Are you sabotaging your own house sale?

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85% say that most of the space in their garage is being taken up by 'boxes of stuff' including sporting equipment (33%), old Christmas decorations and furniture (28%) and gardening equipment (9.5%), while 24% of people don't know because they can't see through the clutter in their garage.

A recent Biggest Home Seller Mistakes survey of 1,000 estate agents in the US revealed that 32% of people don't sell their homes because of clutter. The report, conducted by ActiveRain, an online community of nearly 300,000 real estate agents in the US, listed not clearing clutter as the third biggest mistake made by home sellers. The biggest mistakes cited are, overpricing the home (77%), followed by not showing availability (34%). Smaller mistakes include not being willing to negotiate (21%), not taking care of unpleasant odours (28%), and not being willing to make repairs (20%).

House sellers - the biggest spoke in the wheel

In South Africa, home sellers can sometimes prove to be the biggest sabotage in a house sale, says clutter expert Kate Emmerson. She points out that house sellers are often the biggest spoke in the wheel when it comes to selling their homes. She says that sellers need to consider the fact that their clutter could leave potential buyers with the feeling that there is a lack of storage and no space.

"Your clutter could leave potential buyers feeling a combination of oppressed, claustrophobic, crowded, and stifled," adds Emmerson. She points out that clutter will leave the potential purchaser with the generalised 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 and size, Emmerson warns house sellers not to fall victim to their own mess, clutter and lack of proper streamlined organisation, which may prove to be an off-putting factor and chase potential buyers away.

She says that sellers are often unwilling to make the effort to remove clutter or compromise on how they live in their home during the time the home is on the market for showings. "By removing unwarranted clutter it allows potential buyers to more easily visualise their own things in the house," she says.

"An uncluttered home will sell much faster than one that is brimming over with clutter," she says. "Many times people give their homes a lick of paint and do some maintenance before putting it on show, when in fact they should be de-cluttering to ensure the house goes from 'for sale' to 'sold' in record time."

Declutter is the keyword

Bronwyn Johnson Head of Marketing, OLX South Africa, SA's fastest growing classifieds service, says that taking care of clutter is something that sellers can immediately do to improve their chances of speeding up the sale of their house.

"Moving house is also a great time to get rid of all the stuff you don't use so that you have cash in hand to buy new household items for your new place once you have moved," she says. "With many South Africans advertising their homes for sale or rent on OLX anyway, it's really easy to also advertise the things in your house that you no longer need or use and declutter in no time."

Johnson says that fast selling items include household appliances and furniture, garden furniture and tools, sporting equipment, cupboards, technology items like computers, and laptops and cell phones, among many others.

"In the old days one had to traipse around second hand shops to find or sell household goods," she says. "Now, the internet provides a hassle free market place for selling second hand goods you no longer use. On Olx.co.za you can advertise for free and convert your stuff into cash. You can simply take photos of the items, go to olx.co.za on your computer, tablet or mobile phone then click on 'Post ad' or 'Sell' and upload your photo, give a description, add your contact details, price it and sell it. It's really as easy as: 1) Clean up; 2) Click on; and 3) Cash in."