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I am working with a real estate professional on staging my home so I get the most money and sell the house quickly but it would still be nice to get some outside advice too, so I will post some questions on this board.
The real estate agent tells us that we don't want to have much personal stuff in the house other than basic furniture and generic nick knacks and pictures. So we have to store lots of personal things somewhere. Those storage lockers are expensive and lots of hassle to move our personal affects. What do you think about just putting nearly all non furniture personal affects in one room in the unfinished basement completely filling the room up? They can open the door and see the room but leave it at that. That way we can make the rest of the house appear bigger and neater by hiding most personal junk. What do you think?
Or should we spend the money on a truck and storage locker?
The real estate agent tells us that we don't want to have much personal stuff in the house other than basic furniture and generic nick knacks and pictures. So we have to store lots of personal things somewhere.
No; you do not have to STORE those things away from your property.
Only if you want to keep them do you need to store them somewhere at all.
Most of the cluttering material can be donated to charity or just trashed and will never be missed.
As to the rest... start by boxing that up neatly and stacking them in the garage.
When you're done see how big the pile is. Go from there.
Last edited by MrRational; 10-01-2012 at 03:23 PM..
Only store in "extra room" IF that room is setup as STORAGE!
If you have (or get) the kind of racking / shelves that will hold uniform boxes / bins and then actually arrange those around the perimeter of the room so that it looks reasonably tidy,NOT like some crazed "jam it full and bar the door" scene from one of those hoaders reality shows this MIGHT be acceptable.
Honestly the effort to DO THIS RIGHT is very high and you won't believe how many people will be completely weirded out if you do this WRONG. Younger buyers are especially picky about "closests stuffed full of who-knows-what". If you can get a deal on a storage locker or a "container" that gets dropped off for you to fill and then deposited at your new house it gives your house a MUCH NICER PRESENTATION and honestly will afford you more time to sort and pare down your keepsakes...
Inspectors can (and have) written scary / nasty speculation when they encounter a room that in the basement so jammed with "stored treasures" that they cannot adequately assess its condition. Even if there are racks simply to give more vertical storage I have seen inspectors speculate that "becuase everything is off the floor they probably have seepage issues". Ugly. Avoid letting these thoughts poison the minds of your buyers!
There is a certain irony in "storing one's junk" --- Folks will fill-up whatever space is available with unused junk ... and then rent storage units for the rest of it. Moving or selling one's home, ostensibly to 'move-on' in one's life, is a great and ideal opportunity to get rid of junk ... rather than continuing to store it.
We sold homes and moved to condos (twice now) ... and each time, we unloaded piles of stuff that we had been simply hauling around with us for years. After the fact, it was difficult to remember what we had disposed of! That set the stage for a new plan: "Stop acquiring so much useless junk" -- It works a whole lot better than our earlier strategy of 'storing junk'
I am working with a real estate professional on staging my home so I get the most money and sell the house quickly but it would still be nice to get some outside advice too, so I will post some questions on this board.
The real estate agent tells us that we don't want to have much personal stuff in the house other than basic furniture and generic nick knacks and pictures. So we have to store lots of personal things somewhere. Those storage lockers are expensive and lots of hassle to move our personal affects. What do you think about just putting nearly all non furniture personal affects in one room in the unfinished basement completely filling the room up? They can open the door and see the room but leave it at that. That way we can make the rest of the house appear bigger and neater by hiding most personal junk. What do you think?
Or should we spend the money on a truck and storage locker?
Cook some chocolate chip cookies right before a showing, and have some on a plate ready to eat...sounds corny, but the aroma of cookies in a home is awesome,
beats the hell out of pet odors, and one thing three woman picked up on, is this- if someone cleans the place right before a showing,,,be sure you use mild odor cleaners- some people have an aversion to odors like bleach, or even windex, what may smell clean to one person, makes another one sick...
Ive heard a 1000 times to put away personal family photos......
but I suggest putting photos out that enjoys the property.....like outside yard photos with kids,,,or holiday pics- great memories of this house,
I think it gives the home a warm cozy feeling of enjoyment...
one showing I had,,,there was a list on the counter, and the list went something like this
5 minutes ....to grocery store
8 minutes......to home depot (or lowe's)
10 minutes..... to the beach
10 minutes ...to fishing
5 minutes....to the movies
3 minutes...to the local park
6 minutes to hospital
12 restaurants within 10 minutes
I thought that was kinda clever for potential out-of town buyers
the buyers realllllyyy liked that list- when they start referencing the many showings that day, they will remember the awesome smell of cookies, and the "list"
one showing I had,,,there was a list on the counter, and the list went something like this
5 minutes ....to grocery store
8 minutes......to home depot (or lowe's)
10 minutes..... to the beach
10 minutes ...to fishing
5 minutes....to the movies
3 minutes...to the local park
6 minutes to hospital
12 restaurants within 10 minutes
I thought that was kinda clever for potential out-of town buyers
the buyers realllllyyy liked that list- when they start referencing the many showings that day, they will remember the awesome smell of cookies, and the "list"
Go one step futher. Put a binder together with even more information. Local restaurants, info on schools, hospitals, attractions. The last house we bought had this and it was a very nice touch. It came in very handy after we moved in.
If it's personal stuff like photos, trophies, etc then box it up (you're moving it anyway, right?) and store it in your attic, basement, or wherever you store stuff. Not enough room in your storage area? Then you need to start ditching stuff.
It is fine to store stuff in an unused area of the house like a garage or basement. Just don't block access to water heaters, furnaces or electrical panels for the future home inspection by the buyer. You are selling your home so people are expecting you to be moving. I've never seen a buyer freak out over packed boxes.
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Only store in "extra room" IF that room is setup as STORAGE!
