By Sandra Foster
The past few days have been wonderful. All the snow has gone (at least in the GTA) and spirits are lifting. I plan to use this energy as my grandmother did, an excuse to get into the basement, backs of closets, bottoms of drawers, to clean house
In working with sellers, it’s common to have to coach them on how and what to de-clutter. In the spirit of taking my own advice, I recently evaluated what clutter I too have lurking in my ‘corners’. I live in a luxury condominium, large (2,000+ sq. ft.), with lots of storage. Lo and behold, ‘stuff’ has accumulated wherever possible – and then some. My storage areas overflow. I confess, I am attached to things. When I moved into my current home, for example, at least a third of my boxes remained packed. And I cringe to say, a few had actually moved from Toronto to California and back again, and had never been unpacked during the intervening 20 years.
My project over the next month is as follows:
- Every unpacked box must be opened and inspected
- All items which I can’t remember ever owning, and can’t think of an immediate use for, go into a stack of things to be sold or donated (probably the latter, since who has time to sell things?)
- Any clothing which hasn’t been worn in a year gets packed up for Goodwill
- All those pesky drawers where things have been tossed to ‘get them out of the way’ will all be emptied
- Piggy-backing on a close friend’s decision, some items will go to auction along with her extensive supply of clutter
I’m sympathetic to sellers who face this task with a deadline of open house dates and viewings looming. My deadline is purely self-determined. I know, however, that purging myself of ‘things’ will be liberating. When it’s time to sell my lovely condo, the task of making it presentable will be easy. Where I now have boxes, there’ll be open space. Finding things in closets will be a pleasure.
As an added benefit, when I coach my sellers to de-clutter, I can speak from experience about how much work it is, but how great the reward will be.
Sandra Foster is a Sales Representative with Royal LePage/Johnston & Daniel Division and a regular contributor to the Muddy York Real Estate Blog.
