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Stressed about getting the house ready to sell...advice?
This will be our first house to sell. We want a backyard without a pool for the kids to play in. We need more space also.
BUT we have clutter EVERYWHERE. I thought I'd tackle the master bedroom quickly last week since I had just finished organizing the kids rooms. We put 6 plastic containers in the attic from Master closet crap. Some for keep the rest for a future garage sale. BUT I'm still not done. I feel so overwhelmed. I bought a new comforter. Don't have any decorative pillows either. What goes with blue walls & a white comforter? Do we really need a bedskirt? You can't see the box springs or the boxes under the bed unless you get down on your knees. We have nothing hanging above our bed. No pretty towels for the towel rods in the bathroom.
I know how much a clean house draws my attention but with a 3.5 yr old & 18 month old, it's going to take forever.
Can I leave the guest bathroom in the monkey theme?
How important are almost bare closets?
Will a realtor be able to help me with the final stages of "staging"?
Re: Stressed about getting the house ready to sell...advice?
Your realtor should be able to give you some pointers.
I have 3 kids, ages 1, 5, and 7. BELIEVE ME, it is a NIGHTMARE trying to keep the place clean. It has also been an absolute nightmare to try and get the place ready to sell. It has taken us over 4 months (slow the first 2 months) and believe me, it is stressful and we are STILL not completely done and our house is officially on the market TODAY!
The first thing: get a storage unit! Declutter declutter declutter. Even when you think you have decluttered enough, declutter more. Less is more. Always remember: less is more. Emptier closets are desired, but if you can't do that, at the very least, make sure everything is stored away nicely and still makes them look roomy. You can leave the guest bathroom in the theme, IMHO. I don't think that's going to scare people away.
Think about the market you are trying to sell to. Would your house appeal to a new couple starting out? A family? An older, retired couple? Try to envision what they would want to see walking in your house. Bedskirts are essential, IMO, if for nothing else, you can throw things under the bed for a showing. Nobody is going to look under the bed or in your dresser drawers but they WILL look in your cloets and in your cabinets.
Just my .02. I just posted a slideshow (below your post) of the way our house is staged. Remember, I have 3 kids. My house does not usually look like that. Everything was thrown in the closets for photos. We have since decluttered a little more, put more in storage, so now when we throw things in the closets, it won't look as crowded. HTH. Gotta get back to decluttering!!! lol
~L~
Mommy to 2 boys, ages 7 and 5 and a little girl who is 1.5
A realtor should give you suggestions on staging your home. It seems like you did not find a listing agent yet. You most likely will talk to a few people and you can ask them for advice. I think its important for people to feel that there is storage space. I do not think the closets need to be almost bare. Avoid closets that are stuffed.The monkey themed bathroom should be ok unless there is work involved like painting to remove the monkey motif. I think most people prefer a move in ready home unless they are specifically looking for a home to update. A clean house that seems to be spacious are the most important things to consider. You may want to even consider putting away some furniture and some toys. You want people to see what they could do with the space.
As someone who has seen 50+ houses in the last four weeks, decluttering is critical. Agree completely with pp on the storage unit. It's probably cheaper than getting tons of plastic bins. You don't have to get rid of everything, but the less you have in the house, the better.
I would go to Homegoods or Marshalls and get a few things on the cheap. Don't worry about putting things on the walls, but a couple of hand towels, neutral throw pillows, etc. can go a long way.
I would also visit a Yankee Candle and pick up a nice homey smell. Nothing too fruity, though. I like the "thanksgiving" type ones since they seem to make everything more warm and fuzzy.
I don't think there is any harm in a bathroom with a monkey theme as long as it's VERY clean.
Almost bare closets are KEY for me. I don't want to have to move a seller's clothing around so that I can figure out exactly how much room there is. As someone with a massive amount of clothing, a bare closet makes me feel like mine will fit. It might not be logical in some cases, but it comforts me to see that the current owner can fit theirs.
One thing to be ware of is "kid funk". As a busy mother with two tiny ones, you probably don't notice finger smudges and little stains and messes as much as I do. Get a package of those magic eraser smudges and scour your walls for marks. The cleaner your house is, the more "well cared for" it's going to seem to me and that is important. If your house doesn't seem well cared for visually, it makes me wonder how well kept major systems like roof, windows, etc are. Not that it's fair to think this, but in houses that are less clean I find myself a bit sketched out and afraid to touch things.
If you can afford it, I would recommend bringing in a cleaning person to do a spring cleaning. Someone who doesn't see your house every day will probably be better at spotting areas that need cleaning.
You most likely are going to get a thousand different answers to this question as it seems like every buyer is going to see thing differently. Like with the above poster who suggested a candle, I would actually suggest otherwise as you never know if someone might be allergic or just not like the scent you pick. I'm extremely picky on my scents and tend to be allergic to a few. If I entered a house that had something that made me sneeze the entire time or just turned me off, I'm not sure if I'd be able to fully see the house or focus on what I need to be looking at.
I actually seem to be somewhat the opposite of a lot of buyers and can easily see through people's stuff/decor to get at the bones of the house (does the layout fit our needs, how are the room sizes). I actually like when people leave most of their furniture because it helps me judge how my stuff is going to fit in. I have the hardest time with empty homes or those that are just barely staged with like only a couch in the living room and only a bed with no other furniture in the bedrooms.
I would straighten up and declutter a bit but I don't think you need to empty closets. Good storage is one of my must haves so again I like to see how much people can fit (how many towels, blankets, coats, bins, etc).
But perhaps I'm just one of the unusual ones.
Hang in there- I am right there with you (although I have no kids!). Our place is so cluttered- it is not the lack of a dp for a new place that keeps us from listing- it is the staging!
It doesn't help that all of the open houses we've been to recently were homes that look like they could be in magazines. Really. I have no idea how people do it.
I agree with lolc. We took 4 months to declutter and filled up a 10x9 storage unit with unnecessary furniture and boxes and bins. We don't have a basement, but we do have a large walk-in storage closet. So I bought the garage-type shelves and put 2 plastic bins on each shelf showing it was a storage unit. I bought a new 16 piece bed set for the master bedroom so it looked like a comfy retreat. All countertops in the bathrooms and kitchen were clear except for hand soap. There is no trace of our 6 year old son anywhere except for his bedroom. Our realtor said to keep all kid stuff out of the living spaces.
It was really hard to do, but so worth it. Our house sold in 3 weeks when the average days on the market in our area is over 200. I think we got lucky, too, though.
Good luck!