How to Depersonalize a Home Before Selling

Prepare yourself emotionally before you get started. This is often the most difficult step for home Sellers. When selling your house the goal is to sell quickly at the highest price. In order to do this, you want your home to show well and attract serious offers fast. Therefore you want to prepare your home in a manner that appeals to the broadest range of Buyer preferences. When Buyers are shopping for homes they don't want to see your personal stuff. For most people, putting away your personal items such as family photos and collectables in preparation for selling is a very emotional process. This is why the first step in de-personalizing is to prepare yourself emotionally. Understanding the reason why de-personalizing is so important to achieving your goal of selling fast and getting the best offers will make it easier for you to start packing away those personal treasures.

Remove personal photos and family portraits. Go all through your home and take down photos, paintings or images hanging on walls or set on counter tops. This includes and especially applies to large framed portraits so don't be selective. If needed, replace them with other pictures or artwork you have around your house. Most homes will have too much on the walls as it is so spread things out to avoid spending money on new wall art. Don't forget the photos on the refrigerator too.

Get a head start on your packing and start taking down those prized trophies, awards and framed certificates. Get those things off the shelves packed away. Buyers are not interested in your stuff. The added benefit of de-personalizing is that it's also a good start to de-cluttering, especially offices and work spaces.

Pack up your 'collections'. Most homes showcase some sort of personal collection. From the common doll or stuffed animal collection to the not so common dead animal heads or gun collections, they detract Buyer's attention. And many collections create a lot of visual clutter, especially in online photos. Hundreds of antique plates, figurines, ball caps or beer bottles lining shelves are distracting and may block the view of other features of the home.

Put away toys and sporting or exercise equipment. They are also considered personal items. This step is important for several reasons. It helps with two other major home staging principles as well, 'de-cluttering' and 'rooms set to room type'. You don't want a bunch of toys in the living room or workout stuff in your bedroom.

Remove any personal items that may be potentially controversial or politically, morally or socially Incorrect. You will have a wide variety of people and personalities viewing your home online before deciding to go view your home in-person. You don't know what little thing might turn off a potential buyer, think inappropriate artwork.