So you have made the decision to list your home for sale. Congratulations! Please remember, even in a hot market, even in a low inventory market, walking into a dirty home is an instant turn off. Period. Usually when touring with a buyer, the conversation in the car usually goes a little something like, “If they could not bother to keep up with their toilet bowl ring, or their piles of holiday catalogs, what else did they let slide?” Selling your home quickly comes down to two things: (1) Price it competitively for current market conditions. (2) Clean. It. Up. Really. Declutter your home to sell it.
Buyers want to envision themselves living in the home. If everywhere they look they see piles of laundry and unwashed dishes, the self-visualization activities stop. No one wants to imagine themselves being smothered by someone else’s gym socks. And then they move on. Hey, inventory may be low, but it is not non-existent. Lucky for you, you can usually declutter your home to sell in just a couple of dedicated weekends.
Catergorize Your Stuff
At the risk of sounding like a rerun of every home improvement show ever conceived by low-budget cable television, the process boils down to the following: Handle each item once and categorize it.
- Keep it. It stays in the home.
- Store it. You plan to take it with you, but it adds no value staying in the house while it is on the market.
- Sell it.
- Donate it. I like Vietnam Veterans of America because they will come to the house and pick up boxed items, though they usually cannot take very large item.
- Toss it. I am ruthless here. I will toss anything. Translation: You do not want me actively involved in your process.
10 Areas to Concentrate Your Efforts
Below is my list of 10 areas for you to concentrate on as you declutter you home in preparation to sell it. Walk through your house room-by-room. Take photos using your cell phone and see what jumps out at you. You might be surprised.
- Entryway. Should be clear of too many shoes, coats, umbrellas, gardening equipment, stacks of unopened mail and the past several years’ catalogs. A couple of well-placed items to set the mood is fine. The first impression should be clean and crisp. Think, “Honey, I’m home!”
- Furniture. Pare it down in each room so that buyers can walk through the space effortlessly. If you have to turn sideways to get between a bed and a dresser, move the dresser to another location in the home, or send it to offsite storage.
- Dumbells, Yoga Mats, Thigh Masters. Unless you have a dedicated exercise space in the home, exercise equipment should be put away.
- Bookshelves. These should be neat and tidy. Shelves should not be buckling under the weight of the tomes upon them. Any books that are stuffed sideways above other books should be put into storage. The ultimate secret is that they photograph the best when organized by color, but based on the looks I get when I mention this, apparently this is the ask of an unreasonable tyrant. So let’s just leave it with “neat and tidy.” Don’t even get me started on this home staging trend of loading books backwards, pages-side out. I can’t even.
- Rule of Three. Limit magazines out in the open to recent issues only, no more than three. Yes, it is a arbitrary number. But “Danni’s Rule of Three” is that three usually does not equal clutter. Please ensure that the magazines are in a living room or den, and not in the bathroom. For the record, the proper number of magazines in the bathroom while your house is actively for sale is zero.
- Cords and Cables. If you have cords and cables running all over the house, now is the time to eliminate as many as you can and neaten what remains. Don’t leave buyers wondering why you seem to have no usable outlets. Consider donating that VCR that you have not yet disconnected from your entertainment center. To a museum.
- Plants. If you fancy yourself a green thumb, now is the time to critically evaluate your indoor plant situation. Are we at “pops of green” or “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes?” Keep the ones that look great. Re-home the ones that are barely hanging on to someone who is not currently selling their home. Bringing the outdoors in can be nice, to a point. If you are asking yourself if your plant collection is “too much,” the answer is yes.
- Kitchen. This room is essential, and decluttering your kitchen is vital to selling your home. Buyers will open your cabinets; they will peek through your drawers; they will evaluate items left out on countertops. If you have any compulsive friends, now is the time to invite them over to ensure your jar labels face out, your dishtowels are folded the same, and nothing is prepared to jump off a shelf should someone open a cabinet. Clear magnets, coupons, calendars (regardless of the year), and artwork off the refrigerator. Tackle that junk drawer. Be ruthless. Non-essential appliances should go neatly into cabinets or to storage. This includes air fryers, Instant Pots, blenders, stand mixers, margarita slushy machines, waffle irons, crepe makers, tortilla presses, and panini presses. To name a few.
- Bedrooms. Ensure buyers can move around easily, that the beds are made, and if there are throw pillows or stuffed critters, you limit them according to “Danni’s Rule of Three.” Remove anything non-essential from the nightstands. If it does not provide light, tell time, or tell a story, it is non-essential. Pare down your closets, and if you do not currently have an organization system, I suggest putting like colors with other like colors for the appearance of organization. This is similar to my book recommendation, but for some reason the clothes being organized by color is met with far less resistance. I also suggest you reduce the closets to 50% full for the appearance of “so much storage!”
- Bathrooms. Finally, in the bathrooms, remove any and all reading materials. Put toiletries in drawers and cabinets. Lock up medications. Put out clean, matching towels and hand soap.
Follow the above tips to declutter your home, and you are well on your way to selling your home. Think of this exercise as excellent preparation for your upcoming move.
Local Resources:
Vietnam Veterans of America – will come to the house and pick up certain donated goods
FreeGeek – they may take some of your older technology.
Let’s Talk About Your Real Estate Goals
Danni Duggan and Charles (Bud) Garrison, OR Brokers, Premiere Property Group, LLC
- Danni: 503-719-2279 | danni@dannipdx.com
- Charles (Bud): 503-679-1893 | bud@dannipdx.com
Our real estate practice is built on a foundation of compassion, intelligence, wit, and a genuine desire to help our clients achieve their goals.
What is My Home Worth?
Curious what your home might go for in the current market? We have a home valuation tool that helps you understand what is happening in your immediate market.
Remember: No computer model can replace an actual Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) by a trained, experienced Realtor. Contact us if you would like a free, no-obligation evaluation of your home.
“I love your CMAs. They are so professional and easy to read. You’re the best.” – A local attorney we work with
Our CMAs really are the best. Because we are not just spitting out numbers. We consider the psychology of the market, and algorithms cannot do that. We put time and attention into our work product because your home deserves it.
Looking to buy or sell your home in the Portland area? We would love to work with you. We provide unparalleled client service and we are with you every step of the way.
Buying or selling outside the state of Oregon? Let us recommend one of our most trusted Realtor colleagues elsewhere in the country. We are proud of the community of Realtors throughout the country (and beyond) that we have built over the years, and it is our pleasure to help friends, family, and those who have enjoyed our blog articles to connect with excellent professionals who look out for your best interests throughout your real estate transactions. Drop us a line here and we will reach out to you!