So, you’ve chosen to put your home on the market. You’ve arranged your first open house, started hunting down a new home, and even made a mental packing checklist. This doesn’t mean you can simply relax and wait for the highest offer.

Simply waiting for offers to roll in is one way to make sure no one makes an offer. Obviously, that’s the opposite of what you want, but one wrong decision could lessen the chances of getting a buyer. And the worst of it all? You might not know you’re doing it.

Here are a few ways you may be keeping buyers away without knowing it.

1. Bad Color Palette: When you’re selling your home, you want to make it look good to everyone. This means using neutral colors and nothing too bold. A hot pink hallway may look great to you, but it may not look that good to the next person.

2. Too Much “You”: It’s not just strong colors to stay away from; it is also your personalized decorations. Personal decorations such as hunting trophies, family photos, movie posters, or figurines should all be kept away to keep your audience as broad as possible– at least until your home is sold.

3. Bad Odor: You may have become nose-blind to most of the odors in your home. This can include pet odors or even worse, cigarette odors. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, residual nicotine can be present in curtains, carpets, upholstery, and on walls for a long time after the time of smoking. What you really want to do is wash your fabrics, clean your walls, and shampoo your carpet to keep these odors away for good. If washing the walls doesn’t do the trick, then a fresh coat of paint may be the next step.

4. Not Flexible for Showings: The housing market moves rapidly, so if you want your home to sell you need to accommodate to potential buyers’ available times. Being told you can’t be in your own home sounds a bit strange, but it is very important to finding a buyer. Being in the home during a showing can create a sense that they are a guest and not the owner.

5. Hiding the Problems: While prepping your home for showing, don’t take the easy way out. Covering up mold with some paint is like putting a bandage on a broken arm; the problem is still there, just covered. If a potential buyer doesn’t find it, it will most likely be noticed in the home inspection. Small cracks above doors may indicate that the house has settled, but it could also indicate structural issues. Instead of disguising these problems with paint or lighting, make sure you tend to these issues beforehand so that they are fixed properly.