Why (and How) Should I Clear the Clutter? - Tips from your local Langley Realtors

Why (and How) Should I Clear the Clutter?

There are many considerations when you are planning to sell your home and move. The longer you have lived in a house, the more difficult your job will be. Staging will not only help you sell your home faster and for more money, it will also help you to claim your own personal freedom.

Eliminating clutter is the hardest part of the moving and staging process. But it’s better to do it before than after you move. Many people are held captive by their belongings. They stay in too-big houses, carry too much insurance, clean, tend and store these items, heat and cool all these “things” they feel compelled to keep. They are prisoners of their stuff.

 You can break free! Every single item in your house will need to be evaluated, especially if you are planning to move to a smaller dwelling. Start in a single room. Trying to do all the rooms at once will be overwhelming and may leave you feeling defeated. Start with a little-used room, a closet, even a junk drawer and begin!

The trick is to never handle an item more than once during this process. Once you pick it up, evaluate it for one of the following categories, and act accordingly:

Trash – It needs to be thrown away. No question. Put it in the garbage.

Donate/Sell – Designate a spot for these items. 

Rehome – These items would be important to someone else in the family. Relocate them.

Essential – These are the items that are essential to you on a daily basis. Pack them for the move.

Don’t skip anything merely because it doesn’t take up much room. Evaluate it all. If you decide to deal with it later you will have to pack it, haul it, store it, and have it hanging over your head until you unpack it and evaluate it. Chances are, you won’t want to keep most of that stuff anyway.

Handling it once and now means you’re free of an obligation to do so later, or to live in a smaller house with walls of boxes awaiting your attention, or pay for storage space to keep these items. Why go through all that when there’s a better way?