What’s the First Step to Take When Selling Your Home?

Roanoke Real Estate Podcast with Damon Gettier

The first task I want to talk about when it comes to things you must do when selling your home is sorting, or how to simplify your moving experience. There are a couple ways you can do this. One way is to sort stuff into piles. This includes stuff you want to donate, stuff you want to trash, and stuff you want to keep. I generally suggest another way, though, and that way is something I call the “one-year rule.” The one-year rule goes as follows: If you haven’t used it in the last year and you’re not going to use it in the next year, sell it or get rid of it because it’s cluttering your life. From there, get rid of anything you consider trash. Take it to the dumpster or the landfill. Don’t let your kids or your spouse look at what it is—just get rid of it. Most people who move are moving up, so if that’s the case for you, then your current house is too small. If your house is too small for you and appears to be too small for you, then it will appear to be too small for the next person, too. “Renting a storage unit will go a long way in getting your home sold.” That’s why my second tip is to rent a storage unit and store everything that’s not essential to your day-to-day life inside it. This means removing all your extra clothes from your closets so they look big and roomy, all the storage boxes lying around in the basement or attic, and other stuff like that so there’s plenty of room in the house. Storage units aren’t cheap, but what they can do in terms of getting your home sold is incredible. I don’t advise getting a pod instead of a storage unit. A pod just tells everyone you ran out of room in the house and what’s leftover is sitting in your driveway. If you have any questions about getting your house ready to sell, whether that involves staging, sorting, or throwing things away, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you.