Mind These 3 “De”s When Listing Your Home

March 11, 2014

This past weekend, my stepson and his wife took the plunge and put in a contract for their first home, joining the increasingly large group of first-time home buyers in the housing market today. Before finding their “diamond in the the rough,” there were a lot of potential money pits they had to sift through and on the occasions when I got to go along for the ride, I was shocked at how sellers put no thought at all into the staging or curb appeal of their homes. If you’re planning on taking advantage of the housing recovery by listing your home for sale this spring, remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. For buyers, it’s all about the three “L”s: location, location, location. But for sellers, you should pay attention to these three “De”s:

De-clutter: Clear the clutter! It amazed me to see overstuffed closets, basements full of boxes, stacks of magazines on tables, and old VCRs that probably haven’t been used in years with cables and cords everywhere, all of which distracted from the true living space of some of the houses that got crossed off the list. According to Noelle Barbone of Weichert Realtors, “clutter eats equity,” so less really is more. If you can’t bear to part with all of the clutter, rent a storage unit to get it off-site.

Depersonalize: No one wants to see a hallway full of your family pictures as they try to envision their own family’s future in the home. Your kid’s finger paintings may be works of art to YOU, but don’t need to be displayed on the refrigerator door when you have potential buyers coming for a visit. Your 20-year collection of cat-shaped salt shakers should already be packed and stored away since buyers sometimes have a difficult time seeing beyond your decorating touches.

Deodorize: Even dog lovers don’t like to smell other people’s pets. Freshen the air by opening the windows for a few days. Most importantly, don’t try to hide smells with potpourri or Yankee candles burning since that is a dead giveaway to a smelly problem. Messy cat litter boxes were the most common turn-offs as we went on house tours. If you have a cat, at least change the litter the day you plan to show your home or better yet, find a cat sitter for the day and take the litter box out of the house entirely.

The house my stepson and his wife finally chose met all three “De”s since it was vacant and appeared to have had a thorough cleaning from top to bottom prior to the open house. No one’s clutter to navigate around, no family history on the walls, and a clean “new paint smell” welcomed us in the door. It needs lots of updating in the kitchen and bath, but they were able to easily envision their own family memories being made in their first home.