ARTICLE - Decluttering for Selling

When selling your home you have a whole list of things to do (dealing with estate agents, finding a new home, getting the best price for your current home, mortgages, surveyors, change of address, schools, areas et…..), and more often than not, getting the house decluttered isn’t a top priority.

Why would it be? Well, the reason is simple – a decluttered house helps in ALL areas of selling your home:-

1.       PUTTING YOUR HOME ON THE MARKET – Before asking the estate agents to value, getting the home decluttered will help them to appreciate your space, and hopefully will get you the best asking price possible.

2.       FOR VIEWINGS - When decluttered, the space in each room and as a home overall can be seen and appreciated, making potential buyers able to make a decision easily on whether the home is what they want.

3.       FOR VIEWINGS - Buyers look on cupboards and want to know that they have enough storage for their things (one of the key reasons for moving is to gain more space). If your cupboards are bursting at the seams and the house feels like you have outgrown it, you will put off buyers who will think that there won’t be enough storage for them as well.

4.       WHEN RECEIVING OFFERS - A decluttered home looks better – and therefore may get a better selling price than if it was cluttered – you are selling a lifestyle.

5.       TO HELP YOU MOVE ON - Decluttering makes you think about what you will need and/or use at your new home. Even things like furniture may not fit into your new home so if thought about early enough you will be able to sell and get out of the old house earlier.

6.       DURING THE MOVE - Decluttering means that you will be ready to pack more quickly when you have sold, and the process of packing will be easier as the thinking about what is going or staying has been done.

7.       DURING THE MOVE - Decluttering means that you won’t be paying in time, money and effort for packing, moving, storage possibly, and unpacking items that you won’t want / use or need in your new home.

8.       IN YOUR NEW HOME – you won’t be stuck with things that you don’t need – you will have more space and be able to live more easily in your new home once the clutter has gone.

So in my mind, the single most important thing you can do when selling your home, is to DECLUTTER. It benefits everyone during the sale, and will make you feel more in control and lighter – ready to move on!