Preparing Your Home to Sell - Kick Clutter to the Curb!

When potential buyers start coming through your home, they are trying envision if the house is a good fit for them ... and their stuff.  Going through your house and de-cluttering will not only show your future buyer that there is plenty of room for their things, it will also help you when it comes time to pack up and move.

It may be easiest to accomplish this a room at a time.  Use three containers- one for trash, one for goodwill donations, and one for storage.  Many goodwill organizations will come pick up items at your house. Purple Heart is one such organization. Click on the link for pickup days, to schedule a pick up, or see what items they do and don't take. Don't feel you need to wait until you've done all the rooms before getting those donations out of there. As soon as you get a good group of things together, drop it off or schedule a pickup. You'll be much less tempted to end up hanging on to an item if you get rid of it right away. Craigslist and Odenton Freecycle are other good alternatives for ditching things you no longer need.

I understand that often you are moving because you and your family have outgrown the space. If you have items that you do need but perhaps not right at this moment, consider renting storage space.  There are many storage companies in the area and they often have specials.  If you need to keep the items closer to home, consider PODS storage. These are the portable storage containers the company will deliver to your house. You can either keep them until you are ready to have them delivered to your next home, or have them picked back up and stored at a facility. One caveat to having them on site, though, is it still may give buyers the idea there isn't enough storage space. Also, depending on where you have them placed, they may take up valuable driveway space or show up in your listing pictures. 

Some final things to consider:  Go through ALL the areas of the house—garage, attic, closets, those boxes you haven't unpacked since you moved in (we all have those!) Don't just stuff things in closets and cabinets. Buyers will open up those closets and get a bad impression when a pile of stuff comes raining down on their head or they can't get the door closed again!