You have decided to sell, but the thought of packing your home up can be daunting, especially if you have lived in the same property for many years.
It is well known that a property sells more readily when it looks and feels like a home, rather than just bricks and mortar, so it could be argued that you shouldn’t start packing until you have actually found a buyer.
However, many people find that much of the stress of moving can be reduced if they start to prepare for the move early in the sale process – and there are additional benefits. For example, whilst a property certainly needs to look lived in, an overly cluttered house can be off-putting. It is important that the buyer can see themselves living there, not just you!
On the other hand, it would not be a good idea to have packing boxes scattered around the house. This could look like you are just about to move out and are therefore desperate to find a buyer.
A reasonable compromise is to take advantage of having time on your side and start to pack things which are either cluttering or otherwise unseen. This would include surplus children’s toys, photographs, books and clothes as well as the content of cupboards which can be packed into boxes and then stored in those cupboards.
Garages and sheds can usually do with a good tidy. Charity shops are a great way of lightening your load whilst making your storage areas neat, which in turn reflects well on your property overall. Garage or car-boot sales can be a lucrative alternative.
Once you have exchanged contracts then you can really go to work on your packing, and it doesn’t matter what your property looks like during the time immediately prior to completion. But hopefully your advance planning will by this time have paid dividends!