There is never a better time to have a clean up than when you make the decision to sell. Why? Because if you don’t deal with the clutter, you’re going to have to pack it and move it into your new home – and no one wants that!
As an experienced real estate agent in our neighborhood, I like to remind my clients that decluttering your home is a great strategy for increasing the feeling of space in your home — and that’s an awesome selling point.
So, here’s my room-by-room guide to decluttering:
Living room
Because we spend so much time in our living rooms, we tend to stop seeing faults that will be blatantly obvious to a buyer walking in for the first time. A common mistake is to over-furnish a living room. Giant TVs and large sofas make the room feel small. Move this furniture out – either sell it or put into storage – and replace it with lighter and brighter alternatives.
Kitchen
Are your countertops crammed with recipe books and knick-knacks? Box them now and clear those surfaces. Strip all the fridge magnets and kids’ drawings from the fridge. Go through your cupboards, too. Every gadget you thought would save you time but you used only once or twice should go to charity, into a yard sale or sold online.
Bathrooms
Go through your vanity unit. Throw out anything that’s out of date or which hasn’t been used for a year. This includes medicines, makeup, sunscreen, old hair gel and miracle face cream.
Bedrooms
Kids’ toys should be culled, too. Keep the few key things they play with regularly that can be easily tidied away. Pack the rest and put into storage with the promise that finding them at their new home will be like Christmas. Pick up everything off the floor. Now is also a great time to cull your wardrobe to prevent items spilling out. Pack seasonal clothes or things in low rotation or donate what you don’t need.
Laundry
Laundries tend to be dumping grounds for everything from sporting equipment to old shoes and half-used cleaning products. Stick the cleaning products into a bucket and stow – they may come in handy once the movers have been and you need to give the place a good clean. Throw out, offer to friends or put everything else into storage.