Preparing to sell your home can be an exciting, yet daunting, task. To make your property more appealing to potential buyers, it's crucial to declutter and create a clean, organized space. In this blog post, we'll provide you with a checklist of 20 things to declutter before listing your home for sale. By following these steps, you can maximize your home's potential and increase your chances of selling it quickly and at a desirable price.
Personal Photos and Memorabilia
Remove personal photos, framed diplomas, and sentimental items to allow buyers to visualize their own life in the space. The idea is for potential buyers to be able to envision themselves or their family in the home, which is not easy to do if there are too many of yours all around.
Excess Furniture
Create a sense of spaciousness by removing bulky or unnecessary furniture that clutters the rooms. You can always enlist some help from a stager to help if you don't know where to start! We can connect you with someone if needed.
Kitchen Countertops
Clear your kitchen countertops of small appliances, dishes, and clutter to make the kitchen appear more spacious. Running out of space? Think of easy ways to keep the counters clear, but also add storage like floating shelves or magazine rack to empty space, or adding some organization under the cabinet below the sink!
Bathroom Counters & Toiletries
Store personal Toiletries and clear bathroom counters to give a clean, hotel-like impression. This also ties into allowing buyers to see themselves in the space, so invest in some organization to help minimize anything on the counters in the bathrooms as well. If you have to have anything on the counters, be sure to limit it to strictly the essentials and store them away for showings.
Closets & Wardrobes
Organize and declutter closets to show off storage space. Donate or pack away clothing you no longer wear and store any clothing that is out of season. Go ahead and pull everything out of the closet-it's true that it is easier to make a decision on what to keep, or not, or store when you're looking at it from a different angle than how you see things everyday.
Kids' Toys & Games
Organize and store children's toys neatly to create a tidier and more spacious feel. Before you just pop everything back into the toy chest, go through it and let go of the broken toys, games with missing pieces, or toys your little one has outgrown. If you still insist (or your little one) on holding onto them, be sure to store them away in the attic or garage-don't let them take up space inside.
Pet Supplies
We suggest that you hide pet bowls, toys, and beds during showings. This will mean you will need to have a game plan ahead of time, with a designated basket or box for toys, and a space to hide everything conveniently.
Home Office
Organize your home office and tidy up the desk surface to present a functional workspace. Start by tidying up each day-push in your chair, clear off your desk, shut drawers, file folders and papers to their rightful home, return books to shelves, make sure everything is straightened up before leaving the room. Just doing this at the end of every day will help keep your workspace clean, and in order.
Excessive Decorative Items
There are two great rules of thumb to help avoid overdecorating: For walls, use the 60/40 rule: 60% of the wall can have artwork, but 40% should remain bare, whether this is a singular piece or gallery wall. For shelves, make sure there is empty space between items, and try to group differing sized, and textured, items in groups of odd numbers. When staging for selling the most common things you see on shelves are hardback books that are esthetic, small framed artwork, and greenery.
So, put away the knick-knacks that don't make the cut, cut down on the excessive decorations, and store the collectibles somewhere safe.
Overgrown Plants & Garden Tools
This goes along with a pretty well known listing checklist item-curb appeal! Trim any overgrown plants (inside included), store gardening tools and lawn maintenance items, and maintain all of your outdoor areas. This may also include making sure patios are tidy, blowing off the leaves from the porch, and making sure the lawn is well taken care of routinely.
Personalized Art & Wallpaper
I'm guilty of this one...I LOVE a pop of color and an accent wall. With that being said, when it comes time for me to sell my home, this is top of the list to be done. Make sure all your walls are back to a neutral color scheme and remove any bold or personalized wallpaper. While I may love the adorable giraffe wallpaper in my daughter's room, or the bold print in the guest bath, buyers may want that room to be an office or have a completely different style and will have a much harder time picturing themselves at home.
Excess Electronics & Cables
Whether in the office, game room, or living room these days there are cords everywhere! Tidy up all of your cables around electronics and minimize any visible cords. A great way to do this is to install the cord cover painted to match your wall, running them under carpet, or hooking them behind furniture so they are not noticed.
Old or Worn Out Rugs & Carpets
Here's the thing, if they look a little dingy to you, they are most likely going to look dingy to any potential buyers. Replace or clean any rugs and carpets that are in poor condition. Consider getting them professionally cleaned-it can make a world of a difference!
Kitchen Gadgets & Utensils
This one may seem silly, but think about it. If you're clearing off your countertops, the items you keep are going to need a new home. Clear out any rarely used kitchen gadgets and utensils, and leave only the essentials. A great mindset when decluttering is if you can replace it for $20 or less or in 20 minutes or less, let it go.
Unused or Broken Furniture
Time to say goodbye to the "I'll fix it one day" projects. Get rid of the furniture that isn't in good condition. Also go ahead and purge the furniture you won't use in your new home. There's no point in holding onto it if you have nowhere for it to go.
Expired Food & Spices
A great way to declutter is to check your pantry and fridge for any items that have expired and dispose of them. Take everything out of that spice cabinet and check dates, and take time to organize what is left. Do the same thing to your fridge, you'd be surprised how much you'll find!
Magazines, Books, & Newspapers
This one will help you declutter those shelves as well. Go through all of your bookcases, coffee tables, nightstands, etc, and recycle or throw away any old reading materials. From the college textbooks that are WAY out of date now, to the 18 TIME Magazines that are however many months old: don't be afraid to let them go.
Broken or Unused Appliances
Time to let go of the quesadilla maker you got in college, and make room for the toaster under the counters! While we're cleaning up the countertops, we also need to dive under the counters as well. While you're down there check and make sure all of your appliances are in working order, if they aren't-they need to be thrown away.
Excess Linens
I know everyone has always said it's always good to have back up sheets and towels, but when it comes time to sell your home you want as little as possible in your closets. Keep only a few sets of bedding and towels in the home, and store the rest elsewhere. This will help show off the closet space for buyers.
Garage Clutter
Organize and declutter your garage to make it appear more spacious and functional. This is another area where I would invest in some organizational tools like storage bins, shelving, or peg boards to hang different items to keep them off the ground. The more open space the buyer sees the better!
Decluttering your home before listing it for sale is an essential step in attracting potential buyers and securing a successful sale. By following these 20 decluttering tips, you'll create a clean, inviting space that allows prospective homeowners to envision themselves living in your property, as well as a clean canvas for your photographer to best capture the beauty of your home. A well-organized, clutter-free home can lead to quicker sales and better offers, making the entire selling process smoother and more rewarding.
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