How to stage your home: It may seem a little obvious, but cleaning your house is by far the most important aspect of home presentation.

"It's surprising, but many people don't bother to really clean their house in advance of a sales campaign. I've been to some houses where the beds were unmade and there was washing up in the sink," says Vanessa Hamilton of Simplicity Interior Design.

Other estate agents talk of frenzied efforts to dispose of dirty clothing strewn on bedroom floors with viewers at the door.

While no one takes kindly to being told that their house is dirty, the reality is that all homes need a thorough overhaul before they are opened to the public. Everything from floors to windows and particularly bathrooms must be spotless. Ovens and other major appliances, drawers, cupboards and hard to reach corners must be ready for prying eyes.

A good spring clean is something most vendors can undertake themselves. If not, there are lots of good contract cleaners in the business, although with significant differences in price. For a once-off visit, Dublin cleaning firm Maid Brigade will charge €64 a hour for two cleaners, who will do everything from vacuuming, to polishing to cleaning windows. Usually a pre-sale campaign clean will take half a day.

Another firm, Liffey Maids, charges a once-off rate of around €280 for a two-bed apartment and €400 for an average three-bed house. The company will clean a house from top to bottom, remove carpet stains, polish furniture, get rid of clutter and give house presentation tips. It also offers an additional weekly maintenance service for the duration of the sales campaign. Make sure that the company's cleaners are fully insured.

Simplicity Interior Design 087 295 7161

Maid Brigade 01 8161472

Liffey Maids 1800 91 82 87