Everyone knows they have to de-clutter when selling their home. But has anyone defined what declutter means? Or how much it’s worth?

Honestly, when I look at some people’s houses, I think their main motivation is to buy another home is to get out of the mess they’re in – literally! Keep this in mind!

When buyers are looking at property, you need to show them as much space as you possibly can. That means lots of walking space as well as lots of storage space, and you need visual space most of all.

Solid, smooth services show best. Table tops, counter tops, stove tops, fridge tops, dressers, trunks, etc, all need to be as free of things sitting on top of them as possible. The cute little teddy bear sitting on the trunk at the end of your son’s bed visually gets in the way of what else might go there that belongs to the prospective Buyer. The smooth, uncluttered trunk top can actually portray the space far better than it does if something is sitting on top of it. Better still - if the room is not generously large, pack away the trunk and leave room for someone to walk past the bed without altering their path or stubbing a toe. It makes the room feel much larger.

The same goes with your coffee table in the family room. Make the top of it void of everything – don’t even place the nice tidy stack of magazines on top to show this is a comfortable place to sit and read. Prospective Buyers may simply see another pile of magazines that need to be recycled, or something that will land on the floor when her cat leaps on the table. Better to keep the table top smooth and void of props.

Forget the myth that empty houses don’t sell. They sure do. Often more readily than furnished houses. People actually tell me they prefer to look at empty houses because they can see where their furniture can be placed.

In storage closets, it’s much better to see smooth, solid sides of organized boxes than a lot of individual items ready to be packed away. It’s a visual thing. Remember – smooth solid surfaces are best.

Ok – so you’ve most often heard that Open Houses don’t work to sell a home, they only help the realtor find other contacts.

Well, I beg to differ. I, myself, have found buyers at Open Houses to buy the property at which I was hosting the Open house. So have other sales people I know.

The fact is, I haven’t met one person who walked into an Open House and said “ Hi. I’m wondering if there’s a realtor around here somewhere. I need to find one.” Joke? OK, so they really wouldn’t say that, BUT – they’ve come into the house to see if it is of interest for themselves or for someone they know. People have far too much going on to spend time browsing Open Houses aimlessly. Just like showing your home by appointment, the prospective buyer is going to be interested or not, but they won’t know that without having a look. Most people go through Open Houses because they truly are looking for property and an Open House offers them a “spur of the moment” opportunity with no scheduling necessary. It’s convenient. It’s just that simple.

And the proverbial nosey neighbour? Well – haven’t seen too much of him either. Trust me. People just don’t find each other all that intriguing that they can’t wait for an opportunity to get into your personal space without you knowing it. Besides, anyone who is motivated thus would probably rather keep his know-it-all opinion intact by not witnessing anything to the contrary, so he doesn’t show up.

Got a Realtor telling you Open Houses don’t work? That’s because they don’t want to do one.

Whether buying or selling, you can always be in control of the terms and conditions you wish to accept.

You never need to worry about a deal not addressing your concerns – simply address them in your side of negotiations. The smartest thing to do is to position yourself so that you can enter negotiations in the most advantageous position. That means being alone out front instead of where the crowds seem to hang out.

Example: people (the crowds) tend to look for a property they’d like to buy before they sell the one they have. When you place an offer subject to sale of your existing home, the offer has to be pretty good in order for that Seller to accept it. Remember – you’ve just established a price point in his/her mind. If someone comes along with another offer that doesn’t have a subject condition, you’ve set up a scenario that increases the possibility for that same Seller to accept something lower than your offer. So – you probably offer higher than you normally would to get the Seller to accept your offer subject to sale of your home. Conversely, when you put your own property on the market, you’re already emotionally attached to another property which makes you more vulnerable to selling lower than you would have if you hadn’t already found a property you want.

On the other hand, if you place your property up for sale before you find something you want to buy, and an offer comes in, chances are you’re feeling pretty confident in the negotiating process because you’re not that motivated to move anyway. So you’ll hang a little tougher to get your price. When you do get your price, you can always come to an agreement subject to ­ you finding a property suitable at an acceptable price to you. You set a time frame on when you will look for that home. I recommend 7-10 days. Picture this: now you are also in the driver’s seat when buying. The Seller of any interesting property knows you’ve sold your home and you are going to buy something – maybe even that same day. Guess who has the upper hand in that scenario? Right! You do!

Now you’re in the position of control. Take it.

Call me. I have lots of other great strategies too. We’ll work together to accomplish your goals.

So here’s the scoop – living in your home is personal.  Selling your home is a business.

Summed up – prepare your home for sale. This doesn’t mean remove your family photos.  People know people live in your house.  In fact, if a home looks impersonal it doesn’t feel as good as one that has obvious proof that real people live there now.

What the business of selling your home does mean is to understand what your market is looking for. Update colours and flooring if you want a quick sale.  Investigate cost and you can pretty much count on regaining that in price.  You might get the same price for your house that you thought you would, but this will reduce the chance of low-ball offers and will make others think the house is going to sell before they get a chance to buy it – because it’s already been updated.

Colours – these will follow trends and are easy to ascertain which ones work.  It really doesn’t matter if they are your favourites -  just follow the trends and you won’t go wrong.  Builders put a lot of money into professional counsel.  You can capitalize on this same advice by visiting Open Houses of new homes.

Floors – the same can be said for flooring, but another good thing to keep in mind is why different types of flooring is preferable. I hear clients comment all the time on liking laminate flooring over carpeting for allergy avoidance.  Laminate is also more environmentally friendly.  Cork and bamboo are also very popular today.  Cork can be harvested from trees without killing the tree and bamboo replaces itself faster than any other trees.

So, when you’re ready to sell, keep the business aspect of doing so in mind.  Don’t try to sell people on your style of decorating. Decorate to what trends are dictating they want.