CHAPTER 7 The Three D's
DEPERSONALIZE
Staging is readying the home to show to potential buyers; you must encourage them to visualize living in the home itself, not in your home. Depersonalizing the home involves removing your personal items, such as photos, trophies, and collectibles. Knickknacks and wall décor are also personal taste items that may distract buyers from seeing the home as theirs. It’s not personal, but not many people will appreciate your beer can collection, antique kitchen accessories, overstuffed closets, VHS / CD / DVD / records collection, and general clutter, except you. Simplify and neutralize your home as if it were a model home because that’s exactly what it is while it’s on the market. Pack and store your treasured items out of sight. Consider monthly rented storage units until your home sells. You are going to have to pack up your home to move after selling your home so you might as well get a head start and pack as much as possible and put them in an inexpensive short-term storage shed before even getting your home on the market. You will be surprised how much this will help get your home sold as well as remove the stress of having to pack up everything quickly once you accept an offer. Make your home a clean, welcoming, blank canvas that any buyer can visually paint their own dreams on. It will not feel like your home while you show the home, but once you sell and move to your next place, you can decorate it any way you like. 67
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