De-clutter before you list your home!

Ask any real estate agent how to make their life easier and better prepare your house for sale – and the answer will be focused around de-cluttering and organizing. The last thing any potential buyer wants to see is a cluttered house. Clutter will take away focus from your house, make it look smaller, and is just unappealing – and we all know that the first impression is the most important. Besides, if you’re serious about moving, you’ll have to do it anyway once the house sells.

So, how can you prepare your house to show better?

Declare a war on unorganized closets! Closets are important to potential buyers. They want to see potential – and closets filled with unwanted junk and debris is the worst advertising for your house. By reducing closet space, you’re devaluing your house – and that is counterproductive.

(Photo: Flickr user - polkadotcreations)

Clean up your kitchen - We all want a big kitchen to store appliances, to prepare meals and lunches, and to store food in pantries. Show its true potential to prospective buyers by making it feel huge by getting rid of all that extra stuff.

Don’t forget about bedrooms - Bedrooms are for relaxing. Less clutter – more relaxing. Make them feel peaceful and simple – no items on top of furniture, no clutter on night tables. Simple and tasteful do the trick.

Living room - Anything that attracts dust has to go. Doll collections? Pack it up. Stacks of paper on your table? Throw it away or shred it if it’s confidential. Newspapers for the last 17 years for later use? Let’s be honest, that’s old news.

Store smart - If you do decided to pack some items for later use, pack it smart. You don’t want to show a giant pile of debris in your garage – get some Rubbermaid containers and pack it away. They stack easily and your garage will look immaculate.

Purge! - It’s always a good idea to go through your items and assess them. Are you downsizing? Well, maybe it’s time to let go of some items. If you’re moving, no need to bring the items you haven’t used in years to your new place. Set up areas for everything you’d want to donate, anything that has to go, and anything you still have hope for. Maybe you can have a yard sale with all the items you don’t need! Maybe some items you just want to give away to your neighbours. Make the move easier on you by getting rid of some items in advance.

Give us a call if you need some extra help. We specialize in making houses look bigger.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.