Tag Archives: Clutter

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Thoughts on WALLPAPER and OTHER SPECIAL TOUCHES to Get an Offer on Your Home in 48 Hours!

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When was the last time you heard someone say, “Oh my gosh honey THIS HOUSE HAS WALLPAPER…I LOVE IT!” Ummm…NEVER.

Remember when I talked about neutralizing coloring in one of my previous post?  Well along with that is getting rid of tacky wallpaper.  And I’ve found that in order to determine if wallpaper is tacky or not, you need to ask an honest friend.  Preferably a hip one that will give it to you straight.

In our house we had three rooms with wallpaper.  We had our master bedroom which we had taken care of the wallpaper issue before I had the baby, the master bath and the hall bath.  The master bath and the hall bath weren’t something we wanted to tackle and at first thought we’d just leave alone.  But the more we looked at it and the more we considered we opted to change it.  See when we first bought the house the wallpaper in the master bath struck us as horrid.  Nothing changed other than we got used to it.  And in a market where people can’t see past horrid, we opted to get rid of it.  In the hall bath, the wallpaper was actually cute, but it had started to separate and peel.

We found that the person that painted also removed wallpaper!  So for less than $500 we had the wallpaper removed and the rooms painted.  A true bargain for us we decided.  Some people find wallpaper removal soothing…I find it wildly infuriating.  You decide which you are and if you find that you’re in the infuriated camp with me post on Facebook and see if any of your friends are the insane ones that think its soothing.  Or maybe they know someone.

Some of the other special touches that we removed was stenciling and odd curtains.  The person that owned the home before us was apparently the STENCIL QUEEN!  So we took some time to paint over and rid the house of any of the stencils.  Though they were once the rage “back in the day” you probably should get rid of anything that can use the statement “back in the day”.

HOW TO GET RID OF CLUTTER to Get an Offer on Your Home in 48 Hours!

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That means taking down the knickknacks, picking up the toys and hiding away all of your other home accessories that aren’t a necessity.  This also means that some of your family photos may need to make the move to the moving box for a bit.

What is clutter?  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as: to fill or cover (something) with many things.  Yes, that about describes our home.  Surprisingly clutter was harder to get rid of than it was to minimize.  Clutter for us wasn’t about knickknacks though there certainly were a couple of those.  It was more about getting rid of all of the little catch all containers around the house.   You know, the little container that collects mail, or the one for coins, or the one with little things you don’t want to lose, but only ever look at once a year.  I found with clutter, I needed to be honest with myself—would I or would I not ever use this item again.  Clutter in your kitchen could be all of the little “tools” you bought and they sit on your counter.  You know, the coffee grinder, the Keurig coffee maker, the coffee scoop, that utensil container, and every other thing that started to become a permanent resident.

Some people love family pictures everywhere.  Unfortunately, other people, potential house buyers will love looking at your family too.  They’re curious about the family they’re potentially buying the house from. So what you run the risk of is people becoming gawkers of your family instead of shoppers from your house.

From personal experience, I think this is one of the most important steps, but hardest.  Recently Doug and I did a little house shopping.  One of the houses had so much stuff (knickknacks, pictures, magazines, trinkets, refrigerator magnets, etc) that I couldn’t tell you what one of the rooms looked like.  Not one and I’m the kind of person that prides myself in remembering details.

Take this opportunity to organize those trinkets and give the others a chance to live elsewhere through charitable giving to Goodwill.  All of those papers you were looking to organize, do it.

When you are done de-cluttering you should be able to see every surface.  You should be able to see your entire counter, your entire table, your entire computer desk and your entire dresser.  Have loads of shampoo in your shower?  Pick one shampoo and conditioner.

Ten MUST DO’S TO Get an Offer on Your Home in 48 hours!

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The house was listed on Friday night in the MLS, we didn’t allow the first people to go through until the open house on Sunday and by Monday afternoon we had an offer!!  Now, after the offer/counteroffer process we’re entering into the next stage of home selling…THE INSPECTION PHASE.

But how did we do it?  How did a home owner with FOUR dogs, TWO cats and a baby get their home ready for sale so quickly and get that 48 hour offer?  Well we’ll share what worked for us.

Follow us as I explore each point in more detail.

  1. FIND AN AWESOME REALTOR-Realtors these days are a dime a dozen.  Heck, you probably have a friend, neighbor or relative that will list your house for you “cheap”.  And why not, they are family right?  Well think again.  If you’re going to pay money for anyone, you’ll want to pay the very best you can find.  And while that might be Aunt Susie the selling machine, chances are it’s not.  We looked for the best we could find.
  2. MINIMIZE, MINIMIZE, MINIMIZE!-This one is hard for most people (we discovered we are indeed hoarders) and may cost a little money in storage units or can make you some money depending on what you want to do.  But minimizing your house will help give people the space to imagine what their belongings will look like in it.
  3. GET RID OF CLUTTER– That means taking down the knickknacks, picking up the toys and hiding away all of your other home accessories that aren’t a necessity.  This also means that some of your family photos may need to make the move to the moving box for a bit.
  4. De-PET the HOUSE AKA GET RID OF FLUFFY-Okay, so you don’t actually have to get rid of Fluffy, but some people love the discovery of pet hair in a house (OH LOOK HONEY, BY THE COLOR OF THE HAIR THEY MUST HAVE A GOLDEN RETRIEVER!), but most people DON’T.
  5. NEUTRAL COLORS-If you love bright bold colors, good for you, so do I.  But that doesn’t mean everyone does and some people have a hard time getting over it.
  6. INCREASE CURB APPEAL–The first thing people see when they browse through 100’s of houses online is the front of your house.  And what’s the first thing they see when the cruise up with the realtor or are patiently waiting for the realtor to unlock the door?  Curb appeal!
  7. FIX ALL THOSE THINGS YOU’VE BEEN MEANING TO DO-You know what I’m talking about.  Those things you said you were going to do when you move in.  Or maybe that knick you put in the front door when you moved in.
  8. WALLPAPER and OTHER SPECIAL TOUCHES-When was the last time you heard someone say, “Oh my gosh honey THIS HOUSE HAS WALLPAPER…I LOVE IT!”  Ummm…NEVER.
  9. KNOW YOUR HOUSE-You need to be able to look at your house like a buyer and if you can’t, find an honest friend that will serve it to you straight.
  10. CLEAN HOUSE-A clean house is a happy house.  And if you’re like most of America you don’t have time to do the cleaning the way it should be done.

 

BONUS-Join us after we explore the 10 MUST DO’S TO GETTING AN OFFER IN 48 HOURS to explore GETTING YOUR HOUSE READY FOR A SHOWING IN UNDER 2 HOURS

Notice the very minimal items in the shelving. They were packed with books and trinkets.
Notice the very minimal items in the shelving. They were packed with books and trinkets.