Everyday life is relentlessly busy and messy. But you’re selling ‘the dream’! Not for your buyer the chaos and breaking tide of endless chores. Instead, a careful meditation on organised and stress-free living. This is what you must envision for the buyer and bring into reality. The challenge is to raise your house to its highest and best purpose.
One thing that can negatively define your space is clutter. You may look fondly upon your clutter and see beloved gifts and happy memories. A potential buyer looks at your clutter and sees, quite literally, junk. They don’t care about your possessions and it doesn’t help you sell your home. Give them room to breathe and see how easily they’re going to fill it with their own clutter! To keep down the level of angst, work systematically in one room at a time. Incorporating check-lists will make the job easier.
Focus and take 15-minutes a day, two times a day if possible:
- 5 minutes to fill a bin bag with items to throw away (have the recycle container handy and toss old newspapers and magazines)
- 5 minutes to fill a second bin bag with items to donate such as good clothing and knickknacks
- 5 minutes to fill a third bag or box with items to sell or put into storage
Put the last two bins in your car boot and deal with it as soon as possible.
Lastly, when you’ve cut the clutter to zero, list furniture and larger items to sell or give away. Damaged, dated and mismatched furniture should go first. Put small-scale furniture such as telephone tables and plant shelves into storage so the room opens up and appears larger with fewer distractions. The room may look empty to you, and possibly feel a little uncomfortable, but it won’t to buyers. They are buying square footage, not your stuff.
I prefer this method because you aren’t sorting and organising three piles at once while pulling rooms apart in such a way that if you have to stop mid-way through, you are completely overwhelmed by a massive pile of clutter.
Tip: Buy large, heavy-duty bin bags so they don’t rip.
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