Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
Selling A Cluttered House
When you own a home, it is easy to accumulate a lot of items over time. With enough closets, spare bedrooms and a garage or shed, you can easily fill your home to bursting. When trying to sell that home, clutter makes your home seem smaller, ultimately eating equity and killing deals.
According to ERA Justin Sales Associate, Catherine Nimmo, “Getting rid of clutter is the first thing you need to do when you’re thinking of putting your home on the market, and, unless you move frequently, there are very few people who don’t accumulate more than they should”. Unfortunately, all of these items can really get in the way when you decide to sell your house.
Clutter makes it hard to think. Buyers want and need to see the full potential of your house to picture themselves in it, but that can be difficult to do when it is covered up in your things. You have to make room for a potential buyer to imagine their lives in what might soon be their home. Make separate piles of items to save, donate, and throw away. Less is more!
You can sell your items online, hold a garage sale, or donate. For the things you’re keeping, store your personal items in the attic or basement or consider renting a storage space and temporarily clearing everything out to make the house neutral.
By getting rid of extra seating, paring down the clothes in your closets and throwing out everything in the pantry that’s past its best-before date, you create the illusion of more space. After all, near-empty rooms always look bigger than rooms filled with furniture. Hiring a professional organizer to help with the process is very effective if a seller needs assistance.
Nimmo says, “Once you have removed all the clutter, you’ll want to do a deep-clean of your home”. If you do not plan on hiring a professional, go room by room cleaning- dusting, polishing, wiping, etc. If you have carpets, you will want to get them professionally cleaned. Hiring a stager can also help get the home show-ready once you have decluttered. A good real estate agent will have a portfolio of vendors to help you with all aspects of getting your home sales-ready.
The last step in the process is to take good professional photos. Most potential buyers these days are going to look at your house and its listing online. Good photos make all the difference, and will draw buyers. The cleaner it is, the less clutter it has, and the better the furniture is staged, the more amazing your photos will look. Spending time at this point of the process makes a big impact later on.
Catherine Nimmo and all of the ERA Justin Realty Sales Associates are available to help get your home ready to sell. Call (201) 939-7500 for all of your real estate needs. ERA Justin Realty is conveniently located at 118 Jackson Avenue or 57 Park Avenue. Both in Rutherford.
