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Prepare Your house for Sell: De-Clutter

By
Real Estate Agent with Ivy Property Group, LLC

 In real estate, buyers buy space. The more space you're able to show, whether it be living or storage space, the more you'll be able to sell for. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Most people are pack rats. Rooms have too much furniture and you'll find stuff overflowing in every nook and cranny. There's little space for walking sometimes, much less for living.

De-cluttering is the process of reclaiming the space in your house from years of collecting and storing. Don't expect the buyers to ignore all this and imagine your house in its clutter-free state. Buyers sometimes see dozens of houses in one day and their brains are overtaxed. De-clutter so the buyers can see your house, not your mess.

If you do nothing else to improve the value of your house, at least do this. Remarkably, de-cluttering is free (it just takes time and elbow grease) yet a lot of sellers don't put enough effort into it!

Here are some advice and tips to get you moving,

1.    Check your inventory

Make four distinct piles: Trash, Return, Donate, and Might Need.

Trash Pile: Be ruthless! Dispose of trash as soon as possible. There's no point in going through the exercise and then letting it all sit in piles. You're just creating a bigger mess than when you started out. Eliminate the following:

Return Pile: Return anything that doesn't belong to you. You're going to be busy packing and moving your own stuff. Don't add to your woes by moving someone else's belongings.

Donate Pile: You will find things that are still in good condition but they're of no use to you. Feel guilty about throwing them away? Consider giving them to your friends and families, charitable organizations, or advertise in the free section of the classified ads in your local newspaper.

Might Need Pile: It's human nature to hog stuff. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Would you go out and buy one today?

• Do you know what it does?

• Did you even remember you have it

• Have you used it since your last move?

If you answer ‘No' to any of the questions, then you should consider tossing it or donating it.

2.   Restore Rooms to Original Function

Do your rooms have identity crises? In making your house a home, you may have overloaded a room to suit a purpose it wasn't intended for; for example, your family room also serves as a music room; the living room is doubling up as an exercise room; perhaps your dining room has been transformed into an office.

It may surprise you that many buyers are not imaginative and they believe what they see. When the rooms are in disarray with mixed functions, buyers will think the design of your house isn't well laid out or they'll think a room is missing altogether. This is why you must return all the rooms to their original intended use.

Your house becomes more organized because everything is in its rightful place. You automatically de-clutter the offending rooms because they have less furniture and fewer knick-knacks that don't belong. You won't confuse your buyers. They'll be better able to visualize their own furniture fitting into the room.

Instead of shuffling furniture from one area of the house to another, you should consider putting these items away until your house is sold. When this isn't realistic, perhaps your basement can be partitioned to host some of the secondary functions such as sewing, exercising, playing music, etc.

3.    De-Personalize

• This is very important. You want your buyers to visualize themselves living in your house, not you living in it. Personal artifacts distract so you have to put them away - photographs, souvenirs, trophies, medals and certificates, posters, religious items, and family heirlooms.

• If you're a collector, then pack away your collectibles and valuables. Don't forget your refrigerator's door as it is one of the most common place to hang cute magnets, memos, postcards and all sorts of personal stuff.

• The other reason to de-personalize has to do with safety. Buyers rummaging through your house are strangers and it would be better if they don't know who lives there, or have access to any other personal data.

4.    Pack for Moving

Once you've thrown away all the junk, returned the things of others, donated all the stuff you don't and won't need, and returned the rooms to their core functions, the house will feel a whole lot lighter and spacious. We're now ready to proceed with the next de-cluttering step: Packing!

You may be thinking, Is this premature? I haven't even sold my house! But you're going to, right?

Pack overstocked and off-season items. If you're selling your house in the summer then put away winter wear and sporting gear. Box infrequently used items: clothes, shoes, books, CDs and DVDs, cookware, small appliances, etc. Clear out all the stuff from your linen closet, kitchen cupboards and cabinets but for the essentials for day-to-day survival. You need to learn to live on bare necessities while selling your house. Pack now and you'll have that much less to do later when you move. Make sure you label the boxes so you know where they should go in your new house. Off-site storage is best.

All information taken from the following website:

http://www.prepareyourhouseforsale.com/declutter-house.aspx