Organize Before Staging Your Listing
You've just listed a great house that once staged properly should sell right away...should. If it's cluttered and disorganized, and that goes for closets and kitchen, pantry and linen closets as well as any room in general, it won't
Dilemma: You, the realtor, don't have time to do the work because you want to move onto more listings.
When sellers are preparing to leave a home, especially one that they've lived in for years, it is hard to get them to put things out of site to prepare for staging.
A great organizer asks these important questions of the sellers, understanding that moving can be traumatic, especially for older people:
Do you want to pay the movers to move any particular item?
Will you want to use any item(s) in your new home?
Do you need help in disposing of or donating any items?
Would you consider a storage unit if you don't have one for the items that must be removed before staging but that you are taking with you when you move?
Obvious first steps to decluttering the home...creating the look of a well maintained home.
Magazines that are have read already or have been laying around waiting to be read:
Donate them.
Give them to someone who can use them for art projects.
Recycle them.
Receipts and bills
Scan and download and make a file for them on your computer.
Stores keep computerized records of your purchases so if you need to exchange or return anything you are in their system. Why keep excess paper?
Expired medicines or empty vials, vitamins, and over the counter medicines.
A messy medicine cabinet can lead to serious problems when you reach for one item and accidentally grab another.
Many police stations have bins for disposing of outdated medicines.
Sample sizes of toiletry and cosmetic items you really don't need or use.
These should be donated to shelters.
This will lessen your load while making a difference in someone else's life.
Anything broken or with missing pieces...games, a deck of 51 cards, single earrings, etc.
Chargers and wires for electronics you no longer have. They take up room.
What a prospective buyer sees:
If the seller is neglects the obvious and closets are messy, then perhaps they are sloppy in maintaining the house in general.
Over crowded with lots of "stuff" on the floor sends a message that the storage space is not adequate for them.
An organized, thinned- out closet or drawers in the kitchen, etc, appear larger and ready to handle the buyers' "stuff."
I tip my hat to all realtors who are not only matching sellers and buyers, but have to be a psychologist, a compassionate listener, and a patient person in general.
