How to sell your house quicker. Here are 8 top tips to help you declutter easily

Imagine a potential buyer walking into your house to find rooms with too much furniture or cupboards stuffed full and overflowing. It’s going to give them the impression that there isn’t a lot of space or storage. Two things buyers tend to want a lot of.

Buyers also want to see where their own possessions would fit and feel what it would be like to make your house their home. They want to see themselves in your kitchen cooking up a storm and entertaining their family and friends in the living areas, so leaving too many of your personal items out and about could actually damage your chance of a sale.

If you’re in the early stages of preparing your house for sale, the best thing you can do right now is start decluttering and depersonalising. Not only will it present your home at its best for viewing appointments and home opens, it will also help you get a head start on packing.

Together with Debbie Curnow from Home Staging and Styling we’ve put together 8 top tips to declutter and style your house to sell.

1. DECLUTTER AND DEPERSONALISE

How many times have you walked into a room with the good intention to declutter only to stand there not knowing where to start?

It can be overwhelming and we can understand why it would feel easier to just stuff things into cupboards and under beds so it’s out of view. But this won’t sell your home. In fact, cluttered homes are some of the slowest to sell.

You need to be ruthless with your possessions when decluttering your house for sale. This applies to all your personal belongings such as ornaments, trophies and photos – a house really needs to be clear and neutral so the buyer can visualise themselves in there.

Debbie Curnow, a home staging and styling expert suggests applying the rule of 3 to your decluttering process. Go through your house room by room and divide your possessions into 3 piles, or use 3 boxes, for the following:

1. Taking with you
2. Donating
3. Throwing out

This will help you decide quickly what to keep and what to let go.

2. KITCHENS SELL HOMES

Kitchens are one of the most important areas to a potential buyer and it’s no secret in the real estate industry that it can make or break a sale. Buyers will want to see how their own possessions will fit and whether the kitchen suits their lifestyle or family so this is definitely an area of your house you will need to keep clutter free.

Serious buyers will snoop around and for good reason, they want to checkout how much storage there is. They will look in cupboards and drawers (and not just in the kitchen) so clear them out and reduce the contents by at least half. Generally, if you haven’t used something in the last 6 months you probably aren’t going to need it now so if you want to keep it, pack it away.

Countertops and fridges need to be completely clear so remove bills, drawings, magnets and anything else that can be packed away.

3. DINING AREAS NEED TO FEEL SPACIOUS AND INVITING

Maximise the feeling of space and openness in dining areas by packing away large pieces of furniture, excess chairs and small tables. Keep the basics out so buyers can see what fits in the room.

At home opens, people will want to freely walk around the space to see if their own furniture would fit and how it might feel. Also, you’ll want to be able to accommodate lots of people at once in the dining room at your home open – you don’t want them lining up to get in.

Setting the table and displaying a few personal items, such as a vase of flowers, is a nice touch and will make the dining room feel inviting. Just make sure you don’t overdo it – too many ornaments or other bits and pieces will create that cluttered, claustrophobic feeling.

4. DON’T NEGLECT THE LAUNDRY

Laundries are a functional space so to maximise space and storage, pack away anything that doesn’t need to be in there. If your linen cupboard is in the laundry, reduce the contents and pack away towels and sheets that you don’t need right now.

Laundry baskets, ironing boards and cleaning products need to be out of view, not only do they create clutter but it’s unlikely they enhance the décor. Speaking of enhancing the décor, you can add a few small touches like nice hand soap, a small plant or a couple of hand towels folded neatly on the counter.

Just remember that less is more so if you have a small laundry, go minimal with décor to make the room feel larger.

5. KIDS’ CLUTTER

Embrace this time to find a home for all those toys that have been outgrown. Whether you have a dedicated playroom, or your kids’ bedrooms are overrun by toys and bits and pieces, it’s best to pack up and store away at least half of what they really need while your home is on the market.

This is another area of the home where you will need to be ruthless and really cut back on what is displayed – especially if you have a playroom. Not all potential buyers will want to use it as a playroom so by having less on display it allows the buyer to see what else the room could be used for, such as a home office or guest bedroom.

Cleaning up the kids’ play areas or bedrooms will be a lot easier and quicker before a home open if there is less clutter in there to begin with.

6. KEEP COLOUR SIMPLE

It isn’t just our ‘stuff’ that clutters our house. Using too many different colours or patterns on walls and in furniture or accessories can make a room feel cluttered and overwhelming to the potential buyer.

When preparing your house for sale, limit the amount of different colours and patterns you use in each room. Try and stick to one or two, preferably neutral, colours in each room. Bold choices of colour or pattern can alienate some buyers. It’s another way of depersonalising your home and it will allow buyers to see themselves in your house.

If you’re able to, consider repainting. If the paint is already a neutral colour and is in fairly good condition, concentrate on the areas that need a touch up, especially in the kitchen and bathrooms.

7. USE AN EXPERT: PROPERTY STYLING AND STAGING SELLS HOMES 

If you’re a fan of any of the home makeover shows on television you’re probably familiar with the terms ‘home staging’, ‘home styling’ and ‘property styling’. Did you know that these services aren’t just available to TV show contestants though?

Debbie Curnow from Home Staging and Styling is a regular client of Mobistorage and has been preparing houses for sale in Perth for over 10 years. On her website Debbie says that it’s important to remember that styling your home the way you like to live in it and styling it to sell are two different things.

With professional home staging, your home is styled to maximise its appeal to buyers. Home staging and styling consultants can advise on what should be packed away to declutter the home, they can rearrange furniture and add special touches to make sure your home looks its absolute best for sale. They can also arrange some trades and storage for you. Debbie uses our services at Mobistorage to store many of her client’s possessions while their house is on the market.

To get in contact with Debbie Curnow, visit her website at www.homestagingandstyling.com.au or call her on 0419 091 082.

8. MOBILE SELF-STORAGE – CHEAP, FLEXIBLE AND CONVENIENT

Self-storage is perfect for decluttering and storing items that you don’t need while your house is on the market but you will want for your new house. Large pieces of furniture that take up too much space, Christmas decorations, seasonal items like outdoor umbrellas, or baby gear you’re not ready to throw out yet are all things that could be put in a storage unit to declutter your house and sell it faster.

A mobile storage unit, like Mobistorage, is a cheap and convenient storage option for when you are preparing your house for sale. We bring the storage unit to you, you pack it up and we can then bring it to our secure storage yard or, if you’ve already got a new home to move to, we could bring it there or any other location you want.

Mobistorage is flexible too, if you haven’t found your next house or are building and don’t know exactly how long you need storage for, being locked into contracts might not work for you. We don’t have lock in contracts at Mobistorage, we offer monthly payment plans on all three sizes of mobile storage units.

If you’d like to see how we can help you declutter and get your house ready for sale, call our friendly staff on 1300 914 706 or email [email protected]

You can also get a quote or reserve your mobile storage unit online.