What does the buyer think?

Your stuff is nice. It’s what you chose for your home, and you like it. Having stuff here and there, actually living in it…it makes it more of a home, but that’s just it. It’s your home. And your stuff is now a major distraction when you need someone else to want it to be their home. That must change when your house goes up for sale. They need to see the home as their home. So all your stuff needs to be hidden, de-personalized, stored away or organized very well. They need to SEE your home.

Sometimes I’ll get excited about something in a home I’m showing that I know a client has expressed interest. When the home is too cluttered or personal, I have trouble getting a client to look past the homeowner’s stuff to the features. In these cases, I also almost always hear this: “I feel like weird about going through someone’s home like this.” Oddly enough, they never say it in a home that is neutralized, uncluttered or de-personalized. In the more personalized homes they look at a few of your pictures you have out, and then they feel guilty or like they’re intruding. This causes them to speed through your house like lightning, skipping rooms and hardly looking at anything at all. Sometimes they won’t make it past the first room or two. The other side of the spectrum is that they get stuck on your things or even you. If your kids (from pictures) are cuter than your house, and they are, they’ll look at your kids. Perhaps they’ve never seen such a large collection of silver spoons. Or maybe they’re impressed with your flat screen that’s larger than life. Make a note: (impressed with your tv = bad for you), unless its in the home theater room and the tv comes with the deal. And if you just have cool stuff, they might spend more time cyber stalking you to try and figure out ways to beome your friend rather than buy your house.

So what do you do?

1. Pack it away. Put away any knick knacks, collectibles or excess of decorations sitting out that draw more attention to your style and your decor than your home. Keep surfaces clear for the most part but minimalistic in what you do leave in view. If you have a library or bookcases, you’ll want to pack 2/3 of your books and put in storage. Bookcases should only be 1/3 filled. Vary the way they are stacked as well (flat, on their side, etc.) Just remember, the more stuff you have in a room the smaller it feels. You don’t want that!

2. Organize in 3’s. For what you do have out in plain view, arrange them in groups of 3’s in a triangle. Some examples include:

• 3 identical picture frames on one wall with non-personal photos.
• 3 varying height candle stands with candles on the side of the fireplace.
• 3 different items on a bookcase, shelf or table (3 different heights)

3. Organize closets and cabinets. Use labeled baskets or nice boxes where you can and plastic containers elsewhere. I recently bought more baskets than I could carry from TJ Maxx for this very purpose. Their price was quite reasonable too. You can do something as simple as store towels, bathroom necessities, etc. grouped in baskets in the guest’s linen closet. Or store all of your laundry room products in a small and short basket or two on the shelf above the washer and dryer.

If you have a walk-in closet, make sure you can actually walk in it. You want the buyer to be able to walk in comfortably without feeling like clothes and “other hidden things” might jump out and get them. It should feel large and spacious…big enough for all of their clothes. So start packing away those shoes and hanging clothes now. Leave only what you need between now and your move.

4. Renew the office. We all have a home office, whether we have the dedicated room for it or not. Sometimes it’s a nook in the kitchen, bonus, a spare bedroom or somewhere else. You may not actually work there, but you store your bills, important documents, mail, reminders, and more there. As hard as it might be, it has to be organized. For a desk space, there are tons of great office organizers out there to neatly hide magazines, papers, etc. Remember to minimalize what’s out, but it might be a good time to start clearing out for the move. In all reality, if it’s not a dedicated office according to your floor plan, it shouldn’t look like an office at all. Spare bedrooms should look like bedrooms.

5. Hide kitchen tools. I love people who actually use their kitchens to prepare meals. It is a fairly foreign concept to me but intriguing, nonetheless. You might have matching small kitchen appliances, and that’s great, but we don’t want to see them. It will be a hassle to keep storing away everyday use items, but your buyer wants a lot of room to move and work in their kitchen. They will believe there’s more if you show them more. If it looks like you don’t have enough storage space (appliances out), they’ll get concerned. If you have upgraded countertops you absolutely want to show off every square foot possible.

6. Clear out the garage. Garages are for cars. Make sure you can actually get vehicles in all of the allotted spots you have for them. Yes, I know the garage becomes many things, so it’s acceptable to have something like a nicely organized tool chest or cabinet or a sports rack as long as there is PLENTY of room to walk all the way around the vehicles. On the average home today, garages are made very small. They barely fit a mid-sized vehicle. However, today’s buyer wants a spacious garage. They can look at two homes with identical sized garages and pick the one that has less in it because it appear to be larger to them. So you might have to rent a storage unit while you’re on the market to take eliminate the storage unit your garage has become.

7. Put bulky items in storage. Unfortunately, even some of your furniture can be put in the clutter category if you have large pieces or even quite a few pieces in a small room. You don’t want the room to be bare, but you should be able to walk around easily with plenty of room. Keep only the furniture that’s necessary for identifying the room or its feature. For example, keep the bed in the bedroom. However, if you have two nightstands, a chair, a bench, two dressers and a chest…you might be better off packing away everything except the bed, one small furniture item and one dresser.
Follow these steps and you’re well on your way to getting closer to selling your home.