Clear the Clutter and Sell Your Home  

Aug 13, 2013

By: Realtor.com Team 

You don’t have to live like a minimalist, but when it’s time to sell your home, rigorously editing your decor will help make the sale. Potential buyers want to picture themselves living there, and they can’t do that if your stuff is spilling out all over. Even if your house is clean, having things crammed in every nook is a visual turnoff.
Hiring a stager can help, but before you worry about making the place photo-shoot-ready, see how much cargo you can jettison. Make piles of things to save, to donate, and to throw away. Be ruthless. You can sell stuff online or hold a garage sale, but keep in mind that selling the house comes first and budget your time accordingly. You might be better off donating — some charities are even willing to pick up. For the things you’re keeping, consider renting a storage space and temporarily clearing everything out to make the house neutral.
As you declutter, pay particular attention to these:

• Furniture: Keep it to a minimum in your living areas so that your rooms look bigger.
• Entry: Clear out shoes, coats, umbrellas and other outdoor items from your foyer or mudroom.
• Equipment: Move out big pieces, such as drum kits or exercise equipment.
• Bookshelves: Edit your shelves so that you have a neat, orderly space with books and perhaps a few decorative items, like a vase, globe or art.
• Periodicals: Get rid of old newspapers and magazines, recycling if you can.
• Photos: Take down your personal photos. Let the buyer imagine pictures of their own family on the walls, tables and shelves.
• Cables: Organize the cords for your computers, printers, televisions and other electronics so that they don’t look sloppy.
• Plants: Get rid of sickly plants and keep only a few healthy ones on display.
• Kitchen counters: Remove everything from your countertops, keeping only essentials like a toaster. Decorate sparingly (bowls of unblemished fruit look nice). And clear off all those magnets, coupons, and children’s artwork from the refrigerator.
• Cabinets and pantry: Arrange the shelves neatly, with items and labels pointed in the same direction.
• Bedrooms: Make sure beds are made and all clothes, toys and shoes are off the floor.
• Nightstands: Take away the tissues, medicines and magazines and keep just lamps, clocks and maybe a book or two.
• Closets: Clean out your closets so they aren’t packed to the rafters.
• Bathrooms: Hide your razors, toothbrushes and shampoos in a cabinet while your house is being shown. Spruce up with some fresh soaps, towels or maybe flowers.

Diana Lundin wrote this article.
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