3 Tricks to Remove Clutter and Not Scare Buyers
Categories: Chattanooga Real Estate News, Home Maintenance
“The most important thing most people can do to improve their home is to clear out, clean up, and get rid of clutter.”
Be merciless as you go about purging your cherished possessions. If you haven’t used it in three months box it up and store it away; if you haven’t used it in a year, get rid of it.
Make a new rule in your home, anything new that comes in, something old has to leave.
If your bookshelves are bursting at the seams, for instance, “clear them off and start over”. It is okay to have empty space around your books and knickknacks.
1. Inexpensive baskets make great hiding places for unsightly paperbacks, and add texture and visual interest.
2. Books stacked vertically serve as pedestals to show off prized pottery or other objects.
3. You can even remove the covers from hard cover books and group them by color, turning a busy jumble into a decorative addition to the room.
If you simply can’t part with your collection of National Geographic or your kids won’t let you anywhere near their 200 carefully assembled Lego creations, it’s time to get creative about storage and organization.
Retailers like the Lowe’s and Walmart in Chattanooga and all over the country sell storage bins designed to slip under a bed and house everything from household supplies to kids’ toys. If that doesn’t work, you can use my mom’s old saying, “When in doubt, throw it out”.
Your goal is not to distract buyers from imagining themselves in your home. If they show interest in your pictures, magazines and your kids’ toys, they will have lost interest in buying your house.
Good stuff, David. De-cluttering is so important and often misunderstood by sellers. If they want to sell for the best price possible, an owner needs to pay attention to moving stuff out of the house. On great resource I always tell my sellers about is craigslist.org. I hope you have on in Chattanooga because it makes getting rid of stuff so easy. Just post it on craigslist for a reasonable price (or free) and within hours people are contacting you come take it off you hands. Just make sure you include a picture. I moved last year and I sold a bunch of stuff on craigslist: couches, dressers, TV’s, bookcase, swingset and more.