When you’ve lived in your home for a long time, preparing it to sell can seem quite daunting. If you are considering selling your home this year, make it your New Year’s resolution to get started in the preparations now. Ultimately, whether you decide to sell or not, your home will be well organized and easier to maintain.
6 Ideas to help you get organized now!
- Stop adding to the clutter. If it is your habit to purchase multiples of sale items, stop. Or, if these are items you use all the time, reduce the number of multiples to no more than you will use in a month or so. Instead of ordering large quantities, place items you use consistently on a schedule for reorder instead. That way, you’re not filling up your shelves and closets with the extras, but you won’t run out either.
- Plan where things go. Set aside a couple boxes or bags to handle items you plan to donate and those you plan to give to family members and set aside what you may want to sell. Consider keeping the boxes or bags in your garage or trunk. That way, as soon as they get full you can deliver them where they need to go. For items that you intend to keep, take them to the location they belong immediately.
- Choose one thing. This week, simply choose one area or space to organize. It can be a drawer, a closet, a storage bin… It really doesn’t matter what you choose, but make sure it is achievable in one day. So, if your attic is a massive project, don’t start there. Each week (or each day if you’re really motivated) choose another area or space to organize. Even if it is just your medicine cabinet, organize it by getting rid of expired medicines (take them to your pharmacist for proper disposal), old make-up and items you haven’t used in a couple years.
- Don’t fear your piles. Sometimes, when you’re in the midst of getting organized, you need to have piles, stacks or other groupings of things that need long-term storage or that you need to deal with. If the item is long-term, you can set it in one of your planning boxes. If it needs to be dealt with soon, choose one evening (or morning) each week to quickly go through and file, mail, respond, etc.
- Find a way to handle paper. There are a few papers that must be kept: original birth certificates, marriage licenses, contracts, etc., but many items we keep in paper form could be kept digitally in far less space. Consider getting an organizing scanner that can scan and organize receipts, bills, business cards and myriad other paperwork for you.
- Let go of items you don’t use. Just because you received a toaster for your wedding six years ago, don’t let it fill up your counter or cupboard space if you’re not using it. Donate it to a charity that can get it into the hands of someone that will use it. If you’d like to protect the sentimental value of particular gifts, start a virtual scrapbook including images of any items you gave away, a short note of who gifted you with the item, a special memory about that person and where you donated the item.
Organizing is just the first step toward preparing your home for sale.
I can help you thoroughly plan for your home sale by walking through your home and showing you what items to consider repairing or updating, suggesting items of furniture you may want to pass on or put into storage, in order to prepare your home for appropriate staging, and things to consider that would add to the curb appeal of your home. Contact me today to get started.
