--- title: "How To Prepare Your Home For Sale | 14 Day Prep Plan | North Dallas | Raven Home Co." description: "A free 14 day plan for preparing a North Dallas home for sale, ranked by what actually moves the price. No renovation required." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Raven Mok", "jobTitle": "Real Estate Advisor & Former CPA", "description": "Raven Mok is a licensed Texas real estate agent and former CPA serving North Dallas. She founded Raven Home Co. under eXp Realty DFW and holds the CLHMS luxury designation. Fluent in English and Vietnamese.", "url": "https://ravenmok.com/", "image": "https://ravenmok.com/raven-mok-og.jpg", "worksFor": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "eXp Realty", "url": "https://www.exprealty.com/" }, "memberOf": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Raven Home Co", "url": "https://ravenmok.com/" }, "hasCredential": [ { "@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential", "name": "Texas Real Estate License", "credentialCategory": "license", "recognizedBy": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC)" }, "identifier": "0748093" }, { "@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential", "name": "Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS)", "credentialCategory": "certification" } ], "alumniOf": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)", "url": "https://www.pwc.com" }, "award": [ "RealTrends Top 1,000 Agents Nationally", "WSJ Top 1% Real Estate Agent", "Coldwell Banker 30 Under 30 (2021)", "2x eXp ICON Award" ], "knowsLanguage": [ "en", "vi" ], "areaServed": [ "Prosper, TX", "Celina, TX", "Frisco, TX", "McKinney, TX", "Allen, TX", "Plano, TX", "North Dallas, TX" ], "contactPoint": { "@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+1-408-234-9393", "email": "raven@ravenmok.com", "contactType": "customer service" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravenmokrealtor", "https://www.instagram.com/ravenhomeco/", "https://www.facebook.com/RavenHomeCo/", "https://www.zillow.com/profile/RavenMok", "https://www.har.com/ravenmokrealtor", "https://ravenmok.com" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": [ "RealEstateAgent", "LocalBusiness" ], "name": "Raven Home Co", "alternateName": "Raven Mok Real Estate", "description": "Raven Home Co. is a boutique real estate advisory team founded by Raven Mok, former CPA, operating under eXp Realty in Dallas-Fort Worth. Specializing in wealth strategy, new construction, relocation, and strategic home sales across North Dallas.", "url": "https://ravenmok.com/", "telephone": "+1-408-234-9393", "email": "raven@ravenmok.com", "founder": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Raven Mok" }, "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Prosper", "addressRegion": "TX", "addressCountry": "US" }, "areaServed": [ "Prosper, TX", "Celina, TX", "Frisco, TX", "McKinney, TX", "Allen, TX", "Plano, TX", "North Dallas, TX", "Dallas-Fort Worth, TX" ], "slogan": "Strategy First. Results Always.", "priceRange": "$$$", "knowsLanguage": [ "en", "vi" ], "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/RavenHomeCo/", "https://www.instagram.com/ravenhomeco/", "https://ravenmok.com" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Who is Raven Mok?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Raven Mok is a licensed Texas real estate advisor and former Certified Public Accountant (CPA) serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. She founded Raven Home Co. under eXp Realty DFW and brings a CPA's financial training to every real estate decision, with prior experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is fluent in English and Vietnamese and serves clients across Prosper, Celina, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, and North Dallas." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is Raven Home Co?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Raven Home Co. is a boutique real estate advisory team founded by Raven Mok, former CPA, operating under eXp Realty in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The team specializes in wealth strategy, new construction guidance, relocation services, and strategic home selling across North DFW." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What areas does Raven Mok serve?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Raven Mok serves the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with primary focus on Prosper, Celina, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Plano, and the greater North Dallas corridor in Texas." