One of the services I provide when I list a house is a consultation with a certified interior designer/stager. The designer goes in and guides the sellers on what needs to be done to get the house picture and showing ready.

There is nothing new in this world of prepping your home for sale. It's all about each individual home and what it needs to show at its best. And sometimes homes need the help of a professional stager.

I suggest the seller packs it up and stores off site. If they have a big basement or garage I will tell them they could store it there. The less they have in the house the bigger it will look.

As a stager I have run into sellers who are reluctant to declutter and to depersonalize, but most often they are willing to do whatever it takes to get their homes ready for sale.  I take pictures of the rooms before staging them and show the homeowners how their rooms look in photos.  It helps them to look through the camera and not just at the room.... I have never had anyone refuse to do something after showing them how it will look in pictures.  

It really depends on the client. Most of our clients know that I know exactly what to do to get top dollar and they do it. We start at the front of home and go from there giving them suggestions as to what needs to be done etc. We also have a team of people that are on hand to handle whatever the sellers can't handle or don't want to handle. It works smoothly.

Some success can be had through telling them to remove all personal items which remind them of their family - i.e. photos of trips taken, family members, etc. Remind them that buyers will need to envision seeing the home with their own belongings in place. Declutter and make the home show ready through sharing photos of model homes and professionally staged properties.

I suggest they go through each room, one room at a time (so it isn't overwhelming) and make sure there are no more than 3 items on a shelf, table, etc...  this seems to be a real eye opener for them.  Show them pics of on market homes that have sold fast ( you will see uncluttered pics) and remind them people need to focus on bones of house and not their personal things... After that's done, they need to move out anything that impedes the traffic of the home (i.e., any "extra" furniture...).

If we are talking about an overwhelming excess of items they need to get rid of....I suggest that if they do not have any familiy in need, perhaps they can contact Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill or many of the other organizations who will come and take their items. 

I suggest making it as pristine as possible for the best price and a quick sale.

Tim - Looks like you have already received some excellent advice regarding your question. Sometimes I will show the seller photos of comparable listings that sold quickly, and then compare them to what their home looks like. That can also help when it comes to establishing the list price. 

Tim Shepard - there will be many featured posts that will have lots of tips. Just to name a few - follow Sharon Tara , Kathy Streib , Laura Cerrano, Kristine Ginsberg .

Good Luck.

Get a storage unit or other space away from the property and declutter. If it's spring/summer, empty the closet of all your winter clothes. Start packing things you won't need until the new house and put them in storage. Get rid of extra kid's toys, bikes, linens, board games, dishes, etc. Every cabinet, closet, and drawer should be no more than 2/3 capacity and every flat space should be limited to 1-2 nice items with purpose.

I take them outside and then go in  pretending that they are buying the house.

Works very well.

I have my staff do an inspection and find everything that a home inspector is likely to have a problem with.

And we take a few curb photos to analyze for potential curb appeal improvements that need to be made.

That is one of the best tips - put in storage what you don't need; declutter - think of it as starting to pack for your move; remove personal items, family photo's to extent possible - let buyers imagine themselves in home, not feel like they're intruding on seller.

I have tons of info on my website that I provide including videos from RM. They give a pretty good explanation on what to do. I've really collected a whole bunch of great info.

Ebay the electronics; donate to Goodwill, Vietnam Veterans of America and or Saint Vincent de Paul all clothing you haven't worn for two years, all furniture with a bump, all those collections of stuff; Freecycle the rest- run ad come pick up this what cha ma call it Wednesday 5:30 - 6:30 PM - you bring truck. The garage needs to be empty to paint the floor. Closets should have empty space. All kitchen counters clear.  Everything cleaned and scrubbed twice. Repaint to vanilla or as bland as can match the permanent floor and tile.  Beds made, no dishes in sink, and water the yard with color planted in front

exterior is the first to be seen and is very important....that needs a landscaping company to liven it up.... one shot deal!!!

the interior needs to be clean with as much floor space as possible.... store the stuff in a storage ....

You've gotten some great tips so far. I've written so many posts on this subject. Each home is different. The problem with "Lists" is they are usually too general and terms like "declutter" and "depersonalize" are confusing to most people. The smartest thing to do is have a 2 hour consult with a professional stager and receive a specific personalized "to-do" list. When sellers know exactly what stays and what goes it reduces their stress. 

The important thing is they must understand the reasoning behind what they are being told needs to be done. Once they understand the WHY they are quick to action.

Each house is unique.  I provide guidance based on the particular house.  In general, I advise on security items such as not leaving sensitive papers out and putting away medicines and valuables.

Gabe Sanders  nailed this one!

I have a 6 page list of things to do.  eMail me if you want a copy

richardweeksrealtor@gmail.com

Sigh.....at the listing appointment the owner reveals they spent the past month 'decluttering' to make the home ready for Prime Time. I could only imagine what it looked like a month ago.

I simply state do what ever you must to make all counters EMPTY, refrigerator  naked and floors free of anything not called furniture. then get rid of half of what is called furniture. Then I hand them a 50% off coupon for PODS. "Trust me" I assure them, 'you can't have too little furniture."

"But we have to LIVE here!" is the protest. 

That is true, how long you live here is directly related to how much you pack NOW.

The end result is they ENJOY their final days when their 'stress creaters' are out of the house and have a new appreciation how BIG their house is. 

"And that is why we are going to get the big bucks for your house."

I provide them with blog posts as well as lists of do's and don'ts including the biggest thing most can do, CLEAN and de-clutter

Hire a stager.

Wor on curb appeal first than entrance of the house.

Sometimes the extra stuff goes into the garage, or basement along with storage.   Clean, declutter and clean, clean & clean some more.

Tim,

I would show them how homes who are in competition with their look compared to how their homes look, if those other homes are in great showing shape.  A

Each situation is different, but generally de-personalize with taste, and get rid of clutter and refrigerator magnets

Nina Hollander hit the nail on the head with this one. One size does not fit all!

There are hundreds of good blogs on this topic.

Common sense rules the day here. If that is in question, a pro agent will handle. At these prices, concierge efforts (above & beyond) should be made and the product should be without obvious flaw or criticism + priced right