Kim Brown, Keene, NH...New England at its Best!

The internet offers a veritable feast of sites devoted to decluttering--just Google "decluttering tips" and you will be provided with pages of links (some are included below) that will offer you tried and true methods for attacking this most important task! I'm not going to reinvent the wheel, so I'll leave you to choose the site that offers the best style for you. The main point is to get on track, stay on track, and remember that this is all for a good cause--The Successful and Timely Sale of Your Home!


You may notice after perusing a few of these sites that they all have a few things in common:

• if you don't LOVE it, NEED it, USE it or FEED it: get RID of it
  
  
• play your favorite music as you work to keep energy levels high
  
  
• use a timer so you don't get discouraged or burn out

and don't forget:

• Keep your eyes on the prize: S-O-L-D!

From organizedhome.com~Declutter 101

http://www.organizedhome.com/book/export/html/409



Real Simple magazine is chock-full of decluttering and organizing tips

http://www.realsimple.com/


FlyLady offers various strategies for long-term decluttering; start here and see how much progress you can make--you'll be amazed!http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Declutter.asp

When your house is on the market, it needs to be ready at a moment's notice. While most agents do their best to provide you with ample notice of a showing, sometimes there is a buyer who is in town for a very limited time and wants to see your house...now! You never know which buyer will be THE buyer, so you have to have a plan for those short-notice showings.



It's hard to live in a house and have it consistently show-ready at the same time. The mail still arrives everyday, the kids and spouse still act as though they live there (imagine!), Fluffy still leaves her catnip toys all over the place (we'll address other evidence of Fluffy & Friends in another entry), the flotsam and jetsam that is everyday life is ever-present. So what's a seller to do?



One trick is to place attractive covered containers in each room of the house. These can be decorative storage baskets or small hampers with lids. As long as they are neutral and unobtrusive (read: not HUGE) they can be placed discreetly in most any room. When you get that phone call, don't go into panic mode--go into strategic pick-up mode. In other words, quickly go through each room of the house and gather up all the items that have accumulated there and put them in that room's basket.

You can sort through the contents after the showing. And if a family member is looking for something they left "lying around", you have a much better chance of locating it (and then they can put it where it belongs!)

Pack your bags--you're outta here! At least, that's the goal, right? Well, one solution to making your closets appear delightfully spacious is to reduce their contents. Perhaps you store your luggage in those closets (or in the attic or under your bed) empty and unused until your next trip. Why not make use of them? If they are going to take up valuable real estate in your home, they should pitch in and be useful all the time. Put your out-of-season clothing in them! Hide your extra 17 pairs of black shoes in them! Store those souvenir beach towels in them! Stash your baseball card collection in them! Whatever is making those closets look crowded can go in them! Even other luggage--like those Russian nesting dolls that you open to reveal another smaller doll, then another, and another--you get the idea!

Most of us don't have the luxury of just sitting idly by as we wait for the next vacation to come along, and neither should those bags!

You will be amazed at how much larger your closets become! What are you waiting for?

Start Packing!!!

More often than not, when buyers make an offer on a property, they include a home inspection contingency in the purchase and sale documents. (I recommend all buyers do this...for any property they are considering!) This allows them to have a professional look over the house to make sure that there are no hidden defects or damage that could affect the integrity or value of the property. It's quite likely that you had one performed before you bought the house you are going to be selling.

When there is a lot of inventory (aka: competition) on the market, buyers can afford to have high expectations, and problems that come to light as a result of a home inspection can result in unexpected repair bills, price reductions or even withdrawn offers!

One way to avoid these pitfalls is to hire a home inspector to look over your house before you go on the market.

This proactive approach can uncover issues that you can address yourself, without the added pressure of renegotiating contracts. Additionally, it keeps you in control of repair costs and allows you to choose who will make the repairs. Furthermore, by making the necessary repairs before going on the market, you improve the value of the product you are selling.

While the cost of a home inspection can vary (usually somewhere in the $250-$500 range) chances are it will pale in comparison to a price reduction that can result from a buyer learning of problems during their inspection contingency period. And by addressing any problems in advance, you greatly reduce the chance of any surprises turning up. Also, you have the option of having your report available for buyers to review, along with documentation that outlines any repairs made or remedies taken, to help further convince the buyers that they have chosen wisely!

Why gamble? If the thought of a buyer's home inspection results has you losing sleep, consider the proactive approach!

The devil you know is better than the devil you don't!