Decluttering to sell your home

If you are planning on selling your house, decluttering beforehand can make the sale process much smoother and help you obtain the optimum price for your home.

When it comes to decluttering, less is more, that is the less clutter you have the more appealing your property will look to a prospective buyer. Remember, the aim of decluttering is to get rid of items that are not needed, not simply to move them to behind closed doors!

Aim to throw away anything out of date or damaged and donate items that you have duplicates of or don’t use. Organise and store remaining items according to how often they are used. The key zones to focus on are:

• Kitchen
• Bathroom
• Entranceway
• Front Yard
• Living Room
• Bedrooms

Ideally you would declutter the whole house prior to sale, and certainly you should also clean out the garage, linen cupboard, wardrobes, laundry and study because a serious buyer will look into all of these places, but the key zones are where you should start.

Kitchen

The kitchen is the hub of a home. It is the focus for many buyers and all buyers want a good amount of bench and cupboard space. Remove everything from the benchtops that don’t need to be there, including excess appliances. Pay attention to your windowsills and your fridge (front and top) where personal paraphernalia often accumulates. Tidy your cupboards and drawers, binning broken items and donating unused items.

Bathroom

Who doesn’t want a designer bathroom with stunning tiles and tapware? But if you don’t have that it doesn’t mean your bathroom can’t shine. Clear all clutter from the vanity, bath, shower, windowsills. Throw out old makeup, medicines and near-empty bottles. Sort remainder into drawers and baskets inside the vanity. Store bath and shower daily essentials in a basket easily put away before an open inspection.

Entranceway and Front Yard

First impressions count! Tidy the garden, mow the lawns, sweep the front porch. Put away kids toys and bikes. Footwear, mail, bags, coats, hats and pet’s leads can accumulate in these areas and do not create a good first impression. Donate what you can and bin what you can’t.

Living Room

One of the hardest rooms to declutter, the living room can become the receptacle for many unnecessary items. Sort through the entertainment centre, coffee and side tables, bookcases and magazine racks. Donate children’s toys that are no longer used and bin broken toys. Items that you don’t currently use but may want to keep, such as CD’s, book and magazines can be boxed, labelled and stored in the garage or shed.

Bedrooms

Bedrooms should give the impression of being peaceful, cleansing, and restful. Focus your energy on bedside tables, dressers, chests and remove accumulated paper, books and magazines, jewellery and clothing. Declutter your wardrobe by donating clothes and shoes you no longer wear and throwing out damaged items.

Decluttering your home will make it easier for you to clean and tidy before each open inspection. A home without clutter looks more spacious, cleaner and appealing to a buyer.

If you need some expert help when it comes to decluttering, we at Selling SA Homes could refer you to several people to help you with the process. Please feel free to contact Ashley Williams on 0450 327 772.