. Small repairs can often be handled quickly through the vetted vendors I work with. If something bigger comes up, you and I decide together whether to fix it, adjust the plan or move the launch date.

Can I still change the launch date?

Yes, if there is a good reason. A launch works best when the home is truly ready, so a short delay is better than launching a house that is not.

Should I tell my neighbors my home is about to go on the market?

You can, and many sellers like to. Your neighbors will also get a flier when the home launches. People who live near you often know someone who would like to live there too.

What should I do with the things I have packed?

Keep labeled boxes in the garage, a storage area or a room buyers will spend little time in, stacked neatly. If there is a lot, a short-term storage unit can help. The goal is rooms that look open, not a hallway full of boxes.

What happens if the first week is quiet?

Then that is information, not a reason to panic. Every listing is measured against my 10-10-0 rule: ten days without a showing, or ten showings without an offer, and something needs to change, either the price or the presentation. Here is the 10-10-0 rule in full.

A calm last week starts long before it, with Step 1. If you are still getting the house ready, start with how I prepare a home for sale, step by step and how to get ready for photos and showings. If you want a number first, start with a real value on your home. When you are ready to set a launch date, tell me about your house or call me at (406) 606-9551.

Courtney Foster is a REALTOR® in Bozeman, Montana, helping longtime homeowners decide what their equity is for and move into a home that fits their life now. www.CourtneyFoster.com