How to Get Your Home Ready to Sell
When I work with clients before they move, my goal is to help their home look clutter-free and organized so a prospective buyer can imagine their life in this new home. Bonus points if they see an organized pantry and it helps them feel like they can be organized in their new home.
First Step, Declutter Your Home
When you’re getting ready to move, the first thing you need to do is declutter. There is no reason to pay, in time and money, to move items you do not love or need. Plus, prospective buyers don’t want to see a bunch of clutter around your house. You want them to be able to imagine their items and their lives in your home.
When you declutter, first, focus on the main areas. These are the spaces that buyers will be looking at first. You don’t want extra items around. You want the space to feel calm and clean. As you’re decluttering, first get rid of items you don’t want, and then if there are still too many items for the space, store them elsewhere. I have worked with many clients who have stored toys in their garage (in organized bins) while their house is on the market so playrooms don’t look as cluttered.
By putting items into storage, you are giving your prospective buyers the chance to imagine their life in your home. Plus, real estate agents love less clutter, makes their jobs easier!
The other reason to declutter right now is for yourself. You are about to move and you don’t want to pay to move items you don’t love or need. Take the time now to declutter those items and it’ll make your new home much easier to organize!
Do you need help with decluttering? We have a whole home decluttering guide that can help you work room by room in your home to declutter.
Next, Organize Priority Spaces
After you have decluttered, take some time to organize key spaces. These are any spaces you think potential buyers would like to look at. Of course, this includes the whole house, but there are main spaces that potential buyers will look at and imagine themselves living there. Think about organizing closets as a whole but not worrying about drawers looking perfect. Include organizing your pantry, but each cabinet doesn’t have to look perfect.
I love organizing a pantry for homes on the market. This makes a huge difference when prospective buyers imagine using the kitchen. It’s way more fun to imagine the space with an organized pantry. Plus, they see the potential of how good the pantry can look and think about how great they can have it look for their family.
Closets are another space that pay off to have organized. When you’re decluttering, if your closet still looks really full, pull items that are out of season and store them elsewhere. This gives space in your closet to breathe and again helps the prospective buyer imagine their closet looking that good.
Another space that pays off in multiple ways is kids’ rooms and playrooms.
Organizing Kids’ Spaces for Homes on the Market
Kids’ spaces include any area your kids play in. This could be their bedrooms or a playroom. If your kids are really young, this might include your family spaces as well.
When you declutter the toys, think about the toys you play with the most. We all tend to have too many toys so editing those down can help your home look less cluttered. If there are toys you (or your kids) are not ready to part with yet, put them away. You can either bring them back out after you move – or not.
By reducing the number of toys your kids have access to, they will play longer with the toys they have (just try it). My kids only tend to play with a few different toys anyway. Leave those in your house and store the rest away. If your kids ask about them, let them know they will be accessible at the new house!
The other reason I like having less toys when you’re showing your house is the clean up factor. Less toys means less to clean up! If your real estate agent calls and has a showing soon, it’s way easier to quickly clean up less toys and then your home looks clean and organized for the showing!
If you’re getting your home ready to sell, take the time to declutter and organize and you’ll have way more buyers interested in moving into your clean and organized home! Check out our decluttering guide to get you started.
After you move is a great time to get organized too. Gretchen Rubin talks about her strategy of a clean slate in her book, Better Than Before. The clean slate strategy states that having a clean slate is a great time to create new habits. When you move, you can decide that in your new house, you won’t buy ice cream. You can decide that you will go to bed by 10 pm every night. This is a great time to think about what kind of person you want to be in your new house.
You can also create new systems to support those habits. Need some help? Reach out below and let me know what you’re looking for. I love helping clients create new habits in their homes – especially in their new homes!
