The Best Way to Sell (or live in) a House

The last time we sold our house, a very enterprising realtor gave us the best advice. He told us to declutter and make the house look like a model home. We pondered his concept, and promptly rented a storage building. It was a big house, so it had been easy to collect a lot of stuff. We removed excess furniture, clutter and knick-knacks, and made each room a clean, pleasing-to-the-eye picture. It also helped that my husband had always maintained the house immaculately -- touching up paint, etc., on a regular basis. But without that decluttering, I doubt that we would have sold the house as quickly as we did. People commented that it looked like a new house (after 5-1/2 years of living in it). By the grace of God, we sold the house ourselves in 7 weeks, which was a very good thing since we'd already closed on another house (not a recommended idea under normal circumstances).

The interesting thing is this: Once we decluttered the house, we were amazed at how good we felt living there, and how easy it was to clean. So, we decided to live that way from now on. As we moved to our new house, we got rid of A LOT! I decorated with only a moderate amount of large-scale pieces, we've pretty much banned knick-knacks, and we refuse to add any more furniture (always a temptation with me). The result is a home that is easy to maintain and is almost always company-ready. Another trick - when picking out floor colors - anything dirt color is a great choice!