Decluttering Before a Sale

Let’s talk about decluttering your home before a sale! Yes it does make a difference when selling your home and in your life in general..  Think about walking into your home and seeing it for the first time, is your home a stressful cluttered mess?  As a buyer enters your home, that first impression makes all the difference on whether they make an offer. 

Declutter: verb; to remove things you do not need from a place, in order to make it more pleasant and more useful  

In general having an entire home decluttered can make a huge difference but the key areas in the home to focus on include: 

• Foyer 
• Kitchen 
• Living
• Bathroom 

Where to start: 

• Empty your space of all unnecessary items – if the item doesn’t serve a purpose or provide you with personal happiness then you should consider if it is needed or necessary. 
• Sort your items 
  • Donate/give away 
  • Trash 
  • Sell 
  • Keep 

Benefits of decluttering:

• Easier to move – eliminating the unneeded items in advance makes for less to move. 
• Easier to clean – less clutter makes for cleaning up much easier, now and after the move.  Also you will be receiving showing appointments on your home so decluttering means there will be less for you to do to prepare for the appointment. 
• Less stress – practicing a minimalist lifestyle can eliminate extra stress in your life.  An overly cluttered home can cause mental stress for some people. 
• Less debt – spending less money on “stuff” to clutter your home can make your savings account grow.  Having the ability to save provides you with more financial freedom.  

I once heard about the “one touch” theory, where you should touch an item only once. For example, when you come home and take off your jacket, most people will typically throw their jacket on the chair, then later when they go to sit to eat dinner, they move the jacket to the sofa, then finish dinner and go to sit to relax for the evening and take the jacket to the closet.  You touched that jacket multiple times – when if you use the “one touch” theory, you come home and you place your jacket in the closet, touching it once and saving a lot of time and energy.  Hmmm what a concept.  I have tried to utilize this theory recently and it really does save time.

I would love to hear about some of your decluttering tips or your minimalist practices!