Why Decluttering Matters When Listing Your Home
How to Prepare Your Home for Showings with Decluttering
When buyers walk into an open house, they’re not just looking at square footage, flooring, and appliances. They are imagining what it would look like for them to live there. Clutter can make it hard for buyers to picture themselves in a space and can make rooms feel smaller. Decluttering your home leaves a good first impression on buyers, allows for more appealing online listing photos, and helps buyers see the potential of your home.
Decluttering Isn’t Moving Out
An important distinction for homeowners listing their property is the difference between decluttering for showings and moving out. When you move out, you take everything with you that is not included in the sale of the home. This can include furniture, decor, small appliances, and other personal belongings.
When you’re preparing to list your home, you’ll naturally want to leave things like furniture, bedding, and some decor. This helps buyers see what the home would look like if someone—like them—lived there. While staging does allow you to keep some of your things in the home, you don’t want spaces to feel crowded or messy.
Sellers often remove excess furniture from rooms, like extra dressers, chairs, and side tables that may not be necessary for visual appeal. Cleaning off countertops is also recommended. While leaving things like a nice coffee maker or a simple bowl of fruit can add to the aesthetic of your space, too much cookware, decor, or food may turn buyers off. It’s also a good idea to reduce the number of personal items you display, such as collections, photos, and sentimental decor.
Address Hidden Areas
Areas like living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms are usually the focus of major decluttering because they are high-priority spaces for buyers. However, that doesn’t mean storage spaces, laundry rooms, and basements shouldn’t be cleaned, too. Overall, buyers want a realistic idea of the space, functionality, and safety a home provides. Garages, basements, attics, closets, and laundry rooms are all areas that benefit from decluttering before your home is listed. That way, anyone viewing your home can clearly see everything it has to offer.
How Decluttering Can Make Your Home Feel Bigger
When you think of a bedroom, you may imagine a bed, a dresser, or a nightstand. All of these pieces are common in a bedroom. However, furniture takes up space, which means the more furniture you have in the room, the less empty space buyers have to imagine their own belongings. Having fewer dining chairs at your table, removing extra drawer sets from bedrooms, and reducing excess decor in living areas can help rooms feel larger and more open.
Reducing Stress During the Selling Process
Sometimes selling your home comes with last-minute showing requests that require quick cleanups—much easier to accomplish with less clutter. Removing items before listing your home means you don’t have to deal with cleaning up and managing the sale at the same time. Decluttering before you list also makes moving out smoother by leaving less for you to bring with you at once.
Professional Junk Removal Services
Sometimes decluttering isn’t something you can do on your own, or even with help from family. Whether you’re unable to do all the work yourself or prefer not to, a professional junk removal company can make things easier. They can remove large pieces of furniture you don’t want to bring, old appliances you aren’t selling, clutter from your garage, and debris from pre-sale renovations.
Declutter Your Home for Sale in Charlotte, NC
If you’re planning to list your home in Charlotte, Lake Norman, Matthews, or Mooresville, NC, now is a great time to declutter the spaces you’ll be showing! Homie’s Load & Dump provides professional junk removal services to help sellers get their home ready to list. From old paint to broken furniture, we remove and dispose of your junk safely and properly. Contact us today to get started with preparing your home for sale!
