Practical Decluttering Tips for Busy Home Sellers

| Selling

One of the things our sellers dread the most is the whole idea of decluttering their home for viewings. As dreary as this might sound, it’s one of the top selling strategies we use to ensure your home is in OMG-I-need-to-buy-that-house condition. If you’re too busy to deal with it, consider this: Decluttering and organizing can add up to 10% more value to your home and help you sell twice as fast.

Here we share our pro tips and advice on how to declutter your home fast before selling.

Declutter Room By Room

Decluttering is an overwhelming prospect when you consider the entire home. But when you consider things room by room, it becomes more manageable. Whenever you find a spare moment, choose a room and start decluttering. Don’t move on until that room is finished. If you’re too busy to do a room in one go, no problem. Tackle the room in spurts when time allows.

Looking for more tips to get your home ready to sell? Here are some more posts you might enjoy:

Declutter Least Used Spaces First

Instead of choosing a random room, declutter the least-used spaces first. This might be an attic, closet, or garage filled with storage, or a room like your guest room/rarely used office. The reason this works well is that you don’t need the space, so you won’t be packing anything you use every day. In fact, you’re likely to find this process quite freeing as you toss a pile of stuff that’s been hidden away for years doing nothing but taking up space. Take that useless items I don’t need!

Use Three Piles to Sort Stuff

This is the basic rule of decluttering. You want to quickly sort things based on things you always use, things you use but not often, and things you don’t use at all. Follow these rules as you work:

  • Anything you need can be organized to help make your home more presentable while optimizing storage space. That’s a biggie for buyers and also kills two birds with one stone.
  • For things you use but not often, consider packing them now and sending them to storage until you move.
  • Anything you don’t use at all can be sold, given to friends, or donated. And don’t hesitate to throw away anything that is broken. Be brutal!

Enlist Decluttering Help

As the saying goes, many hands make light work. Anyone living in the home with their own “stuff” should help because a) You don’t want to make a major faux pas and throw out something they need, b) They can help keep you from either tossing stuff you should keep or keeping stuff you should toss, and c) Why should you do all the work?

Selling your home is a group effort. From your Realtor to tradespeople, movers, lawyers, and more. Here are a few posts about why it’s so important to have a good team behind you:

Keep Buyer Experience in Mind

Imagine your home from the buyer’s perspective and take steps to make their viewing experience more enjoyable and positive. For example:

  • Foyer: When decluttering the foyer, try to make as much room as possible for buyers to remove their shoes and hang their coats. Show them there is space for their stuff.
  • Living room: Consider how the room flows and if it invites people to mosey through the space without worrying about knocking your one-of-a-kind Etsy vase off that tiny little side table. What items of furniture can you remove, and what “tchotchkes” would be safer stored away until you move?
  • Create purposeful spaces: Life gets messy, and we often start treating living space like catchalls or closets. When decluttering, keep the room’s original purpose in mind so you can get it back to its original state. Here’s a good example. You’ve changed a spare bedroom into an edgy dressing room complete with sample sale clothing racks and all your designer clothes, shoes, and accessories on display. However, all the average buyer will see is that you don’t have enough storage and wonder why your house was listed as three bedrooms when you only have two.
  • Highlight your work area: Despite many employers making their staff return to the office, people still want a designated workspace. The area you use for work should be completely organized and highlighted to make an argument that you do have a workspace.
  • Outdoor space: Regardless of the time of year, declutter your outdoor space. If you have a balcony, set up your outdoor furniture, and if you have a back and front yard, clear away debris and set the stage for outdoor living.

Decluttering is all about creating a welcoming space that feels organized and spacious. Our tips can help you sell your home faster, increase your sale price, and save time packing later as a bonus.

Planning a home sale or purchase? We have you covered! Get in touch with The Christine Cowern Team today by calling 416.291.7372 or emailing us at hello@christinecowern.com.