Clear Clutter and Sell Houses Quickly
Your chances of selling house fast improve significantly if you eliminate clutter. Though curb appeal is important, once potential cash house buyers enter the house, they should be able to visualize themselves in it. However, they cannot do that if your things are scattered all over the place. Clutter signals confusion to potential buyers and minimizes your chances of selling house quickly.
If you are residing in a cluttered house, you might be oblivious to the disarray. All you see are souvenirs from a vacation and sentimental memories of your family. However, the buyer sees chaos. They can’t separate the clutter from the house. Even if your home is spotlessly clean, having stuff strewn all over the place is visually unappealing.
So what can you do to sell your house now?
- Rent storage space and clear out everything.
- Make the home neutral. Allow the potential buyers to see themselves moving their belongings in.
- Make piles of things you are going to donate, things you are going to throw away, and things you are going to save. Be as ruthless as possible. There is a lot of cash at stake, especially if you want to sell property quickly.
- Send the items you are donating to the local charity. If you can sell items online or have a garage sale, go ahead and do it. However, eBay, Craigslist and yard sales take time and effort which you may not have during the process of selling.
- Keep what you wish to save and store it away out of sight.
- And throw some things away.
The following are some specific areas you need to pay attention to during de-cluttering.
- Minimize furniture in your living areas. This makes the rooms appear bigger.
- Clear out coats, umbrellas, shoes, and other outdoor item from the mudroom or foyer.
- Move out large pieces of equipment. This includes amps, guitars, exercise equipment or drum sets
- Take down and store away your personal photos. Allow the potential buyer to imagine putting up pictures of their families on the tables, shelves and walls.
- Get rid of old books, magazines and newspapers. Recycle them if you can.
- Organize the wiring for your televisions, computer, printers, and other electronic devices so they don’t look sloppy.
- Take away the boxes of magazines, medicines, tissues and other items that might be on your nightstand. Keep only clocks, lamps, and maybe a book.
- Make sure your bookshelf looks neat and orderly, with a decorative item such as a vase or an art object.
- Clear out your kitchen countertops, leaving only essentials such as the toaster. You could also add decorative items such as bowls of unblemished fruit. And remove all the magnetic stuff stuck on the refrigerator.
- Get rid of dead and sickly plants, and only display fresh and healthy looking ones.
- Spruce up the bathrooms with some fresh towels, soaps and even flowers. Hide your toothbrushes, shampoos and razors out of sight when the house is being shown.
- Make sure all the beds are made and that all extraneous items such as clothes, shoes and toys are off the floor.
Stephan is a freelance writer, who often writes about sell house and house buyer .
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