There are a variety of things that are out of your control when selling your home, including market conditions, location, price bracket etc… – but the one thing that is totally within your control and that you can really do something about, is the look and feel of your home (inside and out).

In this post I want to explore the reasons around why it’s really worth spending time on your home before you leave it, and what a good declutter can achieve – both for you and for your potential buyers!
 
Why should I declutter before I sell my home?

Getting your home organised in preparation for the move makes sense for SO many reasons, we’ll explore a few here:

1. You will emotionally move out and be ready when the time comes
When you have called somewhere your home for a while, it can be really hard emotionally to move out, whether you feel ready for the move or not.  Sorting through your stuff ahead of time will help you to see that all your things will move with you, and to focus on that rather than the actual house.  
When you start to see your home changing, because you are starting to pack away or throw away items, then it becomes less your home, and more a place you are staying ready for your next adventure.

2. You will be more prepared
Decluttering for selling may well mean that you need to pack away items that you don’t need until after the move, in order to make more space in the house.  If you have started the packing and sorting process ahead of time, then you will be in a really good position to finish packing when the time comes – and it will be so much less overwhelming.

3. You can focus your buyers on what’s important
When you walk into a friend’s house, how often have you spotted something of interest on the surfaces or walls? By this I mean that a piece of art or a photo has caught your eye, and you want to know more about it. When a buyer views a property, they too can get distracted very easily by your life and the items in it.  The tip here is to de-personalise your home; make it look like a flash hotel room.

4. You can maximise the space you have in your home
When you declutter, you can see the wood for the trees.  Buyers need to see the space they are getting, to see how good value it is.  They want to see the condition of the walls, floor etc…. – and this is really hard when you have most of it covered with your belongings.  If you declutter your stuff from your home then you are allowing the buyer to see the space and imagine themselves living in it – you are selling a lifestyle and a dream.