Clutter Will Cost You!
How much is that pile of tchotchkes really worth?
A couple of years back, a seller of mine – who was quickly outgrowing a 1,000 sq ft. 2BR/2BA condo apartment with his wife and two kids – did a commendable job of clearing out his apartment over a period of weeks. As he was proudly showing off his newly clutter-free home, I spied a big pile of papers and tchotchkes pushed into a corner next to his computer desk.
Sensing my disapproval, and giving me his best sad-puppy eyes, he implored me, "Surely I can just leave this one last bit of clutter here. People will know it's just work stuff, right?" I'm a reasonable guy, so I said, "Sure, just leave it where it is. I mean, it's worth $20,000 to you, right? Because that's probably what it's going to cost you in lost curb-appeal." He shook his head, but he knew I was right.
Shortly thereafter – after he removed the offending pile of papers – we marketed the apartment, slightly underpriced, and received eight qualified offers – and the apartment sold for 10% over the asking price. So keep this in mind when you go to put your apartment on the market: It's a pain to rent a storage space, and to do without your stuffed-animal collection for a couple of months, but your hard work will literally pay off in the end.