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What makes Raven Mok different from other Dallas real estate agents?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Raven Mok holds an active Texas real estate license and is a former Certified Public Accountant (CPA), with prior experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers. This dual expertise allows her to analyze the full financial and tax implications of real estate decisions. She is a 2x eXp ICON Award recipient." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does Raven Mok speak Vietnamese?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. Raven Mok is Vietnamese-American and fluent in both English and Vietnamese. She serves the Vietnamese community in Dallas-Fort Worth alongside clients of all backgrounds." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How can I contact Raven Mok?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "You can reach Raven Mok at raven@ravenmok.com or by phone at 408-234-9393. Book a consultation at ravenmok.com." } } ] } ] --- [![Raven Home Co. logo — North Dallas real estate advisory led by Raven Mok](/assets/raven-logo-CjGIhzkk.png)](/)[Chat with us](/contact) [Meet Raven](/about) Services [Cities](/cities)[Relocate](/relocate) Neighborhoods More [![Raven Home Co. logo — North Dallas real estate advisory led by Raven Mok](/assets/raven-logo-CjGIhzkk.png)](/) [AI](/lighthaus) [Chat with us](/contact) ![Neutral, decluttered North Dallas living room prepared for listing photography](/assets/living-room-moody-neutral-Dl5npzHm.jpg) Seller Prep # You Do Not Need To Renovate. You Need To Fix The Eleven Things A Buyer Decides On In The First _Ninety Seconds_. Most sellers either do nothing and lose on price, or spend twenty thousand dollars on the wrong things and never see it back. Here is the whole plan, free, ranked by what actually moves the number. The Fourteen Day Plan ## Four phases, in this _order_ The sequence matters more than the effort. Cleaning before you purge means cleaning around things you are about to remove, and shooting photos before the deep clean wastes the only first impression you get. Days 1 to 3 ### Purge and depersonalize ![Decluttered neutral living room with clear surfaces, prepared for listing photos](/assets/living-room-moody-neutral-Dl5npzHm.jpg) This is the target for phase one. Nothing personal left in frame, and one third less furniture than the owner lived with. - Empty every closet to roughly half full. A packed closet reads as "not enough storage" to a buyer, every single time. - Family photos down, diplomas down, anything with a name on it packed. - Counters cleared to no more than three items, kitchen and bathrooms both. - Remove about one third of the furniture in every room and put it in storage. Rooms photograph and feel larger with less in them. - Closet doors, pantry, garage, and laundry all get the same treatment. Buyers open everything. Storage costs about $150 a month. It is the highest return money you will spend in this entire process. Days 4 to 7 ### Repair the tells ![Entry foyer of a North Dallas home with a clean front door, trim, and hardware](/assets/interior-foyer-B4M8sUJ6.jpg) The entry is where buyers first look down at the trim and up at the light. Fix the tells here before anywhere else. - Doors that stick, rub, or do not latch. - Cracked or discolored caulk in showers, tubs, and around sinks. - Running toilets and slow drains. - Burned out bulbs, including inside closets and the pantry. - Loose cabinet and door hardware, every knob tightened. - Torn or bent window screens. - Visible nail holes, patched and touched up. - A fresh HVAC filter, and the vents wiped. - Any smell at all, pet, smoke, cooking, or damp. Smell is the one thing a seller cannot detect in their own home. Ask a neighbor to walk in cold and tell you the truth. Believe them. Days 8 to 11 ### Curb and light ![North Dallas home exterior at twilight with edged beds and warm exterior lighting](/assets/exterior-twilight-BUnnKxLL.jpg) Mulch, edged beds, and matching warm bulbs. This is the thumbnail buyers either stop on or scroll past. - Fresh mulch and cleanly edged beds. This is the single cheapest visual upgrade in North Texas. - Pressure wash the driveway, walkway, and any stone. - Paint or deep scrub the front door, and replace the house numbers. - Matching warm bulbs at 2700K in every fixture. Mixed color temperature makes photos look cheap. - Every blind and shade opened to the same height throughout the