Why You Should Declutter Before Listing Your Home

You’ve lived in your present home for a while now, and you have made the decision that it is time to move to another place and sell your current home. However, several things need to be done before you put your house on the market. One of them is to declutter the house and get rid of the useless stuff that you have accumulated over the years. There are several reasons why you should declutter the house before listing. The following are some of the top reasons.

• Increase space
• Lower Liability
• Find Potential Problems
• Removing Clutter
• BetterPresentation
• Makes Moving Easier
• Areas of Special Interest
• Keep Buyers Focused

Increase space

One of the first things you will notice when decluttering your home is that the indoor space will instantly look bigger. The perceived change in size will be noticeable. If you were to walk into a room filled with large objects such as furniture, it would look cluttered and smaller. Therefore, keep what is absolutely needed. Ask yourself questions like “do I really need the big sofa when I already have a loveseat and chairs?” or “does the room need a coffee table?” and so on.

Lower Liability

We live in a litigious world. In the context of home selling, what this means is that a cluttered home can be more dangerous to walk in when compared to a decluttered home. If a potential home buyer were to visit your home and trip and fall on something, then you could be liable for injuries. A decluttered home is a safer home.

Find potential problems

Once you start decluttering your home, you will find any potential issues. For example, if an area needs a new coat of paint or if there are plumbing issues, you will be able to better see them. Some home-buyers may even get suspicious if they see too much stuff. They may think you are trying to hide things with so much stuff everywhere. A cluttered house also traps dust and mold. Once you declutter your home, you will be able to take care of any issues, and the house will look clean and well-maintained.

Remove the clutter

When going through your home and deciding what to take, avoid the temptation of putting things in another place, such as your garage, closets, etc. The best thing to do is sell or donate the majority of these items. We do not want it sitting around the house. Clutter needs to be removed from the property. If you do not want to get rid of something, then consider renting storage space and leaving only items you absolutely will need before moving. The reason for this is that when buyers tour a house, one of the main things they look at is storage space. The less occupied a home appears, the better it shows, the more likely it will sell quickly.

Better Presentation

We live in the age of e-commerce. It’s not only electronics, food, or automobile spare parts people shop for online these days. It is also houses. Real estate websites are not only showing photos of new homes but also virtual video tours, Therefore, it is highly recommended to declutter the house in order to take good-quality photos and videos of nice-looking, neat spaces. No one wants to see videos or pictures of a room filled with furniture, bicycles, and entertainment systems.

Makes Moving Easier

An indirect benefit of reducing clutter in your home would be making the move to your new home easier. When moving day comes, things can get chaotic and stressful. However, the equation is quite simple; the less you have to move, the less stressful the move will be.

Areas of Special Interest

Depending on the size of your house, there may be areas that require more attention when it comes to decluttering. Areas of special interest can include the entryway, closets, hallways, bonus rooms, and family/living rooms.

The entryway will set the first impression when a client enters the house. In the world of sales, first impressions go a long way regarding a customer’s interest. If there are a lot of pictures, shoe racks, shelves, or even hooks that make the entry look cramped, remove them.

In family/living rooms, and throughout the home if you can manage, remove personal pictures, crowded bookshelves, or any personal / religous artifacts. Remember, home buyers are coming to see the house, not your belongings.

Keep Buyers Focused

The ultimate aim of decluttering a home before selling is to keep potential buyers focused on the property. The goal is for buyers to look at your house and come to a decision as quickly as possible. Clutter in the house will only clutter a buyer’s mind, and they will leave thinking they didn’t get a real picture of the house. 

Once your home is decluttered, the next step is home staging!

Need help with decluttering and prepping your home for the market? We can do that for you, all included in our standard commission!