Has your home been on the market for too long, with plenty of people through the doors but you are just not shifting it? Or do you suddenly need to sell uber fast and want to get your home in the best possible position to be snapped up by a buyer immediately? Or does your home have many memories (good or bad) that you are deeply attached to, making moving on feel insurmountable right now?
It might be time to look at your property and whoever lives there with you, from a totally different angle. Kate Emmerson (the Quick Shift Deva) is South Africa’s clutter expert, a life coach, writer and international speaker. She professionally helps clients to sort out their clutter and their lives, freeing them to move on, to LIVE LIGHT, LIVE LARGE. Much like a combination of Clean House and House Doctor - she both physically and emotionally helps YOU and YOUR HOME get show day ready! She teaches you that Clutter is “anything that no longer serves you”, and works her magic into your home.
Whilst you may be thinking about what your property looks like on the surface, and have done some sprucing, Kate makes you delve deeper. We are talking about emotionally detaching first and then a ruthless assessment, followed by a practical 21 day de-cluttering process to get your home into tip top shape and Show day ready.
You first need to emotionally detach for your sale to hatch. Kate guides you through a series of 7 practical exercises for e.g. finding awesome memories, acknowledging the challenges faced in the house, letting go of things you wanted to do etc– she takes you step by step, ensuring that by letting go emotionally of the space and all that it means to you, you are pre-paving the way for an effortless sale. Next she teaches you to get into the buyer mindset, imagining you are simply a custodian of the space now until it is sold and encourages you to do a 150 point ruthless assessment- no kidding or conning yourself. This is where you get down and dirty, deciding what needs to be fixed and spruced.
You have to put yourself constantly in the buyer’s shoes – no one coming through your doors want to see a messy, cluttered, badly utilized space. Buyers need to see themselves living happily in this house, so de-personalizing your stuff is vital. Every ounce of clutter needs to be removed, including the out of sight spots- top of cupboards, kists, storerooms, anything lurking behind or under…... You want to free up your home so that packing is a cinch, and move day a treat! She shares her easy to follow 21-day clutter clearing process that takes you from one end of the house to the other. By letting go of anything that no longer serves you, you free up your space, allow a buyer to jump at the property, and you get yourself ready for packing by taking only what you love and use to your new home. You can even make some moola en route by selling stuff you are getting rid of!
ARE YOU THE BIGGEST SABOTAGE IN THE SALE?
You may be the biggest spoke in the wheel when you consider this;
Potential buyers WILL open cupboards to see the storage space and will be left feeling there is not only lack of enough storage, but a general feeling of no space and no-one wants that. Your clutter will leave them feeling a combination of oppressed, claustrophobic, crowded, stifled. There will also be the generalized feeling of “I just don’t like the feel of the place’, without much more being said. Whilst each person has their own personal taste as to what they are looking for in a home regarding structure, rooms, size, do NOT fall victim to your mess, clutter, lack of proper streamlined organisation being THE off putting factor. That is simply chasing sales away when you have every way to be in charge of it. We are talking about YOU taking responsibility for the sale of your home.
When you have a home full of stuff to clear, thin and throw out, you could be subconsciously sabotaging the sales process - the sale going through will mean you HAVE to get everything sorted at some point. So can you see the link that unconsciously you might quite like the idea of the house not being sold so that you can put off this massive, daunting task? It might require a deep level of honesty to be able to acknowledge this, but the trick is to get you PREPARED. That way you signal to the world at large, the estate agent, yourself and the buyer that all is 100% aligned. Also if you are dreading the ultimate packing up and moving process, then why will you want the sale to happen, as that means you will be forced to do it....