We all have favorite listers...lucky for us at MoonDancer Realty, they are all favorites. One of our new listings had its first showing yesterday and they have done everything right. Before listing they had a home inspection so as to avoid any surprises during a buyer's Due Diligence period, they decluttered the entire house, they scrubbed and cleaned an already clean house and they did all the minor maintenance things they'd been putting off...staining the deck, installing the solar accent lights, etc. The night before the showing I got a phone call from the seller asking if the prospective buyers would look in the closets.
Oh yeah. Buyers want to know how much storage space there will be in the house. In my experience the serious buyers aren't interested in the contents of the closet as much as they are interested in how much a closet will contain. The way to show them the space however isn't to jam it full of all the stuff that's been decluttered!
Sure it's tough to live in your own home without easy access to all of your stuff. Any real estate agent with a heart knows this. When a house gets listed is an excellent time to really consider the clutter. As you clean it up getting ready to have the photos of your house taken, here's a few simple rules to follow...
Anything that you look at and say
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"why did I ever keep this?" gets thrown out or donated.
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"I don't need this now but some day I will" gets put in a "some day" box.
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"I wondered where this was, I need it often" gets actually put away in the right place.
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"this hasn't fit in ages and I didn't like it back when" gets donated.
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"these shoes are only comfortable for half an hour" uhm...duh...donate.
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"this needed mending two years ago" gets donated or thrown out.
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"I wear this all the time in a different season" gets boxed into summer or winter boxes.
Remove this stuff from the living area! Nice neat stacks of boxes are acceptable in a closet if you aren't lucky enough to have a basement, attic or garage. Worst case scenario, rent a small storage unit for the overflow. The good news is that when your house sells, that clutter stuff is already packed and ready to be moved to your new house for further review in the future.
Our job is to guide you to a successful sale of your property. It isn't our first rodeo. We are trying to avoid getting the feedback from buyers that indicate they were unable to imagine their stuff in your house because your stuff stifled their imagination and visionary capabilities. Remember that you can only hide clutter until the door gets opened. So yes, the buyers will definitely be looking in your closets.
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