Listing Triangle™ - Front Street Brokers | Page 18

walk into a family room and have a neatly stacked but fully packed bookcase,
and we’d say that was cluttered, too. Displays of dozens of family photos in
beautiful frames artistically arranged on top of a table, and that would also be
clutter. In the last two examples, regardless of how neat or artistically
arranged, if there is a lot of it, its clutter. Its not a bad thing – its just that
there’s a LOT of it. This is what we call “visual clutter”, and is loosely
defined as objects that distract buyers from focusing their attention on your
home. When there’s so much to see and you don’t know what to look at first,
this causes a problem for buyers. Too many of your own things, regardless of
how nice they may be, doesn’t allow the buyer to imagine themselves and
their things in the house.
Another issue is that people are naturally curious, and when there’s a
lot of clutter, buyers start to become more interested in what’s on display and
not the house itself. We’ve seen buyers start to examine family photos or
diplomas on walls, or admire collections of figurines on shelves. The problem,
though, is that when they leave the house, what they remember is your stuff,
not the homes best features, so they cross your home off their list.
And clutter isn’t just what’s found on tables, shelves or countertops.
We often hide our clutter behind closed doors… cupboard doors, vanity doors,
closet doors. You don’t want buyers to think that your house is “too full of
stuff”; which can leave the impression that the home lacks enough storage area
or is too small.
Here is some of our general advice on how to manage clutter:
Now is the time to start to pack and purge. Your things should be
divided into three categories. First, separate the items you don’t use
on a regular basis, but still need, like out of season clothes. Second,
separate items to throw away and third, items to donate.
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As I mentioned before, buyers will open every door that’s attached
to the house – every closet, cupboard, and vanity. These are the
areas where you need to start to pack and purge. As a general rule,
closets shouldn’t be more than 2/3 full. Kitchen cupboards need to
be cleaned and organized, and the pantry should look like the shelves
at the grocery store. Bathroom vanities are notorious for hiding half
used bottles of shampoo, multiple bottles of scented lotions, and
duplicate deordants.
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Clear the refrigerator of all decorative magnets, photos, etc.
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Look at each room with a critical eye. For items that are displayed
or out in the open, take a good hard look at it. Ask yourself, “Would
a model home have this?” If the answer is “No”, it needs to go.
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The Listing Triangle™
Page 17