Staging Your Home For Sale
If you’re thinking about selling your home, you know how important it is to declutter so your home is always ready and well-staged for a potential buyer to stop by. Unfortunately, when you’re in the process of moving, it can be a little difficult to keep your home clean. Here are some tips on how to clean your home while you’re moving:
Get Rid of Junk
Look on your shelves, under bathroom sinks, in cabinets, and at the decorations in the rooms of your home. Get rid of what you’re not going to be using in the next few months and of the things that don’t add visual appeal to the space. There is a good chance that you have many things that you haven’t used for years. If this is the case, get rid of them. As for decorations or items that hold emotional value, while you might enjoy them, they likely don’t serve much use, and to a potential buyer, this might just look like clutter. Get it out of your home. Less is more!
Look Into Self-Storage
If you recognize the need to get rid of unnecessary items but can’t bring yourself to dispose of them, you should consider self-storage. Pack up the majority of your things and put them into storage. For example, you probably don’t need a hall closet full of towels and sheets. Keep what you need and put the rest into storage. Plus, that’ll make it easier for you when it comes time to move, because you’ll have already packed away a lot of your things. Not sure how much storage space you’d need? Check out this handy storage calculator to help you plan!
Pack Up Your Food Storage
If you’re the kind of person who keeps a lot of extra food on hand, like canned or bottled foods, you may think about packing some of it up and putting it into storage. This way, if someone were to come to look at your home, they would see more space in your pantry and not your food. Remember, you can’t store perishables in most self-storage facilities, so it’s a good idea to temporarily cut back on the amount of items you stock in your kitchen. In the meantime, you can put in storage all those food containers and the extra dishware you’re not using during this period.
Stay Ready to Show. Spend at Least Twenty Minutes Cleaning Each Day!
If you are like most of us, you don’t have extra time that you can spend cleaning your house. However, if you’re willing to dedicate at least 20 minutes each day to stay on top of housework, you can make a tremendous difference. In 20 minutes, you could sweep and mop your kitchen floor and wipe down your cabinets. Tomorrow, you can spend your 20 minutes cleaning the bathroom. This way, when your real estate agent calls to let you know that someone is coming to look at your home, you won’t have to speed through three hours of housework to get ready.
Curb Appeal is Everything
You always want to make sure that the outside of your home is attractive. Pay close attention to any extra items that may be outside your home. If you have gardening supplies such as rakes, sprinklers and hoses lying around, pick them up and put them in back of the house. Make sure that they are stored neatly. If you have trash cans that are visible from the street, you may want to take them around back. If someone comes over to look at your home and were to see these things, the added clutter can easily spoil that important first impression.
Have a Garage Sale
If you’re thinking that you’d like to make a little extra money and you have a Saturday afternoon available, you might want to consider having a garage sale. You can make a lot of money if you have the time for it. This is also a great way to declutter your living space.
If All Else Fails, Get Extra Help!
If you’ve found that you don’t have time to keep up on your housework and still live a normal lifestyle, you may think about hiring someone to come into your home once a week to do some cleaning for you. You might be surprised at how affordable it is! And, sometimes, it can be really, really hard to make that judgment call over exactly what stays in the house versus what goes. If this is the case, seeking advice from friends and family members who don’t live in your home, or even from a professional organizer, can be other ways to help you gain a fresh perspective when the question of what to store or throw away seems too complicated.
The most important thing that you need to remember is to get rid of the clutter. If you have clothes that no longer fit, get rid of them. If your children have toys that they have outgrown, you may want to donate them. You’d be surprised at how much junk you have lying around your home that you never use, and that you’re never going to use. Give it to someone who can find a use for it.
With a little bit of effort on a daily basis, your home can be prepared for anything. Remember, the hardest part is getting started. After that, you’re going to wonder why you waited so long.
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