After going through the selling/buying process a few times in the past 10 years, I know getting your home ready to sell is not without its challenges. Before even thinking about putting your home up for sale consider starting with these 3 things…
EDIT!
If you don’t need it or use it, why take it with you??? Go through your ENTIRE home; closets, cupboards, storage areas, garage ect.
Make 4 sorting piles:
1. Donate
2. Sell
3. Trash
4. Keep to Store/pack
DONATE: When donating items you have a lot of options and there are so many good causes out there. Time To Organize is a great site for local places to donate your items. They are also a good resource for items you may want to recycle or sell.
SELL: If it holds a higher value, Craigslist or Ebay may be a better option. Also, there are stores that will buy items out right if they are current with trends. New Uses will buy home décor items and furniture outright. Who doesn’t love a little extra cash during the moving process!
TRASH: For items that are broken, in poor condition and do not work, they move into the trash pile. There are options for items that can be recycled or are hazardous waste, such as paint cans. The Time to Organize website has links and resources for this.
Finally- KEEP: What is left after all the sorting is what you plan on keeping. Depending on your situation you may choose to get a storage unit for excess items you want to keep, but want out of the home. You could also place the remaining items neatly in bins/boxes as a great way to have your home looking tidy for showings.
ORGANIZE:
What is left after the editing phase needs to look neat and organized! Potential buyers will be looking in your closets and cupboards. Big closets and spacious garages can be a selling point of a home and we want buyes to see this potential and not be distracted by clutter. By simply putting items in bins and stacking them is a neater look. Your local Dollar Store can be a great place to pick up drawer and cupboard organizers. Toys can be put in bins/chests/baskets to declutter space and makes for quick cleaning before showings.
CLEAN:
Give your home a good spring cleaning! It will make a world of a difference during showings and buyers will really appreciate it. Here is a link for a site that has some great cleaning tips. We found this Cleaning Checklist from Martha Stewart that covers your entire home. And just incase we forgot something here is another great sight by the Cleaning institute!
For more staging tips or to go over our room by room staging checklist contact us at uniquelyyourshome@gmail.com