There’s nothing like the idea of moving house to suddenly make it SO much easier to ditch the clutter and have a good sort out. But where do you begin with decluttering your home to sell? Whilst you might suddenly be spurred on by that ‘For Sale’ sign going up outside your house, it can still be a little daunting.
However, the prime motivator should be the fact that the majority of buyers want large, spacious rooms, and have a good old declutter is the fastest and easiest way to achieve that impressions, with no costly renovations or extensions needed!
Here are 3 steps to take if you if you want to declutter your home in order to sell:
Step 1
Remove the majority of personal items! We’re not saying that you need to make your home devoid of any personality, but when you take ‘yourself’ out of your home, you leave room for the buyer to imagine themselves living there. And that’s what you want! Removing most of your photos, collections of ‘quirky’ knick knacks and any ‘crazy’ decor will help hugely and make your agent’s life a little easier!
Step 2
Remove excess furniture. This may feel like an extreme measure but it’s completely worth it. For one thing, taking out extra furniture instantly makes your home look larger, so an obvious big win! Buyers aren’t going to miss those extra side tables or coffee table.
When you take out as much furniture as possible, you might think the room looks empty. But your buyer will look at the same room and think it has tons of potential, and that all their own stuff will fit and they can imagine where it could be placed. So definitely don’t worry if your room feels a bit empty.
Step 3
Declutter all your other stuff! You’ll be amazed how many people don’t sort out their belongings properly before they up sticks, and then pay to move it, and then eventually pay for a skip etc to get rid of things and their new property. In our opinion it’s much better to do it as soon as you’re considering selling, your home will have less stuff visually (see above steps), and you won’t have to have the hassle of packing it all up, and then unpacking at the other end only to get rid of it.
Be ruthless! It’s just as easy to declutter something as it is to pack it up (easier, in fact).
Switch thinking from, “I might need this” to “I probably won’t need this.”
You want to have clear or almost clear surfaces, clear everything off the fridge (some of our team have been guilty of this!), tidy up the toys and straighten up your garage. Don’t forget to declutter inside of cupboards, closets and drawers too. You’ll be surprised how many buyers look behind doors!. And if they see cupboards and closets overflowing with stuff, they’ll conclude that your home doesn’t have enough storage, which is not the best impression!
Are you decluttering your home to sell? What are your favorite tips? We’d love to hear them…
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