Decluttering your home is important! I would call out a real estate professional asap to get ideas on what they would recommend you declutter,organzie and store away. The preparing process is a critcal part of preparing your home to SELL! Typically I go on a listing presentation and once I am hired go back to the seller and assist in making a make ready list giving the seller 1 to 2 weeks to accomplish that list. I also provide handymen,storage/mover ideas and cleaning companies. Call and interview 1st would be my recommendation!

No, but it is essential that as much excess furnishings and personal items (family pictures, trophies, collections etc.) be placed into storage ASAP after listing for sale.

You will find a lot of good info about getting your home ready to sell at:

http://www.realestateabc.com/

Yes, Get it looking nice first. When I see a house on a listing appointment, I calculate the best price to market the house in its current condition. I also tell sellers what will enhance the property and make it more attractive to the prospective buyers. Then comes the cost benefit analysis. When they realize that a few hundred dollars of repairs and a weekend of thorough cleaning may result in an extra thousand or two, they promise to get the work done pronto.

They make that promise, then persuade me to list it a couple of thousand higher because everything will cleaned and repaired in the week before the listing has to go into the computer.

Then they do nothing, or almost nothing. They have lives, they have jobs, or kids, or something else that they would rather do. At that point I've got an overpriced listing, not by much, maybe 1% over. But now my job is 50% harder. The internet photos don't look as good as they should, the open houses and the showings are less impressive to the people who come. Then I have to hire a cleaning crew.

We have all had this experience, so when we see a cluttered house at listing appointment, we sense there will not be much change afterwards.

Oh, I forgot one other think, -- If you are of the " interview 3 Realtors " school, then even if you do spruce the place up, two of your neighborhood experts are going to remember the mess they saw, and be less likely to show it to their "fussy buyers"

A good season professional veteran can see past the clutter however any agent does not want to make continual trips to a property where it is a condition to photograph and etc. A property in good condition also shows to a professional realtor you are serious about wanting to sale your property. Therefore prior to placing in MLS we are all ready starting with pre-sales trying to market bringing in clients less time on the market where you can sale your home. A professional can also provide you suggestion on staging however difficult if they are trying to move around the clutter . YOU might want to try a flat fee listing agent. Example we list properties for $795 ... $500 paid up front the remaining $295 paid at closing, Allows you to make $1000's more at closing. In some instances based on the house location we will hold open houses. It allows you to offer realtors bonus and etc. FEW suggestions to assist in marketing your property.

Yes.....most real estate agents can look past the clutter and see the house, but we always have doubts about if you will actually do it or to what extent. I personally think your house should be in tiptop shape before you speak with a realtor.

Tah dah! I happen to be stager. If you're serious about selling your home, you will absolutely need to de-clutter...at some point. Of course, it depends on what you have to de-clutter. If you do end up using a stager (some Realtors include a staging consultation as part of their marketing package), some of what you think is clutter may actual be items that can be used in the staging of your home. If you're talking about things like a lot of magazines , etc., then yes, start de-cluttering now.

Most of the Realtors I work with have an idea of how they'd like the house to look and will advise you to clean (white glove clean) and de-clutter at the very least.

I'd be happy to answer some more specific questions ( no charge) if that will help.

Karen Negrete, ASP, IAHSP, IRIS
Transform Your Home
karen@xformyourhome.com

Hello, I would have to agree and also go a step futher. Most real estate agents will come to the property and look at your home. At that point they will go off of the condition of your home from that point when they give you an asking price range. They may give you suggestions on what you should do to your home. Most agents will not feel comfortable telling you what you need to do to get top price for your home. That is where a Home Stager comes in.
If you are talking about anything more then decluttering I would suggest you look on the Home Staging site (ASP) to find someone in your area that can really pinpoint what you can do to improve your home and get it into showcase condition.

Then once the agent comes in to talk to you about price they will not know what the house looked like before the home had it's transformation. Then they will tell you what's a good price you should list your home at.

Hope that helps.
Best Regards,
Susan

I would have to say yes and no...depending on your situation. Yes-if you are ready to put it on the market right away. Anything you can do prior to listing your home , to have it "show ready", is a benefit to you. This will help you and your realtor set the price on the higher end of the range, too, versus trying to list while you have a lot of things left to do to get it ready. On the other hand, if you aren't quite ready to put it on the market and want some input on what might help you get a better price, by all means call a realtor! I consider it part of my job to counsel my sellers on what they can do to enhance their home to get the best price possible in the shortest amount of time.

I hope that helps!

Yes, the reason is the less criticism the better, we really don't always like giving positive correction. It is refreshing to have a seller with all their ducks in a row. It sounds like you already know what to do, good job!

Probably should have rephrased this better. I guess what I meant to ask was, should your house be close to, if not, show ready before you call a realtor?

Yes. Realtors are probably better at overlooking any shortcomings but we are all human. I would try to give the Realtor a good first impression.