You Shouldn't Take It With You

A very dear friend of mine just realized her dream of eighteen years. She is now a homeowner. With all of the excitement of what was to come, G. began the arduous process of organizing the rental home that she had shared with her family for those first eighteen years of her marriage. What G. quickly discovered is that having lived in the place for so long, she had managed to cram every nook and cranny with all of their belonging accumulated up until that point. Although long past the baby years, for example, she had held on to baby toys and equipment, most of which was no longer even up to snuff, safetywise. 

My friend is a wise one. While the process of buying their first home was overwhelming enough, she knew that she did NOT want to take all of the clutter along for the ride. She decided that when they turned the key into their new home, she was not going to spend countless hours stuffing all of their castaways into closets, the garage, or the basement. Boxes upon boxes were filled for goodwill, some bags for trash, and a good amount for a massive yard sale that ended up netting G. about $650, which she has decided to use for a patio set in her brand new backyard! 

G.'s experience got me thinking. Since she was leaving a rental property, she wasn't going to need to sell her home and therefore she was in no need of staging it. But when a person is listing their home, staging as we know, will increase their foot traffic, offers, and ultimately the amount of money paid for the home. I know a lot of folks aren't keen on the process and say that they have enough to worry about, what with moving and finding their dream home. For those home sellers reluctant to "do the work" to get ready to sell, why not encourage them to get rid of all that stuff they don't want to drag along with them in the first place? I bet they will find the staging process that much easier with less useless clutter floating around!