house. - Trim anything blocking a window or the front elevation. The exterior photo is the thumbnail a buyer scrolls past or stops on. It carries more weight than any interior shot. Days 12 to 14 ### Deep clean and stage ![Freshly cleaned and lightly staged living room ready for listing photography](/assets/interior-living-room-CzdzqF8h.jpg) Photo day condition. Cleaned to the baseboards, styled down, blinds set to one height throughout. - Professional clean including baseboards, interior windows, grout, ceiling fans, and inside the oven and refrigerator. - Beds made with clean white linens in every bedroom. - Towels replaced with white, folded, unused sets. - Trash cans, pet bowls, and cords out of sight. - Final walk with fresh eyes, room by room, from the doorway of each. - Photo day. Do not schedule photos before the clean. Photographers cannot fix a dusty baseboard and buyers notice it at full screen. ### What not to do before selling - Do not remodel the kitchen. - Do not replace flooring you dislike but that is in good condition. - Do not paint an accent wall. - Do not install a pool. Every one of those costs more than it returns at resale. The full return math, project by project, is on the [remodel ROI page](/resources/remodel-roi). The whole list above typically runs $1,500 to $4,000 in North Dallas and returns several times that. Renovation does not. Prep only pays once you know the number you are protecting. Start with a real value range on your address, then decide how much prep the spread justifies. [Get your value range](/home-valuation). ![Raven Mok, North Dallas real estate agent with eXp Realty](/assets/raven-portrait-XAM9lWve.jpg) Where This List Came From This list is not theory. It came from walking hundreds of North Dallas homes with buyers and listening to what they said to each other in the hallway when they thought I could not hear. The eleven things on here are the eleven things they always mention. Raven Mok Active eXp Realty DFW | CLHMS | Former CPA ### Take It With You #### Get the printable 14 day checklist The full plan as a one page checklist you can print and work through room by room. Plus my North Dallas vendor list: cleaners, handymen, and stagers I actually use. Text me updates about my home value and market changes. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. Send Me The Checklist One Number Changes Everything ## Start With The _Number_ Every decision a seller makes runs through one figure: what the market will actually pay for your house right now. Put in your address and I will send back a real value range built from live comparable sales, not an algorithm. Property addressGet My Value Range Active eXp Realty DFW | CLHMS | Former CPA ### Market Insights & Investment Updates Receive quarterly market analysis and exclusive off-market opportunities Subscribe #### Contact ![Raven Home Co. logo — North Dallas real estate advisory led by Raven Mok](/assets/raven-logo-CjGIhzkk.png) Strategic Real Estate Advisor [408-234-9393](tel:4082349393)[raven@ravenmok.com](mailto:raven@ravenmok.com) Serving Prosper, Celina, Frisco, McKinney & North Texas #### Navigate - [Home](/) - [About Raven](/about) - [Home Valuation](/home-valuation) - [Sell As-Is For Cash](/cash-offer) - [90 Day Sale Guarantee](/90-day-guarantee) - [Listing Marketing Plan](/marketing-plan) - [Rate Buydown For Buyers](/buydown) - [14 Day Home Prep Plan](/resources/prep-your-home) - [Renovation ROI](/resources/remodel-roi) - [Maintenance Checklist](/resources/home-maintenance-checklist) - [All Neighborhoods](/neighborhoods) - [Wealth Tools](/wealth-tools) - [Book Strategy Call](/contact) #### Neighborhoods - [Windsong Ranch](/neighborhoods/windsong-ranch) - [The Fields](/neighborhoods/the-fields) - [Mustang Lakes](/neighborhoods/mustang-lakes) - [Star Trail](/neighborhoods/star-trail) - [Light Farms](/neighborhoods/light-farms) - [View All →](/neighborhoods) #### Resources - [Rental ROI Guide](/guides/north-dallas-rental-roi) - [1031 Exchange](/guides/north-dallas-1031-exchange) - [Investor Advisory](/north-dallas-real-estate-advisor) - [Home-Buyer Roadmap](/resources/home-buyer-roadmap) - [Investment 101](/resources/investment-metrics) - [View All →](/resources) [](https://www.facebook.com/RavenHomeCo/)[](https://instagram.com/ravenmok.realtor)[](https://linkedin.com/in/RavenHomeCo)[](https://youtube.com/@RavenHomeCo)[](https://tiktok.com/@RavenHomeCo) The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) program of the Multiple Listing Service. 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