Poor furniture arrangement, junk drawers and crammed cabinets, over-filled closets, and cluttered countertops could sabotage your home sale if you’re not careful.
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Last time, I discussed five seemingly minor things that you should avoid doing at the risk sabotaging your home sale (which you can recap here). Today, I'll continue the discussion with four more silly things to watch out for before you list your home on the market:
6. Poor furniture arrangement. You might be rolling your eyes right now and thinking “What do you mean? You don’t like the way my living room is laid out?” or “How could that make a difference in whether or not my home sells?” Think back to when you saw the home you’re living in for the first time. Were you able to picture your own furniture in there or was the space too cluttered with the previous owners’ furniture? We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with your furniture or how it’s arranged, but you have to look at things through the eyes of a potential buyer and take yourself out of the picture.
7. Junk drawers and crammed cabinets. Buyers who are genuinely interested in your home will likely open everything and look everywhere. Don’t get nervous, though—they won’t open any bedroom drawers or anything like that. They will, however, open kitchen drawers and cabinets to get an idea of how much storage the home has. This is why decluttering is key. You may be forgiven for having one junk drawer, but the neater and cleaner you can make everything else, the better. You want people to see your space, not your stuff.
8. Over-filled closets. The need to showcase your space, not your stuff, goesdouble for closets. Whether it’s a hallway closet or a master suite walk-in closet, your home’s closets will make a major impression on prospective buyers. Again, you need to look at these areas through the eyes of a buyer and box-up any offseason apparel or put away anything you’re not using. Just like with drawers, they’ll want to see how their stuff will fit in your closets, so it really pays off to have them clear and organized.
9. Cluttered countertops. Eliminating (or at least cutting down on) clutter in your home is key to getting it sale-ready. This is especially important in kitchens and bathrooms. While people may be impressed by your professional-looking juicers, blenders, espresso machines, etc., they’re much more interested in knowing whether they’ll have ample countertop room for their own stuff.
As always, if you have any questions about this or any other real estate-related topic or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.
6. Poor furniture arrangement. You might be rolling your eyes right now and thinking “What do you mean? You don’t like the way my living room is laid out?” or “How could that make a difference in whether or not my home sells?” Think back to when you saw the home you’re living in for the first time. Were you able to picture your own furniture in there or was the space too cluttered with the previous owners’ furniture? We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with your furniture or how it’s arranged, but you have to look at things through the eyes of a potential buyer and take yourself out of the picture.
7. Junk drawers and crammed cabinets. Buyers who are genuinely interested in your home will likely open everything and look everywhere. Don’t get nervous, though—they won’t open any bedroom drawers or anything like that. They will, however, open kitchen drawers and cabinets to get an idea of how much storage the home has. This is why decluttering is key. You may be forgiven for having one junk drawer, but the neater and cleaner you can make everything else, the better. You want people to see your space, not your stuff.
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You have to look at things through the eyes of a potential buyer
”8. Over-filled closets. The need to showcase your space, not your stuff, goesdouble for closets. Whether it’s a hallway closet or a master suite walk-in closet, your home’s closets will make a major impression on prospective buyers. Again, you need to look at these areas through the eyes of a buyer and box-up any offseason apparel or put away anything you’re not using. Just like with drawers, they’ll want to see how their stuff will fit in your closets, so it really pays off to have them clear and organized.
9. Cluttered countertops. Eliminating (or at least cutting down on) clutter in your home is key to getting it sale-ready. This is especially important in kitchens and bathrooms. While people may be impressed by your professional-looking juicers, blenders, espresso machines, etc., they’re much more interested in knowing whether they’ll have ample countertop room for their own stuff.
As always, if you have any questions about this or any other real estate-related topic or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.
