Too Much Clutter Can Kill Your Real Estate Deal!

Too Much Clutter Can Kill Your Real Estate Deal!  by Blaine Little 

One of the first things a good Realtor will tell his or her seller clients is to "de-clutter". This is not necessarily saying the house is a mess or dirty, but does imply it's time to put away all those personal chotchkies and souvenirs collected through the years. The intent is to allow potential buyers feel as though the home could already be theirs. But what happens when all those little nick-knacks are the focal point of the house instead of the kitchen appliances?
  
Some years ago, I had a listing appointment for a lady who was moving back to her home town. I was to meet her one afternoon, and before leaving the office, I did a quick check of everything I might need; camera, flip book presentation, forms, and of course, my "lucky" pen. On the drive over, I rehearsed in my mind, responses to the three or four common objections I might hear during a listing appointment. I also considered common issues with the house, such as pet odor or a bright decor. However, nothing quite prepared me for what I was about to see.

After ringing the doorbell, the lady greeted me warmly and invited me inside. From the front living room door, I got an eyeful! The walls were a neutral tone of light gray, the carpet was beige, and the beanie babies were, well, MANY. On the far wall she had a wooden rack full of them. There were about 20 little plush toys across each shelf and about a dozen shelves down. She had two such racks, and several "Ty toys" out on tables, so you do the math. She had hundreds of these things! Just tiny little teddy bears and other assorted critters all in every color imaginable.

Something occurred that doesn't happen to me often: I was speechless. In our short time together and on the phone, this lady was so polite and seemed like a very sweet person. So, how was I going to break it to her that she really needed to take them down? As luck would have it, when she noticed me eying the wall, she proceeded to tell me a story that seemed to be attached to each one. Where she was when she bought them or how a friend who knew she collected gave one to her or what a special one meant to her. I just saw hundreds of pieces of felt.

When buyers enter a house, they imagine what that property could like like in a few weeks. They consider lighting, mentally place their existing furniture in each room, and quickly scan for any repair items. In short, they assess how that house will suit their needs. However, if there are tiny, multi-colored items all over the place, this is a huge distraction. The human eyes can only take in and analyze so much. Even though a listed property may be clean and tidy, it just appears CLUTTERED. 

As real estate professionals, we must tread lightly here. What may seem like an obsession or just plain weird to some of us may be very important and significant to our clients. For a house to appear as a potential "home" to a buyer, it needs to be shown in its best light. That means clean and showing a lot of surface area. Showing open areas on a wall, floor, ceiling or table make the property appear lager than it is. The simple reason is only a few objects can occupy the minds of buyers before they become frustrated and simply decide to move on. This is exactly why we notoriously ask sellers to remove everything from a refrigerator's surface. For those of us who have children, that's a tough one.

I once had sellers where the husband collected about a dozen collegiate baseball caps and displayed them very proudly on shelves in the den. Though this were not hundreds of items, it was still clutter. At this point, I delivered my famous line; "You need to pack anyway, because you will be moving soon." Believe it or not, that usually works!

In the interest of full disclosure, in my home office I have a closet that is filed with magic effects and illusions I have collected over the years. Each was selected to fill a specific magic "need" aside from raising the ire of my wife. That probably seems weird to most potential buyers, but then again, my home isn't currently for sale.

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