Selling a home can be difficult, especially when you still actively live there. Though most agents and agencies will tell you that a clean canvas is best when it comes to selling your home, it can be nearly impossible to pack away years of memories for potential buyers to make their way through your home. That being said, it is helpful to understand why personal touches may be detrimental to selling your home and what you can do about it.
Are Personal Effects a Negative for Potential Buyers?
Homebuyers like to be able to come into a home and find a clean slate. They like to be able to imagine their own personal items on the walls and tables rather than seeing photos of your family or your kid’s toys. With a family that is still living in the home, however, it can be very difficult to find a balance and find out how to remove some personal items to make good viewing for your potential clients.
Personal effects in a home that is listed for sale tend to pigeon hole the home and make it much harder for potential clients to visualize their own items or their own personal effects in the home. Another consideration is that too much personal clutter can make the home look smaller. It can make the home look like it is too cluttered or too busy and it can make it hard for buyers to see past that clutter to see what the home really looks like on its own.
You may also want to remove personal photos to help protect your family or protect your own identity. While most buyers are going to be accompanied by a realtor through the entire viewing process, it can still be worrisome for some people to have things like personal photos or the names of your kids on display while the home is for sale.
What to Do
When selling your home you can always take the time to go through and remove things that you are not using on a daily basis. Things that are more for decoration and not necessarily for your comfort or daily use can be removed, this helps to reduce clutter and make the home appear larger. You can also remove family photos, this helps to depersonalize the home and make it a bit more inviting for potential buyers in terms of visualizing their own items in the home.
When looking for Calgary houses for sale or wherever you live, you can take the time to speak with your agent about how best to go about making your home viewing ready. Selling a home can be stressful, with the right agent and the right overall approach anyone can sell their home and can make it a successful and enjoyable process rather than one racked with struggle and anxiety. While you may love your home the way it is, buyers may not, and making it as clean and streamlined as possible is a must.