Why Do You Have to De-Clutter?

Why Do You Have to De-Clutter?

When I take a new listing I go through the house and make a note on everything that I need to speak to the homeowner about. In today's age with the popular HGTV channel homeowners are more aware of what it take to sell a home. Sometime they tell me use we promise to de-personalize the space and we know we have to get rid of the clutter!

I want to clarify some things because I have been told its cruel to ask a proud family to remove all of their children's artwork off of the fridge. I also ask sellers to get rid of almost all family photos. I love family photos just as much as my sellers do. I have them displayed all through out my home! The reason why? It distracts buyers. That's it. Its quite simple.

I will give an example. I was working with a couple a few months back. I showed them about 30 properties. They looked at every family photo, every degree, every piece of family artwork and anything else that would tell them about the family living there. He was a therapist and this is what he did. Yes he was nosey, but if these personal things were not displayed he would have nothing to look at.

Another distraction is pets. I love dogs. When I preview a home and the homeowner has a dog, I immediately go over and pet the dog. I had a young couple that were animal lovers. If I showed them a home with a pet they were so distracted it was hard to show them the house. They would talk in great lengths to the homeowner about their pet. If I know that the homeowner has a pet, I ask them kindly to take the dog for a walk. If the homeowers really want to sell they are more than willing to do this.

It is a very simple solution to avoid distracting potential buyers. I always tell my homeowners start de-cluttering and packing now because I plan on selling your home quickly! It will be less work for them in the end when a lot of belongings have been packed!