Selling a house with clutter - By Dan McGowan

When you own a home, it is easy to accumulate more stuff than you intend to. With enough closets, spare bedrooms and a garage or shed, you can quickly fill your home to bursting with all manner of things. Unfortunately, all of this stuff can really get in the way when you decide to sell your house.

Buyers want and need to see the full potential of your house to picture themselves in it, but that can be difficult to do when it is covered up in your things – no matter how important they may be to you.

Selling a cluttered home is hard due to the fact that many people do not have the necessary vision to see beyond it. Appearance is critical in real estate sales. Luckily, there are solutions, things you can do now to make your home look its best and sell more reliably 

Renting a storage unit or pod is the easiest way to get rid of the clutter. Garage and yard sales are a great way to rid yourself of the clutter and make some cash as well! You want to make the inside of your home to appear as large as you can. Having clutter and too much furniture makes a room appear small and potential buyers sometimes can’t see through this. 

Everyone has a clutter black hole. It may be a closet or a drawer in the kitchen. Clean them out. Buyers open up closets and if they see that it’s packed, they might think the house is too small for them. Go through the closets and donate all the clothes you haven’t warn for some time.

Take pictures down and clean up the counters in the kitchen. On the outside of your home, get rid of old flowers that have died or any clutter that is just hanging around. First impressions are everything when a buyer drives up to your home. I’ve had buyers that refused to get out of the car when the appearance of the outside of the home was cluttered. 

While you are cleaning out your home of all its accumulated clutter is a good time to take a look at any necessary work that needs to be addressed before you put it up for sale. Eventually the buyer for your home is going to have a home inspection. There is nothing more important than being well prepared for the home inspection as it is a major hurdle to cross in any real estate transaction. More sales fall apart at a home inspection than in any other point in the sale. De-cluttering your home will give you the opportunity to look it over with a finer eye for things that you may notice during your day to day life. 

A real estate agent will be able to go over your property with a fine tooth comb offering suggestions based on experience of selling homes like yours. Don’t be offended with any advice you get as the realtor is trying to guide you in a way that gets your home sold in the quickest amount of time for the most money possible.

Dan McGowan is a realtor at Coldwell Banker Team Real Estate in Windham.