Clutter collects on shelves, counter tops, drawers, closets, garages, attics, and basements. Your goal is to clear as much as possible so that the house seems more spacious and roomy; as many extra little things around the house can be cleared away, the better. Every house has an equal opportunity to look open and appealing to a buyer based on how well it is organized.
Step into the shoes of the buyer, take a step back and look around your home. Enter into your home with a friend and let them point out areas of clutter along the way, but be sure to accept their views without getting defensive; you are looking to sell your home and need an unbiased eye. Try walking through with your agent as well to see what helpful advice they may offer.
Besides the general spaces the house, closets are also a great place that clutter retreats to. Although you may not see it as clutter, these are the things you rarely use but refuse to get rid of such as extra clothes, shoes, and knick-knacks. It would be best to do without these things for a couple of months, store them in boxes and put them away in storage since they can make closets appear cramped and full rather than airy and wide. Make sure to also go through go through containers of “stuff” that has piled up through the years to prevent moving needless things to storage.
Further, clutter does not always result simply from just stuff collecting around the house but furniture as well. Many people often have too much furniture in a certain room, not too much for their personally comfortable living but too much in the eyes of a potential homebuyer are looking for an illusion of spacious living. As I have said before, it is never a waste of time to tour model homes in new builders’ developments to get an idea of how to place furniture and just how much furniture is ideal. Notice not only the amount of furniture but the placement in order to get an idea of what should remain and how it should be organized.
Another important place to look for clutter and most obvious places is the storage areas. Basements, garages, attics and sheds often amass a large amount of not only clutter, but junk as well. Be careful to empty these spaces as much as possible in order to open the window for buyers to imagine what they may do with the space themselves. Remove anything and everything that is not completely necessary to your remaining time in the house or have a garage sale to clear away the space.
Clutter is often an immediate turn off for many buyers and if the house does not look appealing at first glance, they will walk away before even seeing all that the house has to offer.
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