Organization Is the Backbone – Staging a House for Sale

A good organization system is invaluable in any household – but you can live without it in your day to day life if you choose to. However, when your house is listed for sale you absolutely must organize every space in the home. If you skip this step in staging your house for sale it could cost you money at closing with a lower offer or cause buyers to pass on your house altogether.

Organization can be elusive. People have the best intentions of getting and staying organized. They go out and buy boxes and baskets and promise themselves they are going to use them from here on out. And sometimes they do – but more often than not – it doesn’t work out that way. Most commonly these people end up with boxes and baskets full of stuff – and more stuff everywhere else. This is fine for everyday life, but when the house is listed for sale it just won’t do.

One of many reasons it is so difficult to live in a house while it is listed for sale: All areas of your home simply must be well organized while the house is listed. Why? Because buyers are curious (nosy) and rightfully so.

When a potential buyer decides to visit your house in person there are so many obstacles to overcome to even get them through the door. Do the online photos look great? Is the house priced right? Is the curb appeal great? Does anything smell funky from the front walk?

When you actually get them into the house you are solidly in the game. You have overcome all the initial obstacles to selling your house to these particular people. These just might be your buyers so don’t blow it with “behind the scenes” chaos.

Behind the scenes chaos occurs when a house looks good on the surface, but underneath the clean windows, great furniture arrangement, and strategically placed lighting there is disorganized space. Cabinets, drawers, built-ins, and closets have a huge impact on the buying decision. If buyers cannot easily see how their things will work in the space they will emotionally disconnect from the house. You do not want this disconnect to happen. It is the buyer’s emotional connection to a house that brings the best offer. Chaos disconnect causes them to want to leave the house – not buy a home.

Buyers are a nosy bunch – and rightfully so. They want to inspect every space they are considering for purchase. Wouldn’t you? Buying a home is most often the largest purchase people make in their life time. They need to feel confident in making an offer. They need to feel connected to a home to be willing to pay for it.

They need to see every single inch of space the house has to offer. This includes every built in drawer, cabinet, and closet in the house. Every. One. Of. Them. It is reasonable to think buyers will not be opening drawers and cabinets in furniture pieces that will not be included in the sale of a house – but don’t count on it. No realtor can be in every room at every time. Drawers will be opened, inspected, and judged. Keep this in mind.

Even the most beautiful staging in every room of a house is blown by closets or cabinets crammed full of disaster. If you have stuff just thrown about in any space, large or small, it tells a buyer there is not enough storage space in this house to live in peace. Buyers don’t necessarily hear the chaos clearly or in those words, but they will strongly feel the discord in the space. They will “feel” a reason to pass on the property or to make a low offer because they don’t feel there is enough storage space. They may move on to the next house because they believe their things will never fit in this one.

Your de-cluttering process should have helped you pare down to only those things that bring you joy or that you really need. The next step is to organize the things that stay in the best way possible so that it brings you and, more importantly, your buyers a sense of peace.

Buyers are willing to pay for spaces that they can envision living calm and peaceful lives in. They want to think that if they lived in your beautiful organized house they would have the calm and peaceful life they aspire to. They believe they will be able to find their car keys, sunglasses, and cell phone at all times.

Organized spaces are the “bones” that hold up the quality seen in a staged home. Without organization even the best staged room doesn’t hold up to a buyer’s inspection.

When staging your house to sell make sure you organize every space as part of your process because you know buyers are going to look everywhere! You will be glad you took the time on closing day with cash in the bank